GALWAY EAST - KITT, CONNAUGHTON, CANNON ELECTED, KEAVENEY SET TO TAKE FOURTH SEAT

BY DECLAN TIERNEY

The eighth count in Galway East has elected Micheal Kitt of Fianna Fail, Paul Connaughton and Ciaran Cannon of Fine Gael with a ninth count now taking place in Galway East.Barring a major upset, it now looks as if Colm Keaveney will take the final seat for Labour as Micheal Kitt’s surplus of 994 is currently being distributed.Keaveney is now 1,141 votes ahead of Tuam’s Tom McHugh of Fine Gael who now admits that the chances of him taking a seat are all but gone.The eighth count was the distribution of Independent candidate Timmy Broderick’s votes after he was eliminated after a recount.He transferred 1,735 votes to Micheal Kitt to give him the first seat in the constituency with Connaughton taking the second seat and Cannon the third.Tom McHugh told galwaynews.ie that he was disappointed but genuinely thought that there was the possibility of a third seat until Keaveney received substantial transfers from party colleague Lorraine Higgins.“After that I was always playing catch up as I went more than one thousand votes behind at that juncture”, he said and would not confirm if he intends fighting another general election.He said that he would be back in the Galway County Council chamber on Monday working on behalf of the people of the Tuam Electoral Area.McHugh also said that he would not fight another Seanad campaign after failing to get elected to the upper house after the 2007 General Election.