Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
WE NEVER PROMISED you it would be quick, but we’ve made good progress – well over half of council seats have been filled and we finally had a first count result in one of the three EU constituencies last night.
Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews and Regina Doherty of Fine Gael each won over 60,000 first preference votes in the Dublin EU constituency, leaving five candidates fighting for the remaining two seats. Our deputy editor Christine Bohan has crunched the numbers.
The big story so far has been the Sinn Féin slide in recent opinion polls being borne out in election results, with votes for the party even lower than that decline suggested.
Counting has wrapped for the night in Dublin, Castlebar and Cork in the European elections, with the majority of the local election count centres also calling it a night. We have election trackers for both the local and EU counts.
Hello, hello. Cormac Fitzgerald with you for the next few hours bringing you the latest from Day 2 of the count. I’m on my second coffee already and raring to go.
About 200 seats have been filled so far on city and county council across the country. That leaves us with about 750 or so still to go.
The majority of these will be filled today, as counting resumes this morning at 9am.
Some places went late last night. A special shout out to the counters in Leitrim, who finished up at 5am this morning. They’ve earned their lie in.
— Leitrim County Council (@leitrimcoco) June 9, 2024
For the rest of us, there is still an awful lot of counting to be done. As things stand, this is the state of the parties:
The Journal
The Journal
9 Jun 2024
8:54AM
Counting will also kick off in the European elections this morning. Ballots were separated out last night and brought to the three dedicated count centres in Dublin, Castlebar and Cork City.
Counting will begin of the many tens of thousands of votes today. But the results of the first count (if it is completed) will not be announced until 10pm tonight at the earliest.
That’s because counting has to finish in all EU countries before any results can be announced. Most countries, including France and Germany, won’t vote until today.
It will be a few days at least before all of Ireland’s 14 MEPs are elected. Back in 2019, the first MEP was not elected until Monday afternoon. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
9 Jun 2024
9:06AM
And they’re off!
Westmeath are first out the gate (with their tweet anyway), letting us know that the count has resumed in Moate.
Counting has resumed at the Count Centre in Moate, Co. Westmeath.
— Westmeath County Council (@westmeathcoco) June 9, 2024
Things kicking off again in Edenderry, Co, Offaly, too.
Day 2 of the Waterford Elections count just got underway here at @SETUArena.
— Waterford City & County Council (@WaterfordCounci) June 9, 2024
9 Jun 2024
9:28AM
While we wait for more results to come in, let’s take a look across the rest of Europe.
It’s no surprise that right wing and far-right parties have been signalled to make significant gains in this round of elections.
Italy voted yesterday, with far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hoping a strong showing from her party will strengthen her hand as a key EU powerbroker.
The Netherlands went to the polls on Thursday, and it’s predicted that right-wing PVV party will make the most gains, but a Green-Socialist coalition held strong, surprising many analysts.
Today is the big day, with 21 EU countries set to vote, including powerhouses Germany and France.
The shape of the EU Parliament is sure to look different this time around, which could significantly influence European (and as a result, national) policy for years to come.
You get up early, have your two coffees, get the liveblog set up, have everything ready to go and then you… wait.
In the lull between the restart of the count and announcement of results, let’s take a quick look at the state of play.
We have a handy article that we’re updating which shows who is elected in each of the 31 local authorities across the country.
As things stand, 197 out of 949 seats have been filled. The only county where the count has been completed is Leitrim, which kept going until 5am. Fair play to them.
To paraphrase the late, great Roy Orbison: They drove all night to elect the few.
The Journal
The Journal
The county had 18 seats to fill across three Local Electoral Areas. Fianna Fáil took the most seats (6), followed by Independents (5), Sinn Féin (4) and Fine Gael (3).
The huge showing for Independents has to be one of the main takeaways of this election so far. The trend towards unaligned councillors may indicate a general frustration with establishment parties, and will result in an interesting make up of councils.
For every other local authority there is still an awful lot more counting to be done.
— Monaghan County Council (@MonaghanCoCo) June 9, 2024
Count 2 in the Monaghan LEA has been completed, with no one else elected.
Sinn Féin’s Cathy Bennett topped the poll already in this 7-seater LEA and got a seat.
Raymond Aughey of Fianna Fáil ought to follow her, with a mix of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael candidates also in the mix.
9 Jun 2024
10:21AM
Labour Party councillor elected in Fingal
The Labour Party’s Robert O’Donoghue has been elected after the first count in the Rush / Lusk LEA.
O’Donoghue returned a whopping 3,185 first preferences, surpassing the quota of 2,042 by a wide margin.
His surplus will now be distributed and may help his party mate Corina Johnston (who also had a strong showing) also get over the line in the next count.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are also showing strongly in this 5-seater. As is Independent councillor Cathal Boland.
The following is the results of count 1 for Lusk/Rush Local Electoral Area:
Number of Seats: 5 Electorate: 26,494 Total Poll: 12,408 Invalid Ballot Papers: 157 Valid Poll: 12,251 Quota: 2,042
— Fingal County Council (@Fingalcoco) June 9, 2024
9 Jun 2024
10:25AM
Keeping with Fingal, and Independent Tania Doyle has been elected in the Ongar LEA.
Doyle was by far the most popular candidate, surpassing the quota by over 600 votes. Angela Donnelly of Sinn Féin is the next most popular candidate. Full results of the count here:
The Following is the results of count 1 for Ongar Local Electoral Area:
Number of Seats: 5 Electorate: 22,871 Total Poll: 8,676 Invalid Ballot Papers: 125 Valid Poll: 8,551 Quota: 1,426
— Fingal County Council (@Fingalcoco) June 9, 2024
9 Jun 2024
10:29AM
A bad day in Clontarf for Sinn Féin.
My colleague Lauren Boland is down at the RDS count centre, reporting that Alyssa Ní Bhroin has been eliminated, with her 552 votes to be redistributed.
Running mate Paddy Moloney still in the race but not a frontrunner.
Sinn Féin candidate Alyssa Ní Bhroin has been eliminated in Clontarf, with her 552 votes to be redistributed
At the start of writing this post, there were 210 councillors elected in local authorities across the country. By the time you read this, there will probably be more.
“I think I’m a strong, independent woman. I’ve worked very, very hard to get where I am. But when it affects your family, like my husband’s glasses were smashed into his face. He’s black and blue from head to toe. He’s a big gash, he’d blood all over his face. You say to yourself, is it worth it?”
Doyle continued to campaign, however, and has now topped the poll, showing the strong support for her locally.
9 Jun 2024
11:03AM
The count is underway in the European elections also in the RDS, but don’t expect any action until tonight.
Counting is underway this morning for the Dublin constituency in the European election - but there will be no real action until late tonight. pic.twitter.com/nkSgBKCIf2
While the Greens aren’t exactly soaring, it is far from the wipeout some people predicted.
9 Jun 2024
11:21AM
Okay, few more people elected now.
Popular Independent councillor Mary Farrell has topped the poll in the first count in the Kilmuckridge LEA and has been elected to Wexford County Council.
— Wexford County Council (@wexfordcoco) June 9, 2024
In Fingal, Luke Corkery of Fine Gael and Darragh Butler of Fianna Fáil has been elected to the Swords LEA on the first count.
9 Jun 2024
11:24AM
Sinn Féin’s Daithí Doolan may not be in the running for a European Parliament seat, but he has been re-elected in the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh LEA for Dublin City Council.
Our man in Cork Niall O’Connor is monitoring things in Nemo Rangers GAA Club where counting is underway for the Ireland South constituency for the European elections.
Counting underway at European count for Ireland South in Nemo Rangers, Cork city. Billy Kelleher (FF), Sean Kelly (FG), Kathleen Funchion (SF), Michael McNamara (Ind) performing well. Ballot papers are, for the most part, just two to three preferences. Early yet. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/Q8UxDUN88q
Reporting from the count centre, Niall says that it’s very early days but things already not looking too great for the Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan.
“Very noticeably people are not filling their ballots beyond three preferences,” Niall says.
