Galway East General Election 2024 updates: Albert Dolan (25 ...

Seats filled: 0

Tallies indicate first major wins and casualties in tight race

8pm – First count results

The results of the first count are in at last and as it happened, it was a full recount that caused the delay. Albert Dolan has just edged ahead of Seán Canney with 110 more first preference votes (10,140 to 10,030). Unseating Mr Canney as Galway East’s biggest vote getter is an achievement in itself.

Both will have to wait to reach the quota of 10,843. Louis O’Hara is in third for Sinn Féin at 7,459 votes, followed by Pete Roche (Fine Gael) on 5,521 and Declan Geraghty (Independent Ireland) on 5,150.

Mr Roche will wait to see how much of a transfer he’ll get from running mates Clodagh Higgins on 3,458 votes and Niamh Madden on 2,765. Mr Geraghty is expecting a large amount of Luke Silke’s (Aontú) 1,554.

Fear of trouble for Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fáil) are confirmed with the sitting TD well behind Mr Dolan on 4,056. Fergal Landy, running as an independent after a run for the Labour Party in the recent European Elections, has been eliminated.

7pm – The wait goes on

We’re still waiting on first count results here in Headford. There was optimism it could be done for mid-afternoon. That waned to 6pm, now at 7pm the earliest we’re expecting a result in 45 minutes at the very earliest. There are murmurings of some “rechecking” of votes going on and counting staff are still working hard.

Fine Gael’s local team have grown nervous over the chances for their leading candidte Pete Roche. They have an eye on Declan Geraghty of Independent Ireland who is close behind him, who is set to be the beneficiary of Aontú’s transfers once Luke Silke is eliminated.

Louis O’Hara has once again pulled in an impressive first preference vote for Sinn Féin but much like 2020, he will be wondering where the 3,000 or so transfers he’ll need to get over the line are coming from.

13.30pm – Dolan the potential poll topper

With a final tally complete, it’s Albert Dolan of Fianna Fáil who looks set to top the poll just ahead of independent Seán Canney. Mr Dolan was hotly tipped to pick up a seat here with a proven track record for getting a big vote out in the 2019 and 2024 local elections.

He became the youngest ever Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council in June and beating Mr Canney in the race for first preferences would be another great achievement in its own right.

With Mr Dolan and Mr Canney certainties to be elected, Louis O’Hara (Sinn Féin) is in third and looks comfortable on 13.7pc. Next is Pete Roche of Fine Gael on 9.7pc and Independent Ireland’s Declan Geraghty just behind on 9.4pc.

Mr Roche will get a boost from transfers by way of his two running mates Clodagh Higgins and Niamh Madden and will benefit from Mr Canney’s surplus once he is elected.

Mr Geraghty meanwhile, is expected to benefit from the potential elimination of outgoing Fianna Fáil TD Anne Rabbitte. An outgoing Minister of State, Ms Rabbitte hasn’t made up enough ground in the tallies and those who tipped Mr Dolan to overtake her for the constituency’s Fianna Fáil seat look set to be proven right.

11.30am – Anne Rabbitte in trouble?

We have a tally for 57 boxes now and Seán Canney continues to lead at 34pc. His bigger early lead was down to most boxes having been opened for his area around Tuam and north Galway, so candidates from other parts of the constituency are performing better now.

The potential big news early doors here is that Anne Rabbitte, an outgoing Minister of State for Fianna Fáil, could be in trouble. She was trailing significantly earlier on but would have expected to claw back into contention once Portumna and south Galway boxes were opened. Some of those boxes have been opened and she trails still, on 5.6pc.

Fine Gael’s Pete Roche remains second in the tallies on 13.3pc and is a solid bet to retain the seat vacated by the retiring TD Ciarán Cannon. He is followed by Louis O’Hara of Sinn Féin (11.9pc) and Albert Dolan of Fianna Fáil (11.2pc).

Both Mr Dolan and Mr O’Hara are in their mid-20s and represent the same LEA on Galway County Council, Athenry/Oranmore. Mr O’Hara has the advantage of name recognition across the constituency after coming close to taking the last seat here in 2020, while Mr Dolan has more experience as a councillor and a proven-track record as a vote-getter.

10.15am – Canney leading the way

With 30 boxes tallied out of a total of 169, we have confirmation of what we knew all along – health warnings for tallies notwithstanding – Seán Canney’s seat is safe and the outgoing independent TD is on his way to topping the poll in Galway East yet again.

Mr Canney is on a massive 44pc of the more than 9,400 votes tallied – the boxes being counted in the early going have largely been in his local area around Tuam and north Galway, where he will poll strongest.

Next up is Fine Gael councillor Pete Roche on 15.3pc. He was expected to do best out of his party’s field of three candidates and should be in line for a seat. Then comes Louis O’Hara of Sinn Féin, who came agonisingly close to a seat here in 2020, on 11.3pc.

Albert Dolan of Fianna Fáil is on 9.3pc, out ahead of party colleague and outgoing TD Anne Rabbitte. Some have tipped Dolan to overtake the outgoing Minister of State, but she should have no cause for concern yet with the boxes in her locality around Portumna yet to be opened.

The state of the main parties in the early tallying: Fine Gael on 18.3pc, Fianna Fáil on 11.9pc, and Sinn Féin 11.3pc.

Independent Ireland’s candidate and Williamstown-based councillor Declan Geraghty, tipped by some to perform well in this rural constituency, is the best of the rest on 6.2pc.

9.45am – Counting underway

Counting is well under way and going at pace here in Presentation College Headford.

A big team of tally people are hard at work putting an early picture of the first preferences together.

We should have an idea which direction the wind is blowing in very soon – expect outgoing independent TD Seán Canney to do very well in the early going, particularly in his local Tuam boxes.