Galway West 4th Count: A wasteland for Labour
Galway West was once a stronghold for the Labour Party – but it is now a wasteland as its candidate, Níall McNelis has been eliminated on the fourth count. The Labour city councillor garnered just over 1,548 first preferences, well shy of what was required to be in the shake-up in Michael D Higgins’ former stomping ground. Derek Nolan topped the poll here in Galway West in 2011 but lost his seat after winning just 3,220 first preferences in 2016. McNelis’ polled about half that this time out – a blow after the party lost one of its two Council seats back in the May 2019 Local Election. The distribution of Aontú’s Cormac Ó Corcorain’s votes pushed Éamon Ó Cuív (FF) ahead of Sinn Féin’s Mairead Farrell as both close in on the quota. Noel Grealish (Ind) took the biggest chunk of Ó Corcoráin’s transfers – 345 in total – as he solidifies his position in third place in this five-seater. The 1,593 total votes of McNelis, who was not seen at the count centre today, will now be redistributed in the fifth count.
GALWAY WEST: Seats: 5 Electorate: 104,825 Total Poll: 60,764 Spoiled: 423 Total valid poll: 60,341 Quota: 10,057
FOURTH COUNT:
Transfer of Ó Corcoráin 1,118 votes: Cuív, Éamon Ó (FF): +269 (8,825) Farrell, Maireád (SF): +70 (8,814) Grealish, Noel (Ind): +345 (8,541) Connolly, Catherine (Ind): +82 (5,775) Naughton, Hildegarde (FG): +22 (5,667) Kyne, Seán (FG): +31 (5,345) Crowe, Ollie (FF): +103 (5,310) O’Reilly, Pauline (Green): +45 (3,811) Ó Tuathail, Niall (Soc Dem): +32 (3,793) Cubbard, Mike (Ind): +62 (2,802) McNelis, Níall (Lab): +16 (1,593) ELIMINATED Non-transferable: 41 McNelis’ 1,593 now to be distributed
THIRD COUNT:: Transfer of Loughnane and Burke’s 957 votes: Farrell, Maireád (SF): +258 (8,744) Cuív, Éamon Ó (FF): + 22 (8,556) Grealish, Noel (Ind): +37 (8,196) Connolly, Catherine (Ind): +215 (5,693) Naughton, Hildegarde (FG): +28 (5,645) Kyne, Seán (FG): +22 (5,314) Crowe, Ollie (FF): +27 (5,207) O’Reilly, Pauline (Green): +111 (3,766) Ó Tuathail, Niall (Soc Dem): +131 (3,761) Cubbard, Mike (Ind): +43 (2740) McNelis, Níall (Lab): +23 (1,577 Cormac Ó Corcaráin (Aontu) +21 (1,118) ELIMINATED Non-Transferable: 19 Ó Corcoráin 1,118 now to be distributed
SECOND COUNT: Transfer of Darragh O’Flaherty’s 318 votes: Cuív, Éamon Ó (FF): + 12 (8,534) Farrell, Maireád (SF): +22 (8,486) Grealish, Noel (Ind): +116 (8,159) Naughton, Hildegarde (FG): +8 (5,617) Connolly, Catherine (Ind): +39 5,478 Kyne, Seán (FG): +8 5,292 Crowe, Ollie (FF): +5 5,180 O’Reilly, Pauline (Green): +5 3,655 Ó Tuathail, Niall (Soc Dem): +7 3,630 Cubbard, Mike (Ind): +21 2,697 McNelis, Níall (Lab): +6, 1,554 Corcoráin, Cormac Ó (Aontu): +39 1,097 Burke, Conor (Sol): +17 512 ELIMINATED Loughnane, Joe (PBP): +8 445 ELIMINATED Non-transferable: 5 Loughnane and Burke 957 votes to be distributed
FIRST COUNT Cuív, Éamon Ó (FF): 8,522 Farrell, Maireád (SF): 8,464 Grealish, Noel (Ind): 8,043 Naughton, Hildegarde (FG): 5,609 Connolly, Catherine (Ind): 5,439 Kyne, Seán (FG): 5,284 Crowe, Ollie (FF): 5,175 O’Reilly, Pauline (Green): 3,650 Ó Tuathail, Niall (Soc Dem): 3,623 Cubbard, Mike (Ind): 2,676 McNelis, Níall (Lab): 1,548 Corcoráin, Cormac Ó (Aontu): 1,058 Burke, Conor (Sol): 495 Loughnane, Joe (PBP): 437 Flaherty, Darragh (Ind): 318 ELIM