Counting to begin in two by-elections
The process of counting votes in two closely-watched by-elections begins on Saturday morning.
Two new members of the Dail will be elected in the process after voters in parts of Galway and Dublin went to the polls on Friday.
They chose from a a range of candidates to fill the seats vacated by Catherine Connolly when she became president, and former minister Paschal Donohoe, who left political life to become the World Bank’s chief knowledge officer.
The respective by-elections are being held in Galway West and Dublin Central.
They must first be sorted before counting formally begins, in a process which could run into Sunday because of Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote (PR-STV), where candidates are ranked by preference.
It means the voting slips need to be counted several times, an undertaking which can take several hours.
However, a sense of the race will begin to emerge as tally counters observe the sorting of the votes.
The candidates in Dublin Central include Sinn Fein’s Janice Boylan, who is hoping to secure a second seat in the constituency alongside party leader Mary Lou McDonald; Social Democrats candidate Daniel Ennis; Green Party’s Janet Horner; Dublin Lord Mayor and Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam; People Before Profit’s Eoghan O Ceannabhain; Fianna Fail’s John Stephens; Aontu’s Ian Noel Smyth and Labour’s Ruth O’Dea.
The campaign of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, who has been described in court by a judge as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation, has also been closely watched in the constituency.
The other TDs in the four-seater constituency are Labour’s Marie Sherlock, and Social Democrat Garry Gannon.
The current TDs for Galway West are Fianna Fail’s John Connolly, Sinn Fein’s Mairead Farrell, Minister of State and independent TD Noel Grealish, and Fine Gael Minister for Education Hildegarde Naughton.
In contention for the fifth seat are Fine Gael’s Sean Kyne, Labour’s Helen Ogbu, Social Democrats’ Mide Nic Fhionnlaoich, Sinn Fein’s Mark Lohan, Green Party candidate Niall Murphy, Fianna Fail’s Cillian Keane, People Before Profit’s Denman Rooke, Aontu’s Orla Nugent and Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas, formerly of Fianna Fail.
Galway City mayor Mike Cubbard is among independents Neill Bairead, Patrick Feeney, Sheila Garrity, John OLeary, Michael Ryan and Thomas Welby – with AJ Cahill running for The Irish People.