LIVE: Elections - Athlone Area (Westmeath County Council)

3.39 - John Dolan 4th candidate to be elected on the 9th count having garnered 1681. Keena, O'Brien and O'Rourke elected without reaching the quota. All over in Athlone finally!

3.19 - Five candidates -four seats - we're on the final furlong here in Athlone. Seems likely that Fianna Fáil's Vinny McCormack may be the one to lose out, faring poorly on the transfer front during the evening. Moate's Independent Cllr Michael looks to take the final seat

3.18 - New Fine Gael Cllr Tom Farrell has said he has fulfilled his life's ambition to become a councillor, following in the footsteps of his late father, Ned Farrell.

02.41: Tom Farrell has been elected on the 8th count to huge cheers in Athlone. Alan Shaw has been eliminated.

The full results are:

Dolan - plus 105 - 1345

Farrell - plus 75 - 1724

Keena - plus 143 - 1520

McCormack - 70 - 1080

O'Brien - plus 146 - 1354

O'Rourke - plus 102 - 1494

Shaw - plus 9 - 911

Tom Farrell had a surplus of 61, which would not materially effect the count and so Alan Shaw was eliminated.

 

2.05 - 7th count has elected no candidate. Tom Allen has been eliminated and his 769 are now being distributed...

The full results are as follows;

Allen - plus 2 - 769

Dolan - plus 1 - 1240

Farrell - plus 1 - 1649

Keena - plus 4 - 1377

McCormack - 0 - 1010

O'Brien - plus 5 - 1208

O'Rourke - plus 5 - 1392

Shaw - plus 3 - 902

No candidate has been elected on the 7th count. Tom Allen has been eliminated and his 769 is currently being distributed.

1.36 -Details of the 6th count as follows

Allen- plus 34 - 767

Dolan - plus 46 - 1239

Farrell - plus 32 - 1648

Keena - plus 56 - 1373

McCormack - plus 9 - 1010

O'Brien - plus 90 -1203

O'Rourke - plus 30 - 1387

Shaw - plus 16 -899

Non transferable votes - 214

No candidate has reached the quota on this count. They have proceeded to distribute Paul Hogan's surplus of 21.

1.14 - Alan Shaw's tenure on the council is all but over, just one of the standout points following the 5th count, while Michael O'Brien is looking good for the final seat albeit with a bit to go yet.

The full fifth count is as follows:

Distribution of Henson's 428 votes

Allen - plus 17 - 733

Devery - plus 51 - 527

Dolan - plus - 32- 1193

Farrell - plus 22 - 1616

Keena - plus 62 - 1317

McCormack - plus 10 - 1001

O'Brien - plus 29 - 1113

O'Rourke - plus 51 - 1357

Shaw - plus 45 - 883

No candidate reached the quota. Joe Devery has been eliminated and his 527 are being distributed.

 

1.11- 5th count here in Athlone - no one has reached the quota but Tom Farrell edging closer - he's now on 1,616, just shy of the 1663 quota...

Athlone count will continue tonight until finish... Joe Devery has been eliminated and they are now distributing his 527 votes.

12.52 - Full details of 4th count - the distribution of PJ Coghill's 333 votes

Allen - plus 32 - 716

Devery - plus 47 - 476

Dolan - plus 15 - 1161

Farrell - plus 33 - 1594

Henson - plus 18 - 428

Keena - plus 42 - 1255

McCormack - plus 6 - 991

O'Brien - plus 30 - 1084

O'Rourke - plus 39 - 1306

Shaw - plus 9 - 838

Non transferable 62

No candidate reached the quota. Jim Henson has been eliminated and his 428 are currently being distributed.

12.44 - 4th count in Athlone - No one has reached the quota. Jim Henson has been eliminated and they now proceed to distribute his 428 votes.

12.11 - 3rd count details - the distribution of 239 votes following the exclusion of Donal Jackson and John McNamara 

Allen T - plus 10 - 684

Coghill - plus 21 - 333

Devery - plus 35 - 429

Dolan  - plus 7 - 1146

Farrell - plus 9 - 1561

Henson - plus 22 - 410

Keena - plus 13 - 1213

McCormack - plus 2 - 985

O' Brien - plus 53 - 1054

O'Rourke - plus 11 - 1267

Shaw - plus 12 - 829

No candidate reached the quota on the third count. PJ Coghill has been eliminated and his 333 votes are now being distributed.

