Fianna Fáil's Barry Cowen becomes second candidate elected in ...

elected

Three seats remain in Midlands-North West as the count continues into the night.

LAST UPDATE | 38 mins ago

FIANNA FÁIL’S BARRY Cowen has been elected in Midlands-North West following the announcement of the results of the 20th count in Co Mayo today.

Cowen is the second candidate to be elected to the constituency after Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan passed the 113,325-vote quota yesterday.

Three seats are left to fill at the TF Royal Theatre count centre in Castlebar and candidates will be elected following the results of count 21, where Flanagan’s vote surplus will be distributed to the remaining candidates.

Cowen surpassed the quota after receiving enough transfers from running-mate Lisa Chambers, who was eliminated from the race after the previous count.

It is the first time the party has won a seat in the constituency since the new boundaries were changed 2014.

Flanagan’s votes are being distributed as his surplus exceeds the difference in votes between Independent Ireland’s Ciaran Mullooly Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew, in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Count 20 Elected @CowenBarry #midlandsnw @RTERadio1 https://t.co/xbJAC0BPDT pic.twitter.com/Ru2ZoGHThv

Gildernew and Ciaran Mullooly are battling it out for the fifth seat in Midlands-North West. On Tuesday, Gildernew told reporters that she was resigning to the idea of not winning a seat.

Flanagan was re-elected yesterday and became the first candidate to take a seat in the constituency as he surpassed the 113,325-vote quota, after topping the poll on the first count.

Fine Gael are tipped to retain two seats in the constituency.

Mullooly, a former RTÉ regional correspondent, benefitted the most from an earlier transfer from Aontú’s Peader Tóibín, picking up 10,093 votes. This boost likely kept him in the race.

Keep up to date with the latest results on The Journal’s count centre, here.