Advanced tally in Laois local election from the Portlaoise area

The latest Fianna Fáil tally from the Laois County Council elections for Portlaoise show Fine Gael incumbent Willie Aird leading the way with two Fine Gael councillors potentially in a battle for one seat.  

25 out of 40 boxes from the Portlaoise Municipal District have been tallied. That's more than have the votes tallied. Boxes have been opened from Portlaoise town and beyond including Abbeyleix.

The breakdown is as follows:

• Willie Aird, Fine Gael, 1,106, 15% 
• Caroline Dwane Stanley, Sinn Féin, 803, 11% 
• Catherine Fitzgerald, Fianna Fáil, 782, 11%
• Tommy Mulligan, Non-party, 682, 9%
• Naeem Iqbal, Fianna Fáil, 616, 8%
• Barry Walsh, Fine Gael, 563, 8%
• John Joe Fennelly, Fianna Fáil, 455, 6%
• Marie Tuohy, Labour Party, 428, 6%
• Thomasina Connell, Fine Gael, 374, 5%
• Pauline Flanagan, Non-Party, 272, 4%
• Bolaji Adeyanju, Non-party, 255, 3%
• Dom Dunne, Non-party, 119, 3%
• Maria McCormack, Sinn Féin, 184, 2%
• Donal Kelly, Non-party, 153, 2%
• Rosie Palmer, Green Party, 140, 2%
• Noel Burke, Non-party, 125, 2%
• Collette Byrne, Independent Ireland, 104, 1%
• Martha Ryan, Aontú, 96, 1%
• Jason Phelan, Sinn Féin, 57, 1%
• John Cowhig, Non-party, 35, 0%

A total of 20 candidates are vying for seven seats in the Portlaoise Municipal District.

The votes are being sorted at the CBS / Scoil Chriost Ri sports hall in Portlaoise. They will be counted at the Kea Lew business park from Saturday evening.