Galway East: 1st count expected shortly
Galway East could be the first constituency in the country to deliver a first count, with Returning Officer Derry Buckley expected to make the announcement within the next half hour.
There are three seats up for grabs in the Galway East constituency but no of the candidates are expected to exceed the quota of just over 10,000 votes in the first count.
The three seats are currently held by Sean Canney (Ind), Anne Rabbitte (FF) and Ciaran Cannon (FG) and the odds are currently favouring the same three being returned.
However, Fine Gael’s Pete Roche is within shouting distance of the third seat based on the final tally figures but he will be largely relying on transfers in the event of Fianna Fáil candidate Donagh Killilea being eliminated. But the situation will become much clearer once the first count is announced.