THERE WAS BITTERSWEET success for Fine Gael and Helen McEntee today as she took the Meath East seat that has been vacant since her father’s death last December.

From the moment the boxes were opened and the first tallies came in this morning it was clear that McEntee was just ahead of Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Byrne with the main opposition party recovering from a collapse in its vote two years ago.

There was disaster for Labour whose candidate Eoin Holmes came in fifth, behind Sinn Féin’s Darren O’Rourke – who put in a strong if unspectacular performance – and Direct Democracy Ireland’s Ben Gilroy, who was undoubtedly the surprise of the day.

After Labour came the Greens’ Seán Ó Búachalla and the Workers’ Party’s Seamus McDonagh with independent candidates Mick Martin, Charlie Keddy, Gerard O’Brien and Jim Tallon trailing well behind.

Here are some pictures from the relatively short day at the count centre in Ashbourne GAA Club: