Moate election count postponed as ballots from Athlone fail to arrive
The 2019 local election in Westmeath took a bizarre twist this evening, as counting that was scheduled to take place in Moate was postponed because the ballot papers, which had been sorted in Athlone IT earlier, never arrived.
The boxes were opened and tallies were completed in the AIT Indoor Arena this morning and afternoon, and counting was then due to start in Moate Community Centre from 4pm.
However the count staff, the candidates, their supporters, and representatives of the media were all forced to play a waiting game throughout the evening as no ballots were forthcoming and there was no official reason given as to why this was the case.
At 9pm Ciaron Martin, returning officer with Westmeath County Council, announced that he was calling a halt.
“At this late stage of the evening and with no communication from the Local European Returning Officer on the release of Local Election Ballot Papers to me, I have decided to adjourn this count until 9am tomorrow morning,” he announced.
He stated that he had made this decision “in fairness to the candidates, who are waiting around here, and also my staff who are waiting here.”
Asked why the ballot papers hadn’t arrived, he said: “That’s a matter for the Local European Returning Officer.”
Mr Martin said the count staff would be aiming to work throughout the day tomorrow to get the count concluded by tomorrow evening.
Earlier, tallies had shown Fianna Fáil candidates Frankie Keena and Aengus O’Rourke in the two pole positions in the Athlone electoral area.
Fine Gael’s John Dolan also looks set to retain his council seat, while Jamie Moran, a 20-year-old son of Minister of State Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran is set to claim a seat on the local authority at his first attempt.
All of the intrigue in the Athlone area relates to the fifth and final seat. Louise Heavin is in with a real chance of claiming a first-ever council seat for the Green Party in Athlone, though Sinn Fein’s Padraig Hegarty, Independent (ex-Sinn Fein) councillor Paul Hogan, and Fine Gael’s Alan Shaw are all still in contention also.
In the new Moate electoral area Walderstown’s Cllr Tom Farrell (FG) and Ballymore’s Vinny McCormack (FF) are assured of seats, with the tallies showing Liam McDaniel (FF) and Johnnie Penrose (Lab) also polling strongly.
Independent councillor Michael O’Brien ran in both the Athlone and Moate areas, receiving over 1,000 first preferences in the latter, but in a social media post tonight he said “a miracle” would be needed for him to claim one of the four seats in the Moate area.
* Sunday's live updates from the count centre in Moate can be found at this link: