Counting was sluggish in Midlands-North-West and Ireland South as the RDS count centre for Dublin raced through the European Election ballots
The successful election of sitting TDs to Europe will not lead to an early general election, Tánaiste Micheál Martin has insisted.
Smaller candidates on both the right and left sides of the division were eliminated throughout the day. However, there was no discernible pattern in how votes were transferred to others. The candidates who were being eliminated in Dublin had fewer than 10,000 votes. It is expected that when voting resumes on Tuesday it may move much quicker as less popular people are eliminated.
Sitting Fine Gael MEP and former GAA President Sean Kelly was widely expected to top the poll in Ireland South and be elected on the first count. In Midlands-North-West, meanwhile, Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen and Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan were expected to be up against each other at the top of the poll.
With many current TDs appearing to be in contention for a seat in Brussels, questions have been raised about whether or not by-elections should be held to replace them or whether Taoiseach Simon Harris should call a general election. A by-election would have to be held to replace each successful TD within six months.
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