Updated 11.59pm
A FULL RECOUNT has been granted in Dublin Bay North at the request of Independent Senator Averil Power.
The decision comes after count 13 following the distribution of the votes of SocDem candidate Cian O’Callaghan.
O’Callaghan’s transfers saw Power trail Independent TD Tommy Broughan by 67 votes and People Before Profit Councillor John Lyons by 92 votes. That result would see Power eliminated.
In total, over 74,000 votes were cast in the constituency.
After the recount was granted, Power said that,
We think it’s fairer on the people of Dublin Bay North that we’ve got this right and that people can be satisfied with the result.
It comes after two days of counting in the constituency with just one person elected.
As expected that person is Richard Bruton, returned for the 10th time in 10 straight elections.
The only predictable thing about a count now though is that it will start again at 11am tomorrow morning.
After the 13 counts, Fianna Fail’s Seán Haughey is 315 votes shy of being the second person elected.
Behind him, however, are six candidates who all have a shot of taking one of the other remaining seats.
Long-time Independent TD Finian McGrath was looking pretty glum around the RDS this evening. He was even voicing worst-case scenarios about his seat to some of his supporters. But it’s not over yet and he still might hang on as he’s currently taking the last seat.
Earlier, before the recount was announced, Broughan told TheJournal.ie that he’ll be sticking around until the bitter end. He said he only took a short break today to catch some of the Capital One Cup final (that also went to extra-time and penalties).
After Labour’s disastrous performance in the election, some party members have much of their hopes for the future pinned on Junior Minister Aodhán Ó Riordáin.
He’s definitely in the race for one of the seats here and would be very, very unlucky not to take one. His supporters seem cautiously optimistic with how things have gone so far, and a big transfer boost from Bruton earlier helped no end.
Privately, they’re saying that number crunchers have him coming in on the 15th count. His – or Willie Penrose’s – re-election will secure the party speaking rights in the next Dáil.
There was no sign of Ó Riordáin himself in the emptying RDS today though, and he mightn’t show up until the end game tomorrow .
Sinn Féin ran two candidates and Denise Mitchell fared the better of the two. Her running mate Mícheál MacDonncha was confident he’d get her elected and when he was eliminated a huge transfer in her direction has her pretty much safe.
Lyons benefitted from some of those Sinn Féin transfers too, but he needs a little bit more help if he wants to get past McGrath.
It’s been a long day for some of Lyon’s colleagues too who’ve had a particularly stressful time of it. PBP Councillor Bríd Smith is currently taking a seat in Dublin South Central ahead of Fianna Fail’s Catherine Ardagh, but they’ve been re-checking all day and will be back tomorrow at 1pm.
Speaking to us though, Lyons suggested that, although he’d be disappointed not to take a seat, his activism will continue.
The big surprise among everyone here though is the performance of Senator Power. The ex-Fianna Fáiler is taking transfers from everywhere and it’s putting her seriously in the mix.
Heavy transfers from O’Callaghan led to her request for the recount.
Power’s work campaigning for the same-sex marriage referendum won her some committed followers and they’re all in evidence checking the votes being counted.
Power also benefitted from some strong media promotion.
As one of her opponent’s followers put it: ‘She was handed a profile.’
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