Ballot papers are, for the most part, just two to three preferences. It will be very late tonight I suspect for a result.
9 Jun 2024
11:38AM
Lauren’s been chatting to Daithí Doolan who said that “strategic errors” were made during this campaign, which accounts for Sinn Féin’s poor showing.
Freshly re-elected, Councillor Daithi Doolan says Sinn Féin will need to examine “strategic errors” made during this campaign period but that the party still intends to “dislodge” Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael at the general election@thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/ivxMEU1fwo
In case you’re just joining us, some 230 councillors have been elected so far (out of 949).
9 Jun 2024
11:59AM
Sinéad Gibney, the Social Democrats’ candidate for the European election in Dublin, told our reporter Eimer McAuley she will run in the next general election.
“Politics is brutal” - Sinead Gibney of the Soc Dems says she doesn’t appear to be in contention for a seat in the European elections, says she will seek Dail nomination to run in general election. pic.twitter.com/BBtHuYFTYX
Here’s an update from the count centre in Cherrywood via our reporter Emma Hickey: Five candidates have been re-elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
Five candidates have so far been elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, all of which are re-elections. Marie Baker (FG), Micheal Fleming (IND), Lettie McCarthy (LP), Maeve O'Connell (FG), and Barry Saul (FG) all elected #LE2024#LocalElections2024@thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/O3GwjMAmxf
Almost three in 10 voters (29%) only decided who they were voting for in the last week, according to a poll carried out by Ireland Thinks and The Journal.
The Journal / Ireland Thinks
The Journal / Ireland Thinks / Ireland Thinks
9 Jun 2024
12:29PM
It could be late tonight before there is a first count in Ireland South, according to our man on the ground in Cork.
Ireland South looking like late tonight for the first count. Possibly 11pm approx. Walking around the various tables there are large “doubtful” piles but very noticeably people have gone with between three and five of their preferences on the lengthy document. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/bGbuyKS6f1
Independent Niall Boylan, currently in a race for the fourth MEP seat in Dublin, said he will “embarrass the Irish government in Europe” if he is elected.
He said he is “nervous” and that waiting for the results is “like waiting for your Leaving Cert”.
Niall Boylan said he will “embarrass the Irish government in Europe” if elected. Adds that he looks to be in for a nerve-wracking battle for the 4th Europe seat in Dublin - it’s likely to all come down to transfers. pic.twitter.com/RVvgr8kaSy
Keith Connolly (FF) has been re-elected in Ballymun-Finglas.
He just spoke to our reporter Lauren Boland.
Fianna Fáil Councillor @keithconnollyff, re-elected moments ago in Ballymun-Finglas, tells @thejournal_ie what the main issues coming up on doorsteps were and his forecast for who might fill the rest of the seats in the local area pic.twitter.com/7nCPV6j72U
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien (file photo) PA Images
PA Images
Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has said that Sinn Féin will not be satisfied with its electoral performance.
He told RTÉ Radio 1: “This was a party that was apparently just going to waltz into Government.
“It’s obviously clear that we’ve parts of the country where they’re in single digits, Dublin probably at 11, 12%. They can’t be satisfied with that performance.
“Of course, they’ll make gains because they’re coming from a very low base of about 9%. I don’t think the main opposition party can be satisfied with a gain like that.”
9 Jun 2024
1:01PM
O’Brien was asked if the”positive results” for Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in the elections mean that the general election should be held earlier than March next year, but he disagreed.
He told RTÉ: “We have been very clear. We’ve an important budget to do in the autumn, we’ve important legislation to pass like the Planning and Development Bill which is advancing through the Dail.
“I expect, as the three leaders have said, the Taoiseach, Tanaiste and Minister Ryan, that the Government will do its course.
“We have important work to do. Yes, of course, the results here today and for government parties are good because we want good councillors running our local authorities and representing our people.
“The European elections obviously we’ll know later on today as well. I expect the Government to see out its term.”
9 Jun 2024
1:06PM
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane has acknowledged that his party is “not where we want to be” after indications that SF has won around 11% of first preference votes based on declarations so far in the local election.
The party won 24.5% in the 2020 general election and had been polling above 30% until recent polls indicated a slide in their support.
Also speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Cullinane warned against underestimating the resilience of Sinn Féin and said some council seats would “come down to very complicated transfers”.
“Obviously we expected to do better, I’m not saying that it was a good result for Sinn Féin, of course I’m not.
Absolutely there was no complacency. When we don’t have a good day we accept it.
“We will have to ask the questions you asked me – why did we not get the votes that we expected to get?”
9 Jun 2024
1:13PM
Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam was re-elected in Dublin’s North Inner City. Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe was on hand to celebrate at the RDS.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said that his party, in some areas, “clearly weren’t up to scratch”.
On whether it’s Sinn Féin’s leadership that’s to blame, Carthy said they worked hard, but they need to be “humble” going forward.
“I think there was a sense over the past number of weeks that there was a drop perhaps coming but, quite frankly, nobody saw the results as they’ve be presented,” he said.
On candidates for Europe, Carthy says he’s “gutted” for those who haven’t come through, but still “anything could happen”.
“Our job as an opposition party was to give [voters] hope and to give them a route. We have to see what that route now looks like in advance of the general election.”
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan speaking to the media as counting continues in the TF Royal Theatre in Castlebar Niall Carson / PA Images
Niall Carson / PA Images / PA Images
The possibility of potential recounts in Midlands North West has already been raised by a leading candidate in the constituency, PA News reports.
The first results cannot be announced until after polling closes in each EU member state late on Sunday, but unofficial and incomplete tallies carried out by volunteers observing ballot boxes being opened provide some insight into the likely outcome.
In Midlands-North-West, there are 27 candidates fighting for five seats in the massive electoral region which spans 15 counties.
Because of a rising population in Ireland, the constituency’s boundaries have been expanded and its voters will elect one more MEP compared with 2019.
The current four MEPs are independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Fine Gael’s Colm Markey and Maria Walsh, and Sinn Fein’s Chris MacManus.
Speaking to reporters at the count centre in Castlebar today, Flanagan said he expects the count to last a number of days.
“There’s quite a lot of candidates here who are going to get a significant amount of votes and I think it’s nearly odds on that we’re going to have some sort of a recount – and potentially a recount at the end because I think it’s going to be close.
“So I predict – all I know is we booked a place to stay for the next week in Castlebar.”
9 Jun 2024
1:34PM
Mary Lou McDonald at the RDS
“We have made some gains,” Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald told reporters at the RDS this afternoon.
They are modest but they are there. It hasn’t been our day.
“Clearly frustrations, anger indeed, with government policy, on this occasion has translated into votes for independents and others.”
9 Jun 2024
1:37PM
Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam said he’s “over the moon” to retain his seat in Dublin’s North Inner City.
Fine Gael Councillor @RayMcAdam, who has taken the first seat in North Inner City, says he is "over the moon"
He says he expects Ind Christy Burke and Green Janet Horner, and potentially Ind Niall Ring, to also receive seats - "we'll see how it all plays out"@thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/HHlJ5dQRdo
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said Fine Gael’s outlook in Dublin Central is “very positive”.
"For Fine Gael in Dublin Central, it's a big day," says Minister Paschal Donohoe
He says Fine Gael outlook in Dublin Central is "very positive". Cllr Ray McAdam has just topped the poll in North Inner City and Donohoe says the party is hoping to take two seats in Cabra-Glasnevin pic.twitter.com/QRc2UCAebn
Mary Lou McDonald was in high spirits at the RDS despite Sinn Féin's poor performance Eimer McAuley / The Journal
Eimer McAuley / The Journal / The Journal
More comments from Mary Lou McDonald’s press conference at the RDS count centre.
The Sinn Féin leader told reporters “it hasn’t been our day” and she is “sorry that we didn’t do better” after a lacklustre performance for the party in the local elections.
Thanking Sinn Fein’s candidates, she said “obviously, we are disappointed that we didn’t manage to get more of them elected”.
“We have made some gains, they are modest, but they’re there. It hasn’t been our day. Clearly frustrations – anger indeed – with government policy on this occasion has translated into votes for independence and others.
