Tommy Mulligan, an Independent candidate, looks set to win a seat in the Portlaoise Municipal District but a full picture is not clear due to no tally being done on a number of boxes.
The final tallies that are available show that Fine Gael’s Willie Aird is set to top the poll but it’s understood that up to seven boxes, mostly in Portlaoise, have not been tallied.
As it stands, Fianna Fáil’s Naeem Iqbal, a Pakistani native who went close to winning a seat on the last occasion as an Independent candidate is currently best placed to take the final seat – with sitting councillors Marie Tuohy (Labour) and Thomasina Connell (Fine Gael) under pressure to hold on to their seats.
But again, it cannot be emphasised enough that the missing tallies aren’t giving a full picture.
Where they do appear to be definite is in the Abbeyleix-Ballyroan side of the district, where John Joe Fennelly (Fianna Fáil) and Barry Walsh (Fine Gael) are on course to win a seat. For Barry Walsh, it’ll be a significant personal triumph as he was co-opted to replace Mary Sweeney midway through the last term but will take this seat in his own right on this occasion.
Walsh was backed considerably by the voters in Ballyroan where his vote increased even on what the hugely popular Mary Sweeney got on the last occasion.
Where there will be disappointment is in the ranks of Sinn Féin. Caroline Dwane-Stanley will be comfortably re-elected but her two running mates – Maria McCormack in Portlaoise and Jason Phelan in Abbeyleix – aren’t going to be in contention.
The votes have been moved from Scoil Chriost Ri to the old Ging’s warehouse in Kealew Business Park in Portlaoise where the official counting process will now start.
It is unlikely we will have a full count by this evening as the count is likely to be adjourned until tomorrow morning. In 2019, the first count wasn’t until 7pm on Sunday.
- Willie Aird (Fine Gael) – 1,337
- Caroline Dwane-Stanley (Sinn Fein) – 1,127
- John Joe Fennelly (Fianna Fáil) – 978
- Catherine Fitzgerald (Fianna Fáil) – 863
- Tommy Mulligan (Independent) – 830
- Barry Walsh (Fine Gael) – 774
- Naeem Iqbal (Fianna Fáil) – 550
- Marie Tuohy (Labour) – 464
- Thomasina Connell (Fine Gael) – 429
- Pauline Flanagan (Independent) – 287
- Bolaji Adeyanju (Independent) – 277
- Dom Dunne (Independent) – 269
- Rosie Palmer (Green Party) – 244
- Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein) – 237
- Noel Burke (Independent) – 210
- Colette Byrne (Independent Ireland) – 205
- Donal Kelly (Independent) – 198
- Martha Ryan (Aontú) – 139
- Jason Phelan (Sinn Féin) – 97
- John Cowhig (Independent) – 45
SEE ALSO – LIVE BLOG: Follow all of the updates from Day 1 of the Laois Local Election count