12.08 - 3rd count. No one has reached the quota. PJ Coghill has been eliminated and they are now working on transferring his 333 votes.

Midnight - The number crunching prior to the third count continues here in Athlone following the elimination of Jackson and McNamara.

11.43 - Plenty of supporters from Maryland/Tang in for Tom Farrell who is expected to be elected on the third count. Definitely the youngest age profile too...

11.35 - Third count expected shortly.

11.10 - 2nd count election results are in - Sinn Fein's Paul Hogan has been elected following the distribution of Boxer Moran's 1,234 surplus

Allen T - plus 27 - 674

Coghill P -plus 35 - 312

Devery J - plus 81 -394

Dolan J - plus 54 - 1139

Farrell T - plus 50 - 1552

Henson J - plus 73 -388

Hogan P - plus 261 - 1684

Jackson J - plus 27 - 68

Keena F - plus 166 - 1200

Mc Cormack V - plus 16 - 983

McNamara - plus 51 - 171

O'Brien M - plus 90 - 1,001

O'Rourke A - plus 208 - 1256

Shaw A - plus 95 - 817

Paul Hogan was elected on the second count. Jackson and McNamara have been excluded and their votes are being distributed.

 

10.46 - The first Athlone count has several talking points

- The monstrous first preference vote for Kevin 'Boxer' Moran 2,897
- In second place was Fine Gael's Tom Farrell, a previous Chairman of Westmeath County Board of the GAA with 1,502
- In third Sinn Fein's Paul Hogan with 1,423
- Fourth is John Dolan with 1,085 with Aengus O'Rourke next with 1,048 and Frankie Keena has 1,034.
- A battle royale expected for the final seat here with Vinny McCormack, Michael O'Brien and Alan Shaw  possibly battling it out.

 

10.38 -Ciaran Martin comes to the mike in Athlone but not the for the second count - a car is causing an obstruction...

10.28 - All the talk in Athlone is where Boxer's surplus of 1,234 will go... that will make things much clearer.. Staff are expected to make a call after the second count whether to continue for the night or stop and start back in the morning.

10pm - First Athlone count results are in.... As expected Boxer elected on first count.

Total Poll – 13,459
Spoiled - 157
Valid Poll – 13,302
Quota – 1,663

Count no
Allen, T (FF), - 647
Coghill PJ (Ind) - 277
Devery J (Ind) – 313
Dolan J (FG) - 1085
Farrell T (FG) - 1502
Henson J (Lab) - 315
Hogan P (SF) - 1423
Jackson D (Ind) - 41
Keena F (FF) - 1034
McCormack V (FF) - 967
McNamara J (Ind) - 120
Moran K Boxer (Ind) - 2897
O’Brien M (Ind) - 911
O’Rourke A (FF) - 1048
Shaw A (FG) – 722

Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran elected on the 1st count
His surplus of 1,234 is now being distributed

 

9.42 - So we hear the Champions League is going into extra-time, maybe an omen for the Athlone count!

9.37 - On the delays here in Athlone, one wag just quipped: 'There's a lot to be said for them voting machines'......

9.26 - The bad news is that all the bundled papers are being rechecked here in Athlone and a first count is now delayed.Some candidates believe it will now be closer to 10pm before we have white smoke.

9.12 -Aengus O'Rourke has arrived in Athlone which we hope means a first count is imminent...

9. 01 -The crowd has swelled here in Athlone with hope of a long awaited first count very shortly....votes are fully bundled.

8.36pm - The votes in Athlone are being bundled so talk of 9pm first count.

8.18 - Still no sign of first count it could be 9pm at this stage.

7.40pm - Independent John McNamara has said he is 'devastated' with his local tally vote of 115 but has pledged to remain in politics.

He said he hopes that an independent grouping or alliance will be formed next time to organise and structure candidates to gain as many votes as possible.

6.31 - First count not expected for another two hours at least.