We have to now prepare ourselves for the general election, whenever that will happen. We’ll take time to reflect.
“We’ve literally been on thousands, probably tens of thousands of doorsteps over the last number of weeks. We’ve listened very carefully to people.
“We now need to go and reflect on that, we need to learn from it. We will regroup. I am sorry that we didn’t do better.
“I know that we can do better and I am determined that we will do better.”
9 Jun 2024
2:00PM
“It wasn’t our day”. Mary Lou McDonald says SF hasn’t had the outcome it hoped for in the local and European elections, but she will continue on as leader. Said some voters angry with the Government have gone for independents and other parties. pic.twitter.com/MiDjlHZCNC
Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan told our reporter Diarmuid Pepper in Castlebar that he’s confident he’ll be re-elected as an MEP.
.@lukeming says he’s confident of retaining a seat in the midlands north west constituency based of the little information he’s received so far, but warns the count could last a week. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/ymaYNL49yP
Of the 16 councillors elected to Clare County Council so far, we have three Pats, three Joes and two Toms (in the interests of full disclosure, technically one is a Tommy).
Our assistant news editor Stephen McDermott is keeping track of how far-right and anti-immigrant candidates are performing around the country.
🧵Local election counts are coming in thick and fast,so here is a thread on how far-right and anti-immigrant candidates are performing around the country.
(This comes with a big caveat a it's a live situation and there will likely be developments by the time you read this...)
Some more May Lou McDonald updates from our reporters at the RDS:
Mary Lou McDonald says “everything is on the table” when it comes to a review of Sinn Féin’s performance - but not a change of leadership. Adds that leaders don’t step down when the going is “tough”. pic.twitter.com/vvMWadpJqp
The late former Taoiseach Charles Haughey - his grandson looks set to be elected to Fingal County Council today. Eamonn Farrell
Eamonn Farrell
Cathal Haughey, grandson of the former Taoiseach, is set to take a seat in Fingal County Council today.
He was within just over 300 votes of the quota on the second count in the Howth-Malahide LEA this afternoon.
This is his second attempt at a council seat.
Haughey, who is also a nephew of sitting TD Seán Haughey, ran unsuccessfully in Clontarf in Dublin City Council in 2019.
9 Jun 2024
3:17PM
'We never went away, but we’re back'
Fine Gael TD for Mayo Michael Ring told our reporter Diarmuid Pepper in Castlebar that it’s been a “great election” for Fine Gael.
“The battle is on for the next election now and Fine Gael are back. We never went away, but we’re back.”
He added that Simon Harris has done a “super job” and has “really lifted the campaign”.
Ring also said he is “hopeful” Fine Gael will win two European seats in the Midlands-North-West, and commented that he has “no doubt” Maria Walsh will be re-elected.
The party, he remarked, was “in a bad place a few months ago” but that’s not the case now and that while he would have voted for Paschal Donohoe in a leadership battle, he has been really impressed by Simon Harris.
“And the energy he has, he was running all over the place, and even the fox couldn’t catch him.”
Ring also compared the length of the ballot paper, with its 27 candidates, to “toilet roll” and said it was a “disgrace”.
9 Jun 2024
3:21PM
We’ve got some more sitting councillors celebrating re-election down in the RDS, where Lauren Boland is covering the excitement.
For Right2Change, Councillor @PatDunneI4C has been RE-ELECTED
Here’s a roundup from Emma Hickey, who is reporting from Cherrywood:
A quarter of seats available for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown have now been filled – all by current councillors.
Fine Gael has taken six of the ten seats, across LEAs Stillorgan, Dundrum, Dún Laoghaire, and Blackrock.
Two Labour candidates, Lettie McCarthy and Carrie Smyth, have held onto their seats, as well as two Independent candidates, Sean McLoughlin and Michael Fleming. Counting is proceeding quickly – with the fourth count of Blackrock announced only minutes ago (no candidates met the quota).
At the moment, it looks like the vast majority of current councillors will hold onto their seats, though a few newcomers are very much in the running.
As they say, it’s all in the transfers.
The award for most unenthusiastic election here at Cherrywood goes to Fine Gael councillor John Kennedy, who had the same reaction one might have to an ease in traffic.
Fine Gael are six votes from securing the election of councillor Pierce Dargan in the Glencullen-Sandyford ward, though current councillor Oisín O’Connor of the Green Party is not far behind.
It’s fair to say that if anything, the electorate of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown don’t seem to be ones for change.
As of 3:20pm, 321 out of 949 seats have been filled. Check out our updated overview of the results so far:
The Journal
The Journal
9 Jun 2024
3:37PM
Sinn Féin’s Kourtney Kenny and Mícheál MacDonncha have both been elected in Dublin’s South East Inner City, meaning all seats in the constituency have been filled!
Muiris O’Cearbhaill has an update from Weston Airport, where South Dublin County Council has had a busy afternoon.
Fine Gael candidates Vicki Casserly and Caroline Brady and fellow independent Liona O’Toole’s first-preference figures reflect that they they are likely to be elected to the five-seater some time later today.
The fourth count has just taken place and no one has reached the quota of 1,926.
Late last night, former Green Party TD and independent councillor Paul Nicholas Gogarty was elected to the Lucan LEA, topping the poll.
Tallaght South closed last night on a cliffhanger, with the Deputy Returning Officer informing hopefuls that the results of the first count would be announced early this morning.
Independent councillor and MMA coach Paddy Holohan topped the poll on the first count and was elected this morning. The second seat is likely to be awarded to incumbent Fine Gael councillor Baby Pereppandan later this afternoon.
Two councillors have been elected to Tallaght Central, independent candidate and incumbent Mick Duff topped polls with 1,938 first-preference votes. Fellow incumbent and Fianna Fáil candidate Teresa Costello was just behind Duff, and secured the second seat.
The fifth count for Tallaght Central was just announced, with no one reaching the quota of 1,870.
After securing the first Tallaght South seat this morning, Holohan could also be elected to Tallaght Central as transfers in the area have served the former Sinn Féin councillor well.
Nobody secured a seat from any of the counts in Palmerstown-Fonthill.
Independent incumbent Alan Hayes and Fianna Fáil incumbent Shane Moynihan are closest to the 1,616-vote quota, currently sitting on 1,408 and 1,390 votes, respectively, after the fourth count. Green Party candidate Karla Doran was eliminated.
In Clondalkin, the largest ward in this local authority, the popular independent incumbent Francis Timmons is the only candidate to be elected so far.
The quota in Clondalkin is 1,601 and it is a dog fight for the remaining six seats in Clondalkin.
People Before Profit Darragh Adelaide is likely to pick up the second seat, on 1,191 votes.
Fianna Fáil incumbent Trevor Gilligan is leading with 1,076 votes after the sixth count and fellow-party incumbent Shirley O’Hara is behind him on 1,016. Sinn Féin incumbent William Carey is neck-and-neck with Independent Ireland candidate Linda De Courcy, on 1,000 votes each.
Counters are currently transferring votes for the fourth count in Firhouse-Bohernabreena, where independent incumbent Alan Edge, Fine Gael incumbent Brian Lawlor and Fianna Fáil incumbent Emma Murphy have already been elected this morning.
Labour party incumbent Pamela Kearns was the first candidate to be elected to the Rathfarnham-Templeogue ward within the last hour.
Muiris O'Cearbhaill
Muiris O'Cearbhaill
9 Jun 2024
3:57PM
And that’s three seats filled in Dublin’s North Inner City!
Councillor Christy Burke has been RE-ELECTED in North Inner City
He joins Ray McAdam and Janet Horner to fill the first three seats of seven in that constituency @thejournal_ie
While things are speeding up locally, there’s still a wait for the EU election results, The Journal‘s David Mac Redmond reports.
While they won’t be published until all of the member states have voted, with Italy being the last to do so, there will be partial projections from the European Parliament beginning at 5:15pm today.
The partial projections will be based on aggregated exit polls and pre-election opinion polls, and on the make-up of the last Parliament.
