It has been a hectic day in the Nano Nagle sports hall in Portlaoise for Day 1 of the 2024 Laois General Election count.
In all 12 candidates went before the people of the county to fill the three Dáil seats.
First time General Election candidate Willie Aird (Fine Gael) from Portlaoise looks set to top the poll and take the first seat, as the tallies show him set to receive more than 9,000 first preference votes.
Fianna Fáil’s Sean Fleming is about 1,200 votes behind Aird while Brian Stanley (Independent) is a further 1,200 back again.
He is best-placed to take the third seat, though Maria McCormack of Sinn Fein, who replaced Stanley on the ballot sheet after he resigned from the party in controversial circumstances, looks to be about 1,800 behind Stanley.
McCormack, who got almost 13% of the vote, isn’t out of contention but would need to significantly out perform Stanley on the transfers of the eliminated candidates.
You can check out a selection of great images below from our photographer Paul Dargan.
SEE ALSO – Check out our General Election Live Blog for all of our updates
