All six outgoing county councillors look set to be re-elected in the Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District.
Though the tallies made available by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are missing three boxes – one in Killenard, one in Portarlington and the Vicarstown one – they shouldn’t be overly far off the mark, particularly in terms of the top six.
Fine Gael’s PJ Kelly from the Ballybrittas area is on course to retain the seat he was co-opted to in during the last term in place of Tom Mulhall.
Kelly hasn’t maintained the old Tom Mulhall vote but does look to have sufficient votes to take the sixth seat. His running mate, Vivienne Phelan from Stradbally, has increased her vote from 2019 but is 150 behind Kelly and is unlikely to overtake him.
Fine Gael will hold one seat in the area while Aisling Moran, now an Independent but elected for Fine Gael five years ago, seems to have increased her vote, with a particularly strong showing around her home base of Ballylinan.
Sinn Fein’s Aidan Mullins in Portarlington will be re-elected though Aaron Kelly in Graiguecullen, despite a decent showing of 700+ votes, isn’t going to be in contention.
There is disappointment too for Eoin Barry, the Labour candidate whose vote has fallen from what it was in 2019.
Joey Kennedy, Fianna Fáil’s 19-year-old candidate in Portarlington could well break 500 votes, a fine individual showing for a first-timer, but won’t be enough either.
Likewise, Patsy Fennell in Timahoe, running for the new Independent Ireland party, will break 400 votes but won’t elected.
And disappointment as well for Charlie Hackett, the young Green Party candidate, on his first outing. If no candidate reaches the quota, which could be in the region of 1,500, he will be the first eliminated and his votes will be distributed.
All votes are now being counted in the old Ging’s warehouse in Kealew Business Park in Portlaoise – though counting will continue on Sunday.
- Ben Brennan (Ind) – 1,309
- Padraig Fleming (FF) – 1,235
- Aidan Mullins (SF) – 1,129
- Paschal McEvoy (FF) – 1,121
- Aisling Moran (Ind) – 1,075
- PJ Kelly (FG) – 817
- Aaron Kelly (SF) – 710
- Vivienne Phelan (FG) – 678
- Joey Kennedy (FF) – 465
- Eoin Barry (Lab) – 455
- Patsy Fennell (II) – 443
- Charlie Hackett (Green) – 164
SEE ALSO – Check out all our 2024 Local Election coverage here