A projection for how the full Parliament might look will follow at 7:15 pm.
9 Jun 2024
4:04PM
Speaking to Lauren Boland, newly-re-elected Janet Horner says she’s ”delighted” to be back in.
On climate, she says she is “hopeful” that enough candidates will be elected who have “strong ideas about what climate action needs to look like” at local authority level.
Green @JanetPHorner, re-elected to North Inner City, says she is "delighted" to be back in
On climate, she says she is "hopeful" that enough candidates will be elected who have "strong ideas about what climate action needs to look like" at local authority level@thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/8Z2WBWKHZb
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) June 9, 2024
The Sinn Féin leader said it’s clear that people have favoured independent candidates and those from smaller parties over hers, but she left out the fact that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have scooped the most seats so far.
Between now and the general election, she says, Sinn Féin is going to reflect, learn and adapt, so the party can “come back stronger”.
9 Jun 2024
4:34PM
Keeping it in the family
A whopping 10 Fianna Fáil TDs have had a sibling elected to local government!
Martin Harvey Returning officer for Ireland South tells our reporter Niall O’Connor that it will take a “miracle” to get a result tonight and it will go into tomorrow at least.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has arrived in the RDS in the last while – and he’s poured cold water on the prospect of an early general election on the back of Fine Gael’s performance in the local elections.
“My position in relation to that hasn’t changed,” he told reporters.
The Taoiseach says his answer won’t change - he’s not calling an early general election. Harris adds that he’s delighted by the performance of Fine Gael candidates across the country in both elections. pic.twitter.com/DS0Sn2NiMr
Harris has also hit out at Sinn Féin, after Daithí Doolan claimed yesterday that Fine Gael were “obsessed” with his party.
“Were not,” the Taoiseach says, adding: “Maybe if they became a little bit more obsessed with policy detail and playing a constructive role in solutions, maybe they’d be in a different position today.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris says Fine Gael is not obsessed with Sinn Fein, he says Mary Lou McDonald and her party should have been more obsessed with their own policies in the run up to this election. pic.twitter.com/8bQHYna9UV
Some photos here of Taoiseach Simon Harris greeting counters at the RDS, courtesy of our reporter Eimer McAuley.
The Journal
The Journal
The Journal
The Journal
The Journal
The Journal
9 Jun 2024
5:07PM
If you’d like to see some more snaps from count centres around the country, you can find some in our piece here.
9 Jun 2024
5:18PM
Meanwhile, in Cork, outgoing Green Party MEP Grace O’Sullivan has conceded that she is unlikely to retain her seat in Ireland South.
“I’m getting a sense that the tide is going out,” she told reporters.
While she said she has worked very hard over the last five years, she feels the voters “have other things on their mind” since the “green wave” in 2019.
Grace O’Sullivan of the Green Party believes she will not retain her seat in Ireland South. The reason? She said that cost of living and “people have other things on their mind”. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/CSE9oo9APV
Counting is underway in the European elections, but the results of the first count (if it is completed) will not be announced until 10pm tonight at the earliest.
9 Jun 2024
5:23PM
Some nice words here from Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin about the party’s newly-elected councillor in Clontarf, Alison Field.
Five years ago I knocked on Ali’s door in Raheny & she told me about her non-verbal autistic son who couldn’t get a school place.
I’ve never been prouder in my 20 years in politics. Well done to Ali, Dave, Molly & James. pic.twitter.com/qPtUWc5c0G
— Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (@AodhanORiordain) June 9, 2024
9 Jun 2024
5:25PM
Our reporter Niall O’Connor has been speaking to Martin Harvey, the returning officer in Ireland South, about how he thinks things are shaping up for his team of counting staff.
“We have 700,000 papers we are counting since early this morning since we started this morning. These are long, bulky papers with 23 candidates – we had hoped that we might have first count this evening but that is looking less likely now,” he said.
“We have a large staff of more than 200 people and we hope to utilise that staff today and keep working until tonight at 10 or 11 o’clock.
Harvey said it’s likely there won’t be a first count result there this evening and it will probably be tomorrow morning instead.
“It is similar in terms of volume – 23 candidates the last time, paper was more or less the same size, the numbers were similar enough. The last time we had a result on the first day or counting but this time, for whatever the reason is, it looks like we won’t have it until tomorrow.
Alessia Micalizzi has been taking a closer look at what’s been happening across Europe as these bumper EU elections continue – here’s the latest on Italy:
More encouraging data could be released within the end of the day as Italians have until 11pm today to elect the 76 MEPs who will represent the country.
There are six party leaders running for Brussels: far-right Brothers of Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Democratic Party’s Elly Schlein, centre-right Forza Italia’s Antonio Tajani, left-leaning Emma Bonino and Matteo Renzi who joined to create “United States of Europe”, and centre-left Azione’s Carlo Calenda.
However, due to their role in the national Parliament, five of them already said that they will turn down the seat if elected.
Although this strategy might have appealed to their most loyal voters, it might also have impacted the general interest in these elections in the country.
This was not the case for 105-year-old Erminia Di Gianantonio, the oldest voter in the country from Pisa (Tuscany). As reported in the RaiNews.it liveblog, she sorted out with Pisa city council the possibility to vote in the nursery home where she lives.
“I have never skipped a vote since 1946 [when women were allowed to vote for the first time in the country],” she said to RaiNews.
“It’s a right, but a civil duty too. I can’t imagine not doing it.”
Giorgia Meloni, who has worked closely with president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to bring forward tighter policies on migration, has given hope to all the established and emerging far-right movements in the EU, as she was able to gain influence and consensus in the European Parliament in spite of her extremist ideas.
The opposition Democratic Party, which stands in the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats with Ireland’s Labour, was Italians’ second choice in 2019 with 22.74% of votes. As their side of the Parliament increasingly lost consensus in the country, their success this time strongly relies on people actively wanting to fight the far-right rhetoric.
This could partly be achieved by a new law which for the first time allowed more than 23,000 Italian students living away from home to vote in the city where they are studying.
Long queues of students outside of polling stations were reported yesterday from the RaiNews.it liveblog in Bologna, a city typically known for its left-leaning student population.
An elderly woman checks her voting paper before entering a polling station in Milan today. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
As we mentioned earlier, Malachy Steenson was elected on the 12th count in Dublin’s North Inner City.
Malachy Steenson at the RDS this afternoon. RollingNews.ie
RollingNews.ie
Steenson is a former election candidate for the Worker’s Party who is now best known as an anti-immigrant campaigner. Steenson came to prominence during protests in East Wall, Dublin.
He signed a letter saying that access to the Port Tunnel would be blocked until the government gave into demands that a direct provision centre in the area would be closed.
Steenson campaigned saying that the asylum process in Ireland was flawed and that the system had been established so that landlords and charity controllers could generate wealth.
In May, Steenson said that an “assassination attempt” was made against him, after an incident outside his office in East Wall that led to one arrest. Steenson was not in his office at the time and arrived after the arrest had been made.
9 Jun 2024
5:42PM
The last of the three seats available in the Belmullet LEA in Mayo has been filled!
The three candidates to be elected there are:
Paul McNamara (FF) – elected on the fourth count
Gerry Coyle (FG) – elected on the fourth count
Sean Carey (FF) – elected on the fifth count
9 Jun 2024
5:45PM
Three members of the Healy-Rae family have been elected to Kerry County Council – exactly what happened in 2019.
26 election’s contested since 1973, 26 wins.
People can say what they like about us, but I’m proud to be a Healy-Rae and the people of Kerry have re-affirmed their support of our work this weekend. pic.twitter.com/GTSdbYRak0
— Jackie Healy-Rae (@Jackie_HealyRae) June 9, 2024
Jackie Healy-Rae was elected in Castleisland, his cousin Maura Healy-Rae was elected in Killarney and her brother Johnny Healy-Rae was elected in Kenmare. The three are grandchildren of the late Dáil deputy Jackie Healy-Rae.
Wondering how many Dublin LEAs have filled all of their available seats?
