'In the mix for the fifth seat' - Ciaran Mullooly speaks ahead of first European Election count

At the Midlands-North-West constituency count in Castlebar, former RTÉ correspondent and Independent Ireland candidate Ciaran Mullooly says he’s pleased with how the count is going.

Mullooly told reporters at the scene that according to his count, he was going to be "in the mix" to win a seat in the European Parliament election.

Speaking on his inaugural political performance, Mullooly said that he was "very, very pleased with where the campaign went and the way the counter is going so far".

"We had a very small team, less than 20 people involved in this, and we had a very small budget compared to some of the major parties on the machine of the major parties," added Mullooly.

"I'm personally delighted for myself and my family, but most of all for our team this evening, we've clearly made a huge impact here. We're going to be in the mix for the fifth and last seat. Over the coming hours, I think transfer is going to be the crucial issue".

Asked about his competitors, Mullooly said that it was "very obvious" that Independent candidate Luke 'Ming' Flanagan had done well, as well as Fine Gael's Nina Carberry.

In relation to Fine Gael, Mullooly sated that the party's change in stance on migration resulted in a "low turnout".

"It seems clear to me that that changed the whole tone of the election. When I heard on Friday evening that there was a low turnout, I was personally disappointed, because to me high turnouts mean people want change. And they want significant change. We didn't have that on Friday.

"To some extent, government parties will look back on this as a success. But a word of warning for Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and anyone else: this is very different to a general election, people came out largely to support local community personalities that they know for the local elections, and voted accordingly.

"I would certainly feel that in a general election situation, we could have a very, very different result."

Mr Mullooly, who would have been tasked with covering several election counts throughout his career with RTE News, said he had deliberately avoided the count centre until Monday evening.

Asked if he missed covering count centres for the news, he said: “I don’t, to be honest with you.”

He added: “I hate counts, I hate election counts. I have done for years.

“I think, particularly going back to places like St Joseph’s Hall in Portlaoise where we went on for five days with Laois-Offaly on more than one occasion. So I’ve deliberately stayed away for the last two days.”