Election Update
07/06/09 21:53 Filed in: Politics
The first count is in
for the East
constituency, and as expected
Mairéad
McGuinness has romped home (as she did in 2004),
and is the first candidate to be deemed elected
across the whole country. Nessa Childers of Labour
came in a very creditable second and pushed Fianna
Fáil’s Liam Aylward into third place on first
preferences. The second Fine Gael candidate, John
Paul Phelan, took fourth place. Thomas Byrne of
Fianna Fáil is fifth, followed by the two Sinn Féin
candidates in sixth and seventh, while Raymond
O’Malley of Loopertas could only manage eighth.
There was no Green candidate in this constituency this time around, and it looks like Nessa Childers was the beneficiary of their absence. Almost all of the other parties flatlined, but Labour’s 5% increase in vote matched almost exactly what Mary White of the Greens won in first preferences in 2004. Mind you, the way the Greens have been performing overall in both the locals and the Europeans, it could be argued that the presence of a Green candidate this time out would have made little difference in any case.
So it’s looking like Childers will take the seat left vacant by Fine Gael’s Avril Doyle, and Aylward will hold his for Fianna Fáil.
There are close calls all round in the other constituencies. Will Joe Higgins hold off Mary Lou McDonald and take Eoin Ryan’s seat in Dublin? Can Alan Kelly elbow ahead of Toiréasa Ferris in the South and take Kathy Sinnott’s seat? Will Declan Ganley deliver the shock result of the night and land the third seat there for Loopertas? We shall have to wait and see.
In the locals, here in the Emo LEA of Laois County Council, Fine Gael won two seats (Tom Mulhall and James Deegan), Fianna Fáil won one (Ray Cribbin) and independent candidate Paul Mitchell held his seat.
The best election coverage is to be found on all the main media outlets, and also IrishElection.com
There was no Green candidate in this constituency this time around, and it looks like Nessa Childers was the beneficiary of their absence. Almost all of the other parties flatlined, but Labour’s 5% increase in vote matched almost exactly what Mary White of the Greens won in first preferences in 2004. Mind you, the way the Greens have been performing overall in both the locals and the Europeans, it could be argued that the presence of a Green candidate this time out would have made little difference in any case.
So it’s looking like Childers will take the seat left vacant by Fine Gael’s Avril Doyle, and Aylward will hold his for Fianna Fáil.
There are close calls all round in the other constituencies. Will Joe Higgins hold off Mary Lou McDonald and take Eoin Ryan’s seat in Dublin? Can Alan Kelly elbow ahead of Toiréasa Ferris in the South and take Kathy Sinnott’s seat? Will Declan Ganley deliver the shock result of the night and land the third seat there for Loopertas? We shall have to wait and see.
In the locals, here in the Emo LEA of Laois County Council, Fine Gael won two seats (Tom Mulhall and James Deegan), Fianna Fáil won one (Ray Cribbin) and independent candidate Paul Mitchell held his seat.
The best election coverage is to be found on all the main media outlets, and also IrishElection.com