Fear not, my colleague Lauren Boland has got you covered:
There are now several local areas under Dublin City Council where counting has concluded and the ELECTED candidates have filled all the seats - here's how they look ⬇️@thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/7FbfNORw7x
Labour councillor Fiona Connelly has said it “still doesn’t feel real” after being re-elected to the Dublin City Council Kimmage-Rathmines LEA.
She told our reporter Lauren Boland that the key issues that people were bringing up while campaigning included parking, bus routes, housing and Rathmines post office.
Re-elected for Labour to Kimmage-Rathmines, @CllrFiConnelly says that it "still doesn't feel real", joking that she might go for another canvas later
Father-and-son candidates Baby and Britto Pereppadan, who have won a seat each on the South Dublin County Council for Fine Gael today, have been speaking to reporters in the last while.
“We are very happy,” Baby Pereppadan said. “We have worked very hard these last couple of months, he’s working full time and I’m a full-time councillor for five years.”
Our reporter Muiris O’Cearbhaill has the full story here.
As we approach 6.30pm, almost half of the 949 council seats have been filled so far.
We have a list of all of those filled seats that you can read here.
Here’s the state of the parties so far:
9 Jun 2024
6:29PM
As we reported earlier, while counting kicked off in the European elections today, we won’t have the results of the first count – if it is completed – until 10pm at the earliest.
Looking across to the continent, though, exit polling data suggests that far-right parties are performing well in Germany and Austria, as had been expected.
My colleague David MacRedmond has the latest here.
Alessia Micalizzi has been taking a closer look at what’s been happening across Europe as these bumper EU elections continue – here’s the latest on Belgium:
A big turnout at the elections can cause interesting complications, or so it seems in Belgium which usually has the highest turnout in the whole EU and where “numerous incidents” at the polling stations have been reported.
Maxime Prévot, president of Les Engagés (EPP), was almost pushed into a river, just after voting in his town Namur. Prévot told Belgian news publication L’Avenir:
“He was wearing a Palestinian flag on his back and yelling at me, saying I wasn’t doing anything for the Palestinian people.”
Everything ended for the best, but Prévot said he had “a bit of an adrenaline rush”.
According to Belgian media La Libre, voters across the country have then been turned back at polling stations due to technical issues.
In the latest update by Euronews, 15 stations still had issues 5 hours ago, and people waited up to two hours before being able to vote at a polling station in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, due to the high turnout and a computer system failure.
Unconfirmed reports in Belgian media have been suggesting that minors aged 16 and 17, who are legally allowed to have their say in the designation of MEPs, have been voting for the federal and regional elections too. As reported by Euronews, “this could lead to re-election in some polling stations”.
Maxime Prévot - voting earlier, before almost being pushed into a river. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
9 Jun 2024
6:33PM
Here’s how the Ireland South count centre at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork city is looking, courtesy of our man on the ground Niall O’Connor:
Independent Vincent Jackson has been re-elected to Dublin City Council for Ballyfermot-Drimnagh on the ninth count.
Longtime local rep Independent Vincent Jackson is re-elected to Dublin City Council in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh. Gets a congrats here from @bridsmithTDpic.twitter.com/C5tWgdb709
Emma Hickey reports from the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown count in Cherrywood:
Things has slowed down here. Many wards are on the fourth or fifth count. 15 candidates have been elected today, seven of whom are Fine Gael.
Candidates have turned their attention to the RDS, where a flurry of elections have taken place for the Dublin City Council, as action lacks here.
One newcomer, Fine Gael’s Pierce Dargan was held aloft earlier today, all smiles, as it was announced that he had met the quota.
Green Party incumbents Oisín O’Connor and Tom Kivlehan have held onto their seats.
Greens deputy leader Catherine Martin told The Journal that it looked like the Greens were going to keep all six of their seats on the council.
TD Richard Boyd Barrett has been holding down the People Before Profit camp for several hours here at the count centre. A former member of the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, he is championing fellow party members Dave O’Keefe in Killiney-Shankill, Melisa Halpin in Dún Laoghaire, and Cian Mac Aonghusa in Blackrock.
Halpin has held onto her seat. This is sure to be a relief for Boyd Barrett, who could be seen intently examining tallies across the day.
Fianna Fáil have had their first candidate elected, with councillor Shay Brennan from LEA Dundrum meeting the quota.
Minister Catherine Martin is happy with the performance of Green local candidates across the country, and says not to rule out Green chances in the European elections just yet pic.twitter.com/ARGQ6P2jAR
All six seats in Galway City East have now been filled.
Alan Cheevers (FF) and Independents Declan McDonnell and Terry O’Flaherty have been re-elected.
Former Independent Noel Larkin’s decision to run with Independent Ireland didn’t pay off, as he was not re-elected. Helen Ogbu, elected with Labour, arrived in Galway as a refugee in 2005 and is the first African woman ever elected in Galway City.
Galway City East LEA - Elected 🗳️
Cheevers, Alan (Fianna Fáil) McDonnell, Declan (Non Party) O'Flaherty, Terry (Non Party) Ogbu, Helen (The Labour Party) Burke, Aisling (Sinn Féin) Forde, Shane (Fine Gael) pic.twitter.com/20sAxRu2Ca
— Galway City Council (@GalwayCityCo) June 9, 2024
9 Jun 2024
7:01PM
My colleague Rónán Duffy has the latest from Dublin City Council’s Artane-Whitehall LEA, where Fianna Fáil’s Racheal Batten could be elected first.
The situation in DCC six-seater Artane-Whitehall where under 400 votes separate top 7.
FF's @BattenFf could be 1st elected on running mate's transfers.
A snapshot of the terrifying amount of junk food The Journal is being fuelled by as counting continues. Out of shot: a towering pile of empty pizza boxes.
We can only hope that counting concludes quickly for the sake of our health. (As you can see, the bananas are unopened and untouched, so we have only ourselves to blame.)
9 Jun 2024
7:14PM
Muiris O’Cearbhaill reports from the South Dublin County Council count at Weston Airport:
We are approaching double-digit counts here in the (very cold) airplane hangar at Weston Airport for South Dublin County Council. The seven-seater constituency of Clondalkin, which has just finished its ninth count, is still a tight race.
People Before Profit’s Darragh Adelaide is still slowly approaching the 1,601-quota – currently on 1,293. Of the remaining five seats, two could go to Fine Gael and one to Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Independent Ireland or Social Democrats.
Transfers are drying up too in Clondalkin, with the highest number of non-transferable so far votes being counted during the last count (97), meaning it could be the case that one, or more, of these candidates might not need to reach the quota.
There are still no candidates who have been elected to Palmerstown-Fonthill, where Fianna Fáil incumbent councillor Shane Moynihan and independent incumbent Alan Hayes are likely to take the first two seats.
No candidate has yet to hit the 1,616-vote quota as of the seventh count.
9 Jun 2024
7:20PM
Lord Mayor of Cork and Independent councillor Kieran McCarthy has been re-elected to Cork City Council for South East Cork City.
— Cork City Council (@corkcitycouncil) June 9, 2024
9 Jun 2024
7:26PM
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has arrived at the Ireland South count centre at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork city.
Speaking to reporters there, he says the results thus far demonstrate that Fianna Fáil is “a very, very competitive force in Irish politics”.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has arrived at Nemo Rangers for Ireland South Count. No stranger to this place - it’s his local club and his sons play here. Here’s his view of how things are going. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/5RgFNcjIih
To use a well-worn cliché, the pace of election announcements at the RDS count centre today were like buses – few and far between, and then all at once.
“It’s mixed feelings – it’s really important that we kick on from here and learn lessons and come back ready for the next election.”
Also promising some lesson-learning is Sinn Féin, whose high hopes have been somewhat dampened in these locals. Councillor Daithí Doolan, speaking to me after he was re-elected, said the party will need to examine “strategic errors” that were made during the campaign period but that it still intends to “dislodge” Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael at the general election.
Speaking to The Journal afterwards, the new councillor for South East Inner City said: “I’m from an area where I feel like we don’t get involved, we don’t use our voice… To me, it was really important that people are seen and heard and involved in the conversation.”
