PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT TD Gino Kenny has taken the final seat in the Dublin Mid-West constituency, despite conceding defeat yesterday afternoon.

Gino passed Fianna Fáil candidate John Curran to take the fourth seat, with Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin and Mark Ward, and Fine Gael’s Emer Higgins in the other three.

At around noon yesterday, Kenny conceded defeat, telling his followers on Twitter it was “not looking good in getting re-elected”.

Yesterday evening, the state of play in his constituency was very different and he was edging closer to a seat as the count stopped for the night.

In the last hour, Independent candidate Paul Gogarty was eliminated and his transfers were distributed. Kenny was 150 votes behind Curran before the transfers edged it for him on the ninth count.

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After an emotional celebration with his supporters, including Richard Boyd Barrett and Brid Smith, who have both also been elected, Kenny told reporters that he thought he was “political toast” 24 hours ago.

“It’s a great feeling and I dedicate this to all my comrades in the party and the people who have been campaigning for medical cannabis over the last three and a half years.”