In brief
- Counting has resumed in the European elections. You can follow the results here
- Clare Daly and Ciarán Cuffe have been eliminated from the European Election in Dublin.
- It is expected it could be Thursday before Ireland South has its five seats filled
- Counting for the Dublin and Midlands–North-West constituencies continue with no candidates yet elected.
- Only a handful of seats remain unfilled in the local elections. See the full results in your area in maps and charts
- John Moran has been elected the Mayor of Limerick.
Local election results – State of the parties
European election results – State of the parties
9.53pm
Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews, Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty, Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan and Labour’s Aodhan Ó Riordáin have been elected as MEPs for the Dublin constituency.
All four confirmed their places in the European Parliament after they were the only candidates left remaining in the field after the 19th and final count at the RDS centre in Dublin.
Independent Ireland candidate Niall Boylan was the last to be eliminated from the closely fought contest.
Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, Tanaiste and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald and Labour leader Ivana Bacik were all at the count centre to congratulate their candidates as the result was announced.
9.12
In the Midlands North-West, there has been eight counts, with no change to the top five.
Luke Ming Flanagan still leads with 80,484 votes, with Nina Carberry in second with 74,955.
Barry Cowen and Maria Walsh are just behind, with Ciaran Mullooly for Independent Ireland with 58,802 votes.
Michelle Smith has been eliminated and her votes will be distrubuted.
8.12pm
Reflecting on the loss of his seat, Ciarán Cuffe suggested the issue of migration had dominated the European election campaign over concerns about the climate.
“I think we have seen the rise of those voices who don’t feel the state should be involved in helping the most vulnerable and I think I certainly have campaigned all my life to help the most vulnerable in society. I’ll continue to do that and my party will continue to do that,” he said.
“I think we need a green and a social transition. We need to help, particularly those who are facing difficult circumstances, and I think we need to be building bridges, not erecting walls in Europe.”
He added: “I think what characterised the 2019 election was the extraordinary urgency of the need to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss. I don’t think those issues have gone away. It’s a bit like having a hole in the roof of your house and saying ‘ah, we’ll get around to that in a few years’ time’.
“I think we absolutely have to face up to climate breakdown and biodiversity loss, we have to ensure a green transition, but clearly at a European level the issue of migration featured very strongly.
“It had to, given that the issue has been on the front page for a long time and that we really have had challenges in accommodating 100,000 Ukrainians and others who have fled persecution and violence, so that did dominate a lot of the campaign.”
7:38pm
Ciarán Cuffe has become the second MEP in Dublin to lose his seat following the 18th count.
Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty remain on course to secure two of the four seats after 18 counts, alongside Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan.
With one more count to go, Niall Boylan leads Labour’s Aodhan O Riordain for the final seat.
7.28pm
Pearse Doherty has ruled out any interest in replacing Mary Lou McDonald as leader of a bruised Sinn Fein following worse-than-expected election results.
It comes after Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said Sinn Féin’s slide in public support may not be over.
Mr Toibin, who was previously a Sinn Féin representative, said there were “serious questions” about Ms McDonald’s leadership and added that Mr Doherty’s name was coming up “more and more”.
However, Mr Doherty rejected the suggestion on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters at the TF Royal Theatre count centre in Mayo, he said: “There is no question within the party in relation to the leadership of Mary Lou McDonald.”
Asked by reporters if he had any interest in being leader, he said: “No.”
6.43pm
As we await the final counts in Dublin, it is Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's Regina Doherty still lead the way.
Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin picked up significant transfers from Brid Smyth to put her in a commanding position to take the third seat.
Aodhan O'Riordain has now overtaken Green MEP Ciaran Cuffe, and it looks set to be a battle between the Labour TD and Niall Boylan for the final seat.
5.55pm
Four candidates have been eliminated from the Ireland South European election.
Sean Kelly remains the only candidate elected for Ireland.
Independents Ciaran O’Riordan and Christoper V.S. Doyle and Ross Lahive from The Irish People are out of the running for a seat in the European Parliament after the fourth count.
It’s expected there will be ten counts this evening. However, it’s understood MEP Billy Kelleher will not be re-elected until Wednesday.
Michael McNamara, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Mick Wallace are still expected to take the third, fourth and fifth seats.
5:40pm
Fianna Fáil European election candidate Cynthia Ni Mhurchu has said she is “absolutely honoured” to have received enough number one votes to put her in fourth position in her five-seat constituency.
Ms Ni Mhurchu, an Irish speaker who co-hosted the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, said they ran a “military-style” campaign for three months up to polling day.
On her status as a so-called celebrity candidate, she said she was “chuffed to get any label” and would not mind being called “mother or slogger or grafter or lawyer”.
“The celebrity factor obviously helped but only with an older cohort, and obviously we know that more people came out to vote,” she said at the Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork.
“But funnily enough, when I was canvassing younger people, they actually responded to the fact that I wanted to be positive, centrist, slightly left of centre, but we actually wanted to get a lot of work done for the south east and the rest of Ireland South.”
Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly became the first of five MEPs in the 10-county constituency to be elected after two days of sorting and counting.
He surpassed the quota of 114,761 with 8,000-odd votes to spare.