By this point, announcements of election winners were happening fast and furious.
Anti-immigration candidate Malachy Steenson was elected to North Inner City Dublin on the same count as the Social Democrats’ Daniel Ennis and Independent Nial Ring. Steenson made the most notable headway for the new hard right cohort of candidates in Dublin city today.
For Fine Gael, Taoiseach Simon Harris was over at the Simmonscourt wing of the RDS for the European count, where he was met with plenty of enthusiasm from members.
As we head now into the twilight hours, all the surprise and suspense has ended for several local areas where all the seats have been filled. Let’s see how the rest of the election for the country’s largest local authority plays out.
Diarmuid Pepper reports from the Midlands-North-West count in Castlebar:
Lisa Chambers at the count centre in Castlebar. Diarmuid Pepper
Diarmuid Pepper
At the Midlands-North-West count in Castlebar, Fianna Fáil Senator and European Election candidate Lisa Chambers says the party will take a seat, and that she is in the running for the fifth seat.
“Given that there appears to be a decline in the Sinn Féin support that we weren’t expecting – certainly on the level that’s there – that’s shaken things up,” said Chambers.
She added: “Maria Walsh, Luke Flanagan, Ciaran Mullooly, and Barry Cowen are doing well and that fifth seat will be between Nina Carberry, the Sinn Féin candidates and myself depending on how the transfers go.”
The constituency was previously a four seater but has gained a seat since the last election.
However, it will be a long time before the picture becomes clear, and a first count is nowhere near being available tonight.
Chambers also says Sinn Féin will be “scratching their heads” about their election so far and adds that Sinn Féin has got its messaging wrong in the past six months.
“It’s really interesting, because you’re looking at a party that were openly saying that their party leader was a Taoiseach in waiting and they couldn’t wait to have an election.
“I think they’ve made a couple of errors in the last six months in particular, on immigration, on housing, on key issues,” said Chambers.
“They’ve gotten their messaging wrong, they’ve tried to be all things to all people and speak out of both sides and we’ve a very informed and intelligent electorate and they saw that for what it was.”
Fianna Fáil are running three candidates in Midlands-North-West, and Chambers told reporters this evening she felt “two candidates would have been the right strategy”.
However, she said she “trusts” that the people who make these calls got their decision right.
“If you look at the geographic spread of our candidates, that was the rationale for running three, to have that geographic spread.
“We’ll know when the result is over if it was the right call, but we look to be having a good election.”
9 Jun 2024
7:53PM
We have the first projections from the European Parliament, based on estimates from 11 European countries and pre-electoral data for the remaining 16 countries.
Based on this, it looks like Ursula von der Leyen’s European People’s Party is on course to remain the largest party in the new European Parliament, with 181 seats.
Estimated composition of the new European Parliament based on estimates in 11 countries (🇦🇹, 🇧🇬, 🇭🇷, 🇨🇾, 🇩🇰, 🇫🇷, 🇩🇪, 🇬🇷, 🇲🇹, 🇳🇱, 🇪🇸) and pre-electoral data for the remaining 16 countries.
The first exit polls and results from France will be available in the next hours with polling stations closed at 8pm local time, reports The Journal‘s Alessia Micalizzi.
About 45% of the electorate voted by 5pm, when the latest update on turnout was given by the French Interior Minister. The final figure is expected to equal or pass the 50.12% turnout rate of 2019.
Last week, a poll from Le Monde found that Jordan Bardella, a candidate with right-wing Marine Le Pen’s party National Rally, would be the French voters’ favourite, with 32% support.
“Sunday is also a referendum in favour, or against, Macron’s politics,” Bardella told France 2 on Friday, and claimed that its party is not an opposition party anymore. On his X page, he added that it is, in fact, the only group able to defeat French President Emmanuel Macron.
The same poll then found that 15% of the electorate would be choosing Valérie Haye, Macron’s Renaissance party, but that there is the narrowest gap ever recorded between them and candidates for The Socialist Party, which are polling third with 14.5% of voting intentions.
9 Jun 2024
8:04PM
!Over 500 councillors elected!
We’ve passed the half-way mark, with 500 seats filled as of 7.45pm.
You can find a list of those elected councillors here.
We have officially crossed the half-way mark, with over 500 of the 949 council seats now filled across the country
— Highland Radio News (@HighlandNews) June 9, 2024
Meehan is the manager of Milford and District Resource Centre and an LGBTQ+ campaigner. He is also the first openly gay man to be elected as a public representative in Donegal.
Meehan campaigned on community development, social inclusion and rural regeneration. Speaking in the count centre in Letterkenny, he said he was proud to be elected “to represent the interests of all people in our local area”.
“At a time when we are seeing increasing divisions nationally, Friday’s vote is a ringing endorsement of what we in Donegal all know; our community is welcoming and progressive – we are unified and not divided,” he said.
“I am humbled to be a part of history today as the first openly gay man elected to public office in Donegal.
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who came out and voted, to those who worked tirelessly on my campaign and to all those who came before, paving the way for me to stand here today as a proud gay man and a proud member of our community.”
9 Jun 2024
8:14PM
Muiris O’Cearbhaill reports from the South Dublin County Council count at Weston Airport:
Philip Dwyer, far-right agitator and local and European candidate for Ireland First, was escorted out by gardaí at Weston Airport where votes are being counted for South Dublin County Council.
According to a statement from the spokesperson for the council: “Gardaí removed a candidate from Weston Airport count centre this evening following an altercation with another candidate at the centre.”
It’s understood the alleged altercation took place between Dwyer and a number of People Before Profit staff members, local candidates and elected TDs Paul Murphy and Gino Kenny, who were present at the centre.
It is further understood that Dwyer approached the party members and allegedly made a threatening remark towards a member of the group.
Videos circulating on social media of the incident appear to show Dwyer arguing with a number of People Before Profit members and later with Gardaí.
9 Jun 2024
8:16PM
Rónán Duffy reports from the Dublin City Council count at the RDS:
Plenty of seats to fill and storylines to follow at the Dublin City Council count centre in the RDS.
In the six-seater Artane-Whitehall LEA there are under 400 votes separating the top seven. No one has yet been elected, but with just eight candidates remaining, there is not long left.
Fianna Fáil’s sitting councillor Racheal Batten will benefit from transfers from her party colleague Aoibheann Mahon that should see her home, with the Social Democrats looking good to take two seats.
Veteran Sinn Féin councillor Larry O’Toole is 32 votes behind his party colleague Edel Moran and it seems likely that he’ll be the final elimination. Party activists could be heard joking with O’Toole about his retirement as they crunched the numbers.
There have been ten counts in the six-seat Ballymun-Finglas LEA and we should see the remaining five seats filled soon, with Fianna Fáil’s Keith Connolly already elected. It’s looking like a rare bright spot for Sinn Féin where they should see two councillors elected in the form of Anthony Connaghan and Leslie Kane.
Conor Reddy (PBP) and Mary Callaghan (SocDems) are each on course to take a seat each, with anti-immigration agitator Gavin Pepper also set to take a seat on the council.
Aside from the ongoing battles there have been the usual heart-warming scenes and candidates who put in the long hours are rewarded. There are few who have put in longer than Independent Vincent Jackson, elected in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh for a sixth term having served on Dublin City Council since 1991.
French President Emmanuel Macron casting his ballot for the European Parliament election at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France earlier today. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
French President Emmanuel Macron has dissolved the National Assembly and called new parliamentary elections after the far-right trounced his centrist alliance in EU poll projections.
My colleague David MacRedmond has the latest here.
9 Jun 2024
8:33PM
Labour’s Darragh Moriarty said he is “chuffed to bits” after being re-elected in Dublin’s South West Inner City on the 11th count, with 1,441 votes.
There are three more seats up for grabs, with Jen Cummins (SD) and Ammar Ali (FF) being the closest to reach quota. May Kelsey Daly (PBP) will likely lose her seat as she only had 753 votes so far.