5.40pm: Jim Henson has called Labour's performance all over the country a 'hiding'. He said he was disappointed, but not surprised with his vote.

5.20pm: A dejected looking Jim Henson has arrived at the count centre in Athlone ... talk of a first count possibly happening around tea time.

5.05pm: The big question is where will Boxer's surplus votes go? And the man himself says everywhere!

4.50pm: Plenty of candidates including a smiling Kevin 'Boxer' Moran watching votes being sorted in Athlone's Scoil na gCeithre Maistrí. 

4.40pm: Boxes have arrived in Athlone but the count has yet to begin.

Boxes expected to arrive at the Gaelscoil, Athlone around 4pm or so. 

Just got word that boxes are on the way to Athlone from Mullingar for the official count to begin.

Word from the number-crunchers regarding the Athlone Local Electoral Area (LEA) is that Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind.) will be elected on the first count; followed by Paul Hogan (SF), 5th count; Tom Farrell (FG), Aengus O'Rourke (FF) and Frankie Keena (FF) on the 6th; John Dolan (FG) on the 7th; and Ballymore's Vinny McCormack (FF) on the 8th. 

Council staff tell us there are a number of stray votes estimated by one official at 7, that need to be sent to the by-election count in Keenagh from the Athlone boxes.

It's also understood there are a few to come over from the Longford count centre as well to be added to the Athlone total. All of boxes will then be transferred to the Gaelscoil Athlone for the count when the stray votes arrive and are verified.

The count may start around 2.30pm or 3pm in Athlone 

12.43 -  The full tally for the Athlone Area shows a 73% turnout in Kilcleagh NS, Castledaly and Ballymore NS.

12.53 - Staff taking staggered lunch breaks in the Mullingar Park Hotel with all of the Mullingar boxes now opened

12.27 -  Overheard at the count 'If I was a betting man and I am, and it may go against the grain but I'd put my money on Vinny McCormack (FF) for the final shout in Athlone.

12.36  - Below is % votes for the Athlone candidates from the full tally. That's 45 boxes plus postal votes.

Allen - 4.9% 

Coghill 2.1%

Devery 2.3%

Dolan 8.2%

Farrell 11.3%

Henson 2.3%

Hogan 10.7%

Jackson 0.3%

Keena 7.9%

McCormack 7.4%

McNamara 0.9%

Moran Boxer 21.5%

O'Brien 6.6%

O'Rourke 7.8%

Shaw 5.5%

 

FF -26.1%

FG - 25%

Lab - 2.3%

SF - 10.7%

12.00 - Cllr Tom Allen spotted in the count centre here in Mullingar. He is one of the big stories of the day, according to the tallies  he is expected to lose out along with Cllr Jim Henson Labour.

11.56

11.52 - From the full tally the  Athlone voting breakdown is as follows

Ind - 33.9% 

11.25 

All the talk here in Mullingar is about the expected dogfight for the final seat in Athlone - it's seen as a scramble between Alan Shaw (FG), Vinny McCormack (FF) and Michael O'Brien.

11am: Full tally is as follows: 

Allen - 641

Coghill - 276

Devery - 298

Dolan 1026

Farrell 1,488

Henson – 305

10.20am - 31 boxes tallied

The state of play is:

Allen - 146

Coghill 166

Devery 211

Dolan 622

Farrell 356

Henson 267

Hogan 1079

Jackson 36

Keena 735

McCormack 103

Boxer 2,453

O'Rourke 854

Shaw 652

O'Brien 221

10.35am: Ballymore boxes being tallied at present. Talk of a quota of 1,500 or so. Three boxes in Ballymore show Vinny McCormack getting over 400 votes.

Hogan - 1,400

Jackson 43

Keena 1,040

McCormack 975

McNamara 115

Boxer Moran 2,825

O'Brien 898

O'Rourke 1,029

Shaw 717

9.58am - 15 Athlone boxes still to be opened. Boxer said to strolling ahead at this stage.

9.36am - Early tallies show Cllr Kevin 'Boxer' Moran polling extremely well. In one box from the Fairgreen, Athlone the Independent Cllr had 93 votes, following by Sinn Fein's Paul Hogan with with 48 and Aengus O'Rourke with 40.