A FULL RECOUNT will take place in Dublin South West from tomorrow, following a request by Fine Gael candidate Anne-Marie Dermody.
Dermody lost out to independent Katherine Zappone by 152 votes following the 16th count last night. The Fine Gael hopeful had been some distance ahead in the battle for the fifth slot in the constituency up till that point.
Her team asked the returning officer for re-dos of the last two counts, which were undertaken at the Citywest Conference Centre today.
After a number of valid errors were uncovered in the process today, Dermody’s team asked for all of the earlier counts to be undertaken again.
That will start tomorrow from 9am. Zappone’s lead has been whittled back to 122 following today’s process.
“It’s the safest thing,” the Fine Gael candidate told TheJournal.ie this evening.
What’s happened is there have been enough errors unearthed to be justified in looking for a total recount.
She said that if a similar number of errors were found in other counts “that would add up to a significant number and certainly enough to reverse the trend”.
The recount was confirmed shortly before 6pm at the massive conference centre, following talks between the returning officer and the Fine Gael and Zappone teams.
Two of the best-known legal names in the country were involved in those talks, in fact – with Fine Gael bringing in their advisor Kevin O’Higgins, and former Tánaiste and Attorney General Micheal McDowell contributing on behalf of Zappone.
“I know that my team of volunteers will be here with me until I’m able to go over the finish line,” the senator said tonight. There was frustration among her supporters at Fine Gael’s decision to pursue the recount, as they made plans to clear the day and turn out once again at the centre.
The count staff will start again in the morning from count one, and the full process could take days.
The first four seats in the constituency went to John Lahart of Fianna Fáil, the AAA’s Paul Murphy, Seán Crowe of Sinn Féin and Colm Brophy of Fine Gael.
Meanwhile, full recounts are also taking place in Dublin South Central and in Wexford.
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