First tally in Laois local election from the Portlaoise area

The first Fianna Fáil tally from the Laois County Council elections show that a Sinn Féin candidate is leading the way with a new Fianna Fáil candidate coming in second.  

Ten out of 40 boxes from the Portlaoise Municipal District have been tallied. That's 25% of the vote. Many of boxes from rural areas have yet to be opened.

The breakdown is as follows:

• Caroline Dwane Stanley, Sinn Féin, 424, 15% 
• Naeem Iqbal, Fianna Fáil, 394, 14%
• Willie Aird, Fine Gael, 342, 12% 
• Catherine Fitzgerald, Fianna Fáil,  329, 12%
• Tommy Mulligan, Non-party, 281, 10%
• Thomasina Connell, Fine Gael, 202, 7%
• Bolaji Adeyanju, Non-party, 172, 6%
• Marie Tuohy, Labour Party, 131, 5%
• Pauline Flanagan, Non-Party, 120, 4%
• Maria McCormack, Sinn Féin, 87, 3%
• Donal Kelly, Non-party, 73, 3%
• Dom Dunne, Non-party, 69, 2%
• Martha Ryan, Aontú, 37, 1%
• Barry Walsh, Fine Gael, 25 1%
• Collette Byrne, Independent Ireland, 41, 1%
• John Cowhig, Non-party, 27, 1%
• Rosie Palmer, Green Party, 31, 1%
• John Joe Fennelly, Fianna Fáil, 17, 1%
• Noel Burke, Non-party, 15, 1%
• Jason Phelan, Sinn Féin, 6, 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.