Ferris in hunt for Euro seat; RSF wins county council seat

In the European elections, the first counts are in and have revealed a swing to the left.

Overall, the results of the European election in terms of first preferences are: Fine Gael 29.1% (+1.3%), Fianna Fail 24.1% (-5.4%), Labour 13.9% (+3.4%), Green Party 1.9% (-2.4%), Sinn Fein 11.2% (+0.1%), Others 19.8% (+3.0%).

Official and unofficial figures in the Dublin constituency of the European Parliament elections indicate that Sinn Fein’s sitting MEP, Mary Lou McDonald, is in a desperate battle to hold her seat in the last count.

With 50,501 first preference votes to Sinn Fein’s 47,928, Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party appears set to take a historic seat for his tiny Dublin-based party. Mary Lou McDonald’s transfers are set to place Higgins above Fianna Fail’s sitting MEP for Dublin, Eoin Ryan in another setback to Brian Cowen’s coalition government.

However, in the South constituency, Sinn Fein’s Toireasa Ferris has secured 13% of first preferences in the first count in the South constituency and has a very real chance for the last seat there.

In the Northwest, transfers from Sinn Fein’s Padraig Mac Lochlainn are set to decide whether Declan Ganley of Libertas -- also an opponent of the Lisbon Treaty -- can prevent Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Sligo-based independent Marian Harkin sharing the spoils.

In the East, Fine Gael’s Mairead McGuinness has been elected on the first count, but her party’s failure to secure a second seat has allowed Fianna Fail to hold its seat in the constituency. Labour’s Nessa Childers has polled well and also captured a seat here from the Green Party.

RSF BREAKTHROUGH

Republican Sinn Fein’s Tomas O Curraoin has achieved a long-awaited breakthrough by securing a seat on Galway County Council.

Listed as non-party as a result of his party’s refusal to recognise the Dublin parliament, O Curraoin becomes RSF’s most prominent elected candidate.

Elsewhere, the party suffered a setback with the elimination of its Vice President, Des Dalton in Athy on the 9th count.

The local election results are most significant for the Green Party, which has been all bnut wiped out in these elections. The fate of the Dublin coalition government now hinges on the internal debate within that party and its discussions around a planned review of the Programme for Government.

EURO RESULT

The following are the confirmed results so far for the elections to the 26-County European elections, in terms of first preferences.

Dublin

MITCHELL, Gay (FG) 96715 (23.8%)
DE ROSSA, Proinsias (Lab) 83471 (20.5%)
RYAN, Eoin (FF) 55346 (13.6%)
HIGGINS, Joe (Soc.) 50510 (12.4%)
McDONALD, Mary Lou (SF) 47928 (11.8%)
BYRNE, Eibhlin (FF) 18956 (4.7%)
DE BURCA, Deirdre (Green) 19086 (4.7%)
McKENNA, Patricia (Ind.) 17521 (4.3%)
SIMONS, Caroline (Lib.) 13514 (3.3%)
SWEENEY, Emmanuel (Ind.) 3583 (0.9%)

East

McGUINNESS, Mairead (FG) 110366 (25.7%) ---- ELECTED
CHILDERS, Nessa (Lab) 78338 (18.3%)
AYLWARD, Liam (FF) 74666 (17.4%)
PHELAN, John Paul (FG) 61851 (14.4%)
BYRNE, Thomas (FF) 31112 (7.2%)
FUNCHION, Kathleen (SF) 26567 (6.2%)
SHARKEY, Tomas (SF) 20932 (4.9%)
O’MALLEY, Raymond (Lib.) 18557 (4.3%)
GARVEY, Paddy (Ind.) 2934 (0.7%)
TALLON, Jim (Ind.) 2412 0.6%
GREALY, Micheal (Ind.) 1514 0.4%

Northwest

HARKIN, Marian (Ind.) 84813 (17.1%)
GALLAGHER, Pat The Cope (FF) 82643 (16.7%)
HIGGINS, Jim (FG) 80093 (16.2%)
GANLEY, Declan (Lib.) 70638 (14.3%)
MacLOCHLAINN, Padraig (SF) 45515 (9.2%)
MOONEY, Paschal (FG) 42985 (8.7%)
O’REILLY, Joe (FG) 37564 (7.6%)
O’KEEFFE, Susan (Lab.) 28658 (5.8%)
McNAMARA, Michael (Ind.) 12744 (2.6%)
O LUAIN, Fiachra (Ind.) 3510 (0.7%)
HIGGINS, John Francis (Ind.) 3030 (0.6%)
McCULLAGH, Noel (Ind.) 1940 (0.4%)
KING, Thomas (Ind.) 1124 (0.2%)

South

CROWLEY, Brian (FF) 118258 (23.7%)
KELLY, Sean 9257 (FG) (18.6%)
FERRIS, Toireasa (SF) 64671 (13.0%)
KELLY, Alan 64152 (Lab) (12.9%)
SINNOTT, Kathy (Ind.) 58485 (11.7%)
BURKE, Colm (FG) 53721 (10.8%)
O’KEEFFE, Ned (FF) 16596 (3.3%)
BOYLE, Dan 15499 (Green) (3.1%)
STAFFORD, Alexander (Ind.) 11692 (2.3%)
SEXTON, Maurice (Ind.) 2474 (0.5%)

LOCAL ELECTIONS

With 785 out of 833 seats filled, the following are the confirmed results so far for the elections to the 26-County local city and county elections, in terms of first preferences and seats won.

Fine Gael 596,990 (32.2%) 304 seats
Fianna Fail 470,363 (25.4%) 187 seats
Labour 271,074 (14.6%) 123 seats
Sinn Fein 136,056 (7.3%) 49 seats
Green Party 43,400 (2.3%) 3 seats
Non-Party 334,419 (18.1%) 119 seats

BY-ELECTIONS

The following are the official confirmed results of the two Dublin by-elections:

Dublin Central

AHERN, Maurice (FF) 3483 (12.3%)
BACIK, Ivana (Lab.) 4926 (17.3%)
BURKE, Christy (SF) 3770 (13.3%)
DONOHOE, Paschal (FG) 6439 (22.7%)
GEARY, David (Green) 819 (2.9%)
O’LOUGHLIN, Paul (CSP) 203 (0.7%)
O’SULLIVAN, Maureen (Ind.) 7639 (26.9%) ---- ELECTED
STEENSON, Malachy (WP) 519 (1.8%)
TALBOT, Patrick 614 (Ind.) 2.2%

Dublin South

BRENNAN, Shay (FF) 9250 (17.8%)
DAVIDSON, Elizabeth (Green) 1846 (3.5%)
LEE, George (FG) 27768 (53.4%) ---- ELECTED
O’GARA, Noel (Ind.) 172 (0.3%)
O’GORMAN, Frank (Ind.) 351 (0.7%)
O’MULLANE, Ross (Ind.) 650 (1.2%)
TRACEY, Shaun (SF) 1705 (3.3%)
WHITE, Alex (Lab.) 10294 (19.8%)

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