LAST UPDATE | 30 Nov

GERRY ‘THE MONK’ Hutch is still well in contention for a Dáil seat in Dublin Central.

It’s now pretty much a two-way battle between Hutch and Labour’s Marie Sherlock for the fourth seat in the constituency. 

The sixth and final count for Dublin Central this evening left Hutch at a total of 3,733 and Sherlock at a total of 2,917. Malachy Steenson, who was eliminated in the six count, will see his 2195 votes distributed tomorrow when the count resumes at 10am.

It is expected that Steenson’s surplus will be of greater benefit to Hutch than Sherlock, further widening the gap between them.

A  small group of supporters of Hutch were present in the RDS tonight and were hopeful of his chance at victory.

Hutch was absent from the RDS count centre today, but it is expected that he will arrive tomorrow if things look to be going in his favour.

Earlier, Mary Lou McDonald was re-elected on the third count – the Sinn Féin leader coming in ahead of Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe and Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats (4,464) on course to take the third. 

Gannon said earlier that Hutch’s candidacy was unexpected, but put his popularity down to media attention and long-held hurt in the community.

“For me, it’s not just about what happens and who takes the fourth seat. I think it’s a reflection of the fact that there’s a lot of hurt, there’s a huge amount of pain.”

He said years of austerity “destroyed the fabric of communities”, including those in Dublin Central.

“I appreciate what the headlines will be today and tomorrow, but I do encourage everybody to go beyond them and look deeper, because when people are hurting to the extent that they are in some of the communities that I represent, or the length and breadth of Ireland, you’re going to see outcries of that.

“It’ll manifest in different ways and I think we’re seeing one manifestation of that today.”

Gannon said he doesn’t believe support for Hutch is a “protest vote” against the government, but rather a “cry for help” – “not help from that individual (Hutch), [but] from the State that has neglected them”.

“Those communities have been torn apart. There are three generations of families living under one roof. There’s an inability to access basic services,” he said.

“Don’t ask them to act in a normalised expectation of behaviour, because that’s not going to happen. We’ve seen the results of that today.”

Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan told the BBC earlier that it “sends out a negative message about Ireland” if Hutch gets elected.

Speaking as he arrived at the RDS count centre this evening Paschal Donohoe said it was important to point out that the “vast majority” of voters in the constituency had not backed Hutch’s Dáil bid. 

A notorious gangland figure believed by gardaí to be the leader of the Hutch organised crime group, the 61-year-old was arrested and charged in Lanzarote by Spanish police investigating alleged organised crime activity last month. 

He was subsequently released on €100,000 bail and registered his candidacy, giving his profession as “consultant”.

With reporting from Jane Matthews