FINAL TALLY: Independents shine in Athenry-Oranmore
All of the boxes have been tallied in the Athenry-Oranmore electoral area and it looks a good election for the Independents.
The figures suggest that Independent candidates and outgoing councillors James Charity, Jim Cuddy and Gabe Cronnelly (formerly Sinn Féin) are all expected to be returned in the seven-seater.
The figures also indicate that Fine Gael’s candidate David Collins in Turloughmore and Monivea Fianna Fáil candidate Albert Dolan will also win seats for the first time.
But the remaining two seats are anybody’s guess at this stage. Fianna Fáil’s Michael Hannon in Claregalway will be hoping to benefit considerably if independent Josette Farrell is eliminated.
The remaining seat could be a battle between Liam Carroll in Oranmore and Athenry-based Helen Jennings of Fine Gael but Shelley Herterich of Fianna Fail in Athenry has also polled well.
So that will be a tight race to the finish and even those co-ordinating the tallies are not brave enough to give a prediction but they have said that former Mayor Liam Carroll cannot be ruled out at this stage.
But the star of the show has been 20-year-old student Dolan, whose father Michael F is a former general election candidate, as he absolutely blitzed his home area of Monivea as expected but also polled well in Athenry as well as getting a healthy vote around Claregalway and Oranmore.
At the moment the count is taking place in the Galway Lawn Tennis Club of the Connemara North, Gort-Kinvara and Connemara South.
Meanwhile in Leisureland, the tally of the 48 boxes in the Ballinasloe area has commenced and is at a very early stage.