The future is uncertain for Sinn Féin incumbent candidate Máire Devine, as the party decided to run three candidates in the LEA and Devine is now behind Independent Damien Farrell.
Chuffed to bits and incredibly proud to be elected to represent my community of Dublin 8.
A huge thank you to every single person who has trusted me with their vote.
All five seats up for grabs in the Dublin City Council Ballyfermot-Drimnagh LEA have been filled!
The five candidates to be elected there are:
Daithí Doolan (SF) – elected on the second count
Vincent Jackson (Ind) – elected on the ninth count
Hazel De Nortúin – (PBP) – elected on tenth count
Ray Cunningham (GP) – elected on the tenth count
Philip Sutcliffe (II) – elected on the tenth count
9 Jun 2024
9:02PM
Sinn Féin incumbent councillor William Carey has been re-elected to SDCC for the Clondalkin LEA on the twelfth count.
Sinn Féin incumbent councillor William Carey re-elected to Clondalkin on the 12th count. Second councillor elected to the ward. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/SOKT7dJIFj
Tense scenes as a full recount is called in the Swinford LEA in Co Mayo, with claims of ballots being “tampered with overnight”. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/Cy9HBalnyA
Political Editor Christina Finn reporting from the RDS
It has been a long day of counting here at the Simmonscourt for the European elections.
There has been bit of movement of late, with candidates such as Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan, Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty all arriving back at the count centre.
Count staff are now leaving for the day, with Andrews telling The Journal that the first count is due to be announced at 10pm.
Don’t get too excited though, it is unlikely that anyone has reached the quota, so it will be back tomorrow for the remaining counts.
Minister Simon Coveney has been speaking to my colleague Niall O’Connor at the Ireland South count centre in Cork, and he had strong words about what he described as te failure of extremist parties and candidates to make a breakthrough.
“The main message of this weekend, in my view, is that the centre ground of Irish politics has held through this round of elections,” said Coveney.
“And the far right and the far left and the populists in the Dáil in particular, have failed to gain the trust of the electorate in a way that they were expecting to, and in a way that, let’s face it, most in the media, were expecting them to aswell.
He said that is both reassuring and gives “pause for thought for everybody.” “If you see how populism has spread in many other European countries, very rarely to the benefit of those countries or or the societies that rely on those political systems – we haven’t seen that happen in Ireland in this round of elections, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Sean Kelly, who looks likely to top the poll in Ireland South whenever the results are announced (tomorrow? Tuesday? who knows!), has also been talking to Niall.
Dublin City Council has been firing through the results this evening, and has now filled eight of the 11 Local Electoral Areas in the capital city. Here’s how it’s looking right now.
The Ballymun-Finglas count has also just been completed in the last few minutes too, according to my colleague Rónán Duffy who is in the RDS.
How are things looking in Ireland South, I hear you ask? Well, counting is continuing but it’s looking likely that they’re going to adjourn soon and come back again at 9am tomorrow. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, etc.
And here’s some more on Dublin City Council from Rónán Duffy. Artane-Whitehall has just announced another count which saw Sinn Féin’s Edel Moran get over the line, in one of the more emotional moments that we’ve seen today.
We have a dogfight on our hands! The first count for the Dublin European constituency has Barry Andrews (FF) and Regina Doherty (FG) far out in front, but then there are just five thousand votes separating Lynn Boylan (SF), Ciaran Cuffe (GP), Aodhán Ó Riordáin (Lab) and Niall Boylan (II), with Clare Daly not too far behind.
It is, as always, all going to come down to the transfers.
The count is now going to adjourn for the evening before resuming in the morning. Want to make any predictions? Let us know in the comments.
9 Jun 2024
10:39PM
Meanwhile, counting has adjourned at the Nemo Rangers GAA Club count centre.
Our reporter Niall O’Connor says things will get back up and running at 8.30am tomorrow, with the first count for Ireland South expected around 12pm.
That is that for Ireland South. Martin Harvey Returning Officer has called it for the night - they will return at 8.30am to begin again. First count due around lunchtime then. @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/OBWySv5F6y
It’s all wrapped up in the Lucan LEA, with the five available seats now filled!
The successful candidates there are:
Paul Nicholas Gogarty (Ind) – elected on the first count
Vicki Casserly (FG) – elected on the eighth count
Liona O’Toole (Ind) – elected on the twelfth count
Caroline Brady (FG) – elected on the twelfth count (didn’t reach quota)
Joanna Tuffy (Ind) – elected on the twelfth count (didn’t reach quota)
9 Jun 2024
10:56PM
We have more recount news to bring you.
There will be three recounts in Wexford – in Gorey, Rosslare and Enniscorthy.
All three will begin at 10am tomorrow morning.
9 Jun 2024
10:59PM
As we reported earlier, Barry Andrews topped the first count for Dublin in the European elections, with Regina Doherty hot on his heels – but no candidate has met the quota on the first count
You can see the full results from Dublin on our database here.
9 Jun 2024
11:03PM
One more LEA completed – this time it’s Cork City South East.
The six successful candidates there are:
Terry Shannon (FF) – elected on the eighth count
Kieran McCarthy (Ind) – elected on the ninth count
Mary Rose Desmond (FF) – elected on the twelfth count
Des Cahill (FG) – elected on the twelfth count
Peter Horgan (LAB) – elected on the twelfth count
Honore Kamegni (GP) – elected on the twelfth count
Here’s how things are looking for the parties as of 10.51pm:
If you want to catch up on all the seats that have been filled so far, we have a handy list here.
9 Jun 2024
11:19PM
My colleague David MacRedmond has been keeping an eye on what’s happening in Europe. He writes:
Slovakia‘s Prime Minister Robert Fico suffered a surprise loss in the EU elections to the opposition liberals, weeks after he was gravely wounded in an assassination attempt.
Fico’s left-wing nationalist Smer-SD party expressed “congratulations to the winner of the election, Progressive Slovakia” and its new European parliament members, on its Facebook page.
Progressive Slovakia (PS) won 27.81% of the votes the EU election, meaning six seats in the European Parliament, according to results widely reported in Slovak media ahead of their official publication.
Smer-SD won 24.76%, yielding it five seats in the 720-member EU assembly. Far-right party Republika came third with 12.53% and two seats, the results showed.
Spain‘s right-wing Popular Party has won, just beating Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists, official results showed.
With 99% of ballots counted, the opposition PP won with 22 seats ahead of the Socialists with 20 seats, while the far-right Vox came in third with six seats.
We have some photos trickling in of some of the Dublin European Election candidates as the results of the first count were being read out:
Fianna Fáil European Election candidate Barry Andrews listens as the returning officer reads the results at the RDS. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Fine Gael European Election candidate Regina Doherty listens as the returning officer reads the results at the RDS. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Sinn Féin European Election candidate Lynn Boylan listens as the returning officer reads the results at the RDS. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
9 Jun 2024
11:30PM
All seven of the available seats in Limerick City East LEA have been filled!
— Limerick Council - Comhairle Luimnigh (@LimerickCouncil) June 9, 2024
The successful candidates in the area are:
Catherine Slattery (FF) – elected on the first count
Peter Coyle (FG) – elected on the first count
Joe Pond (FF) – elected on the second count
Elena Secas (Lab) – elected on the third count
Sarah Kiely (FG) – elected on the eighth count
Seán Hartigan (GP) – elected on the eleventh count
Ursula Gavan (SF) – elected on the eleventh count
9 Jun 2024
11:36PM
Tallaght Central LEA has also finished counting, with all six seats there now filled.
Tallaght Central has now filled all of its seats: Mick Duff (Ind) Teresa Costello (FF) Paddy Holohan (Ind) Niamh Whelan (SF) - 15th count Jess Spear (PBP)@thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/R7ZFGhdKxG
Patrick Pearse Holohan (Ind) – elected on the 14th count
Jess Spear (PBP) – elected on the 16th count
Niamh Whelan (SF) – elected on the 16th count
9 Jun 2024
11:39PM
All 63 Dublin City Council seats have now been filled!
Here’s how things stand for the parties there:
You can find all newly-elected local councillors here.
