First results in Midlands-North-West expected by 9pm

First results in Midlands-North-West are not expected until between 8pm and 9pm on Monday, according to the returning officer.

Counting of ballots in Ireland’s European Parliament elections got under way on Sunday after votes were cast on Friday.

In Midlands-North-West there are 27 candidates fighting for five seats in the massive electoral region which spans 15 counties.

Hundreds of count staff have been processing approximately 700,000 ballots for the region at the TF Royal Theatre in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

By 4pm, around 400,000 of the ballots – mainly associated with the leading candidates – had been fully sorted and counted by first preference.

After getting through the bulk of the ballots, returning officer Marian Chambers Higgins sent some of the counters out for a 20-minute break to re-energise ahead of a busy push to return a first count.

Speaking to the PA news agency in Castlebar, she said: “I’m probably thinking now about 8pm or close to the nine o’clock news.

“There’s a lot of counting and calculations and back and forth to do.

“Our counters have been working so hard – we just have a fantastic team.”

The counting on Monday could continue until 1am, depending on how long the redistribution of eliminated candidates’ votes takes.

The current four MEPs are independent Luke “Ming” Flanagan, Fine Gael’s Colm Markey and Maria Walsh, as well as Sinn Fein’s Chris MacManus.

Mr Markey was withdrawn and Fine Gael has selected Irish Grand National-winning jockey Nina Carberry in his stead – a move seen as a celebrity candidature.

She will compete among the 27 total runners and riders in the contest, including unsuccessful presidential election candidate and entrepreneur Peter Casey as well as former RTE correspondent Ciaran Mullooly.

Sinn Fein is also fielding its former MP Michelle Gildernew, who is among the candidates saying they will be a voice for Northern Ireland in a post-Brexit European Parliament.

However, the party is at risk of having no representation in the region after splitting its vote.

Elsewhere, the Fianna Fail campaign has been marred by infighting, as border region hopeful Niall Blaney accused the party leadership of throwing him and Mayo representative Lisa Chambers “overboard” in favour of Barry Cowen, who brings strong name recognition to the table.

It seems assured that Mr Flanagan, Mr Cowen and Ms Walsh will take seats, leaving Fine Gael and Fianna Fail scrapping it out with Mr Mullooly, Sinn Fein candidates and Aontu leader Peadar Toibin for the remaining two seats.

Ms Chambers said on Sunday that she was confident that Mr Cowen will “comfortably” take a seat for Fianna Fail, adding she herself was also “in the mix” for the fifth and final spot against Sinn Fein candidates and Ms Carberry.

Asked about her concerns about the public row between the Fianna Fail candidates, she added: “I’m not really concerned because what’s done is done.”

She added: “I’ll be honest, I thought two candidates was the right strategy.”

However, she said she had to trust the decision of the party strategists.

The 73cm-long ballot paper was described as “like a toilet roll” by Mayo politician Michael Ring on Sunday.

That means there was more than 500 kilometres of ballots to sort through by hand.

With so many candidates, the entire process is projected to last until at least Wednesday – with Mr Flanagan predicting a recount at some stage during the proceedings.

Ms Chambers Higgins said counters would “be well into it by Tuesday night”, adding that she had no problem going late.

Should a recount push things on through Friday night – when Irish comedian Jarlath Regan has a scheduled sell-out show at the theatre – count staff certainly will not be laughing.

There is a Tina Turner tribute act booked for Saturday night – with parties hoping their candidate will be crowned simply the best long before then.