Vote counting to resume in South and Midlands-North-West

Counting of votes in the South and Midlands North West constituencies will resume this morning, with nine of the country’s 14 seats in the European Parliament yet to be filled.

Three days into the count process and the final outcome of last Friday’s election is still not clear. In Ireland South, Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly is the only candidate to be elected.

The next-placed candidate, Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher, is more than 20,000 off the quota.

Behind him, a group of five candidates chasing the remaining three seats are bunched closely together, with around 10,000 votes separating them.

They are independent Michael McNamara, Fianna Fail’s Cynthia Ní Mhurchu, Independents4Change Mick Wallace, Sinn Féin’s Kathleen Funchion and the Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan.

The count will resume at 9am with the distribution of Rabharta candidate Lorna Bogue’s 10,826 votes, following her elimination.

Meanwhile in Midlands-North-West no candidates have been elected following ten counts. Independent outgoing MEP Luke “Ming” Flanagan continues to lead the field, with 81,663 votes.

But with the quota in the five-seater at just over 113,000 and all main contenders still well shy of that figure, it may be Thursday or Friday before a candidate is elected here.

Fine Gael’s Nina Carberry, Fianna Fail’s Barry Cowen and Fine Gael’s Maria Walsh are in the running for the three other seats, with around 2,500 votes between the lowest and highest placed candidates in that grouping.

Independent Ireland candidate Ciaran Mullooly is in fifth place, with a 12,500 lead over his nearest rival, Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew.

While admitting the party faces an uphill struggle to retain its seat, Sinn Féin is hoping that transfers from Ms Gildernew’s running mate, Chris McManus, along with the potential boost from other eliminations, may help it take the final seat.

Counting will resume at 9am with the distribution of Green Party candidate Pauline O’Reilly’s 15,283 votes. She is the 12th contender to be excluded from the contest, leaving 17 still in the field.

Seven counts were completed on the third day of counting in Castlebar, Mayo. But with all front runners well shy of the quota, it may be Thursday or Friday before a candidate is elected.

Read More: Latest Elections 2024 headlines