9 Jun 2024
11:45PM
All wrapped up in Clare County Council too, with all 28 available seats filled there.
10 Jun 2024
12:01AM
Muiris O’Cearbhaill sums up the state of play in South Dublin
We’re nearing the end of the night here at Weston Airport, but there’s still a way to go.
All seats have been filled on five of the seven wards in South Dublin County Council: Lucan, Firhouse-Bohernabreena, Tallaght Central and Tallaght South and in the last couple of minutes Clondalkin.
In Clondalkin, first time candidate for People Before Profit Darragh Adelaide has just been elected. He spoke to The Journal last year about using Gaeilge to confront anti-immigrant agitators.
Also in Clondalkin, sitting councillors Eoin Ó Broin (Social Democrats), Trevor Gilligan (Fianna Fáil) and Shirley O’Hara (Fine Gael) have been re-elected, along with Linda de Courcy of the Independent Ireland party.
In Tallaght Central in the past while, People Before Profit’s Jess Spear and Sinn Féin’s Niamh Whelan also just been elected.
Over in Tallaght Central, Independent councillor and MMA coach Paddy Holohan won a seat on the 14th count, after topping polls this morning. Holohan was previously in Sinn Féin but was suspended over comments he made about former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s heritage and about mysoginistic comments.
More than 300 votes were transferred to Holohan from far-right Ireland First candidate Philip Dwyer following his elimination on the 13th count, while most of Holohan’s surplus on his election went to People Before Profit’s Kieran Mahon.
So far we only have two councillors elected in leafy seven-seater Rathfarnham-Templeogue, the county’s largest ward: one Labour and one Independent.
In Lucan, Independent councillor Liona O’Toole hit the quota on the 12th count, with Fine Gael’s Caroline Brady and the Labour Party’s Joanna Tuffy also deemed elected. Just one councillor has been elected so far in five-seater ward Palmerstown-Fonthill, Fianna Fáil’s Shane Moynihan, after the tenth count.
10 Jun 2024
12:02AM
Our reporter Muiris O’Cearbhaill tells me it’s all done and dusted for the Clondalkin LEA too.
Darragh Adelaide (PBP), Eoin Ó Broin (SD), Shirley O’Hara (FG), Linda De Courcy (IndIre) and Trevor Gilligan (FF) have all been elected on the 15th count.
They join Independent Francis Timmons, who was elected on the first count, and Sinn Féin’s William Carey, who claimed a seat on the 12th count.
Francis Timmons (Ind) 1st count William Carey (SF) 12th count Darragh Adelaide (PBP) 15th count Shirley O’Hara (FG) Eoin Ó Broin (SD) Trevor Gilligan (FF) Linda De Courcy (II) pic.twitter.com/mgUbLqkznz
Staying in Donegal, Carndonagh LEA has finished counting with all four seats filled there.
The four elected councillors are:
Ali Farren (100%) – elected on the 1st count
Martin McDermott (FF) – elected on the 1st count
Albert Doherty (SF) – elected on the 6th count
Martin Farren (Lab) – elected on the 7th count
10 Jun 2024
12:13AM
Back in South Dublin County Council, newly-elected People Before Profit councillor Darragh Adelaide has been speaking to my colleague Muiris O’Cearbhaill after gaining a seat in the Clondalkin LEA.
“This is the start now,” he says.
Newly-elected PBP Cllr Darragh Adelaide: “This is the start now. We’ve to do something with the seat, and we’re going to.” @thejournal_iepic.twitter.com/DzmOpQGZhc
On that note, we’re going to wrap things up for the night. Thanks for staying with us throughout the day.
We’ll be back with the latest updates in a few hours. Goodnight!
Advertisement
Related Reads
Who is my local councillor? Here's a list of who's been elected
Taoiseach says local elections an 'unmitigated disaster' for Sinn Féin and rules out early election
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
115 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
@Andrew H: but it’s their culture. Their ethnicity allows them to break the laws that the rest of us would be fecked into jail for. When will this stop? When some judges child is injured or worse?? Is that what our judicial system is waiting for??
@Andrew H: Well the guards are investigating – emmm there are numbers plates and cameras on that road any of the cars driving along with people hanging out of them should be at least questioned – that would be a start!
ISPCA shocked and appalled and that’s the last we’ll hear of it! Must be great living with impunity outside the law and completely untouchable, tiz a great country once your not a law abiding citizen!!
@The Risen: It’ll go well with those who voted for them, because it’s the FF and FG mandate to not go into government with SF.
But you keep going on with your will of the people shite,
Oh and absolute disgrace that the comments are closed on the sulky race. They do not deserve any less judgement from your users just because its their culture!
Extremely demoralising to watch the coverage of this and the antics of the Healy Rae’s and that clown from Limerick. They should get in to Dail and get on with the job. The election happened almost 2 weeks ago and there has been no progress on govt formation. This country is a joke !!!
@Neil McAuley: That “clown” from Limerick is one of the hardest working politicians in the country which is why we elected him. As for the car, he is a member of a vintage car club and thought it would be a nice way to represent them. Lighten up a bit
@Tadhg Keating: how do u know how hard other politicians throughout the country work? I notice the people of Limerick County returned an FF, FG and a former FF politician Pretty uninspiring stuff.
@Neil McAuley: Thankful Richard saw of the Moon landing Denying Sinn Fein candidate in the final Count. That Vintage Car club raises money for Local Charities In Limerick so what harm if he used today to promote it a little, A very worthy cause.
@Neil McAuley: Damn right Neil, there’s only a few combinations that work.
The Oscars are over, the results are in, get back to work ye shower of wasters!
@Paul Furey: am feeling quite relaxed actually thanks. Most people would agree with my sentiments and that’s certainly the case on here, as evidenced by numerous comments that have been posted. cheers.
In other news I’ve just painted the outside of my house. As the weather is so damp it’s going to take hours to dry. Enjoy. https://youtu.be/PLOPygVcaVE
Thanks.
That reada cronin should be removed from the dail aling with a few others who should not be there. If our country hasnt gone down the pan it will now with sinn fein
@Paul Furey: I’ll tell ya something, those of a non SF persuasion that voted for her in protest at fffg may have decided differently where there 1 or 2 went if these tweets were publicised during the campaign.
Is it not all a bit farcical? Get in and make a government and fix the legacy problems that are health and homelessness. American cars and accordions are ya for real?
What a waste of time! Why don’t they just get on with electing a Taoiseach? None of their speeches make a blind bit of difference to how TDs are going to vote
The business in hand is the election of a Taoiseach. The Social Democrats will not be supporting any candidate because we believe it is meaningless for us to do so in the absence of a negotiated and agreed programme for Government. We are very clear and have said over the past week that this is not a personality or popularity contest. It has to be about the policies that respond to what the public has said to us in the past week. It is about having an agreed policy platform that will lead to a programme for Government.
Unable to post links, but that was taken from the Oireachtas’ Site, which was Deputy Shorthall’s Statement.
@UCC Social Democrats Society: Your party should climb down off of the fence and make a stand one way or another. Just sitting on your hands as you try to figure out which way the wind is blowing and where you might get more cabinet positions is just wrong. Have some principles and stand for something FFS!!
FF and SF plus Greens vote for Eamon Ryan for Taoiseach and let them form a Government.
FF can say it was formed by the Greens.
Then we can say it’s change
The barbarians never take a city until someone opens the gates for them. In this case it’s people voting for the populists – just look at two of the recent examples of the kind of language coming from these people. Depressing.
Almost 22,000 international protection cases pending at end of 2023, despite drop in applications
7 hrs ago
3.1k
executive orders
Trump grants pardons to 1,500 US Capitol rioters and withdraws from Paris climate accord
58 mins ago
6.8k
39
Wicklow
Man killed in stabbing near playground in Bray named locally as Willie Moorehouse
Updated
16 hrs ago
123k
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 138 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 94 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 123 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 93 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 68 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 67 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 33 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 29 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 115 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 56 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 67 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 74 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 39 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 23 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 77 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 87 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 64 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 46 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 75 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 54 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say