5:28pm
Independent candidate John Moran has made history by becoming Ireland’s first ever directly elected mayor after winning the race to be Limerick’s first citizen.
Moran topped the poll on 28,451 votes after the final count.
Speaking on his historical win, he said:“It’s an emotional day for everybody. Everybody knows we started this journey more than five years ago, in terms of getting a plebiscite to work.
“It was obvious to the people of Limerick then, as I think it is more obvious today, that there’s a system of government in Ireland needs to change, to re-establish democracy.
“I think that it was amazing to see that this was a campaign – and I would say that about all the other candidates – that we picked up votes right across the county.
“I think the vision we all have for Limerick was the same and now it’s a case of just implementing that vision.
“It’s about bringing places together. It’s not about politics that only speaks to a small group of a people or to a particular group in one area of a county or otherwise.
“I think we’ve done a brilliant job and I say fair play to Limerick. They came out in numbers to actually vote for this role.”
5.02pm
Clare Daly has lost her seat as an MEP in Dublin in the 17th count, as she failed to benefit from Brid Smith's transfers.
Daly was on almost 33,000 votes following the 16th count, some 5,000 votes behind her closest rivals Aodhán Ó Riordáin and Ciarán Cuffe.
She was hoping that she would get enough transfers from People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith who was on 28,772 votes.
Daly finished with 39,334 votes after receiving 6,464 transfers from Bríd Smith.
Several reporters asked outspoken former MEP Daly to comment as she left the RDS count centre after being eliminated. She declined.
When approached by RTÉ, the Independents 4 Change candidate said: “You had no interest in talking to me for five years, so I’ve no interest in talking to you.”
Ms Daly then walked out of the centre along with a group of supporters.
Lynn Boylan received a considerable 5,899 transfers bringing her to 53,248 votes.
Independent Ireland candidate Niall Boylan remains in fourth place with 44,932 votes followed by Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordán who now has 41,911.
4.48pm
We are now in count number seven in the Midlands Northwest, with Justin Barrett from the National Party eliminated.
Luke Ming Flanagan is still in pole positionn with 79, 582 votes, followed by Nina Carberry, Barry Cowen Maria Walsh and Ciaran Mullooly.
4.05pm
The two Sinn Féin candidates in Midlands Northwest have conceded that it is ‘very unlikely’ they’ll take a European seat in the constituency.
After Count five in Castlebar, Michelle Gildernew is over 12 thousand votes behind former RTE correspondent Ciaran Mullooly, who sits in fifth place.
Luke Ming Flanagan, Nina Carberry, Barry Cowen and Maria Walsh all now look certain to take the first four seats.
Michelle Gildernew says she believes her chances of taking the last seat are slim.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted, we’re still in the mix, but I’m probably not over optimistic I can overtake Ciaran Mullooly at this stage. I think he’s probably going to scrape in with the last seat.
3.32pm
Brid Smith of People Before Profit – Solidarity said left wing parties needed to “cop on” and encourage more vote transferring between themselves.
Reflecting on her campaign after being eliminated in the European parliamentary race at the 16th count in Dublin, she said she was encouraged to have secured support from places and voters that would not ordinarily be thought of as sympathetic to the political left.
She said she believed the narrative around the advance of the far right was “overstated”, albeit still “worrying”.
“I think it’s worrying that far right candidates can move in and get council seats, but not that many."
“But what we have to do on the left is to be more cohesive and more coherent and transfer more strongly to each other.
“Like Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael transfer strongly to each other and the left needs to cop on and vote left and transfer left. We said that right throughout this election campaign, it’s been one of our slogans, and we think that that needs to happen from here on in. If that happens, it would marginalise the far right as well.”
3.21pm
In the Limerick Mayor election, Fianna Fáil’s Dee Ryan has been eliminated with 18,875 votes.
It is now between Independents John Moran and Helen O'Donnell.
Ms Ryan’s votes will now be distributed between the two candidates and will determine who will emerge the winner.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Ryan said: “I am very proud of my husband, my friends and everyone who rode in and got involved. We had a ball and couldn’t have wished for a better campaign. I’m really encouraged by the fantastic welcome that I got from the people of Limerick.
“It was an honour to get out and meet people. Fair play to the independent candidates, they ran excellent campaigns.
“I’ve no doubt that Limerick will choose the right mayor. I look forward to getting behind and supporting the right mayor when they are announced. I am very proud.”
2.59pm
Bríd Smyth has been eliminated from the European Election in Dublin.
Barry Andrews and Regina Doherty continue to lead the way after the 16th count.
Lynn Boylan is still in third and has opened more daylight between her and the chasing pack, with Niall Boylan in fourth.
However, transfers from the Social Democrats have brought Green MEP Ciarán Cuffe back into the race in fifth, ahead of Aodhan Ó Ríordáin of Labour and Independent Clare Daly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
2.47pm
The first candidate has been eliminated from the Ireland South European Parliament election after the second count.
Independent Ciaran O’Riordan from Cork city received 2,485 votes.
There could be at least 10 more counts before the next seat is filled by Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher and that may not happen until tomorrow.
The top five remains unchanged, with Michael McNamara, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and MEP Mick Wallace all in the running.
__________________________________________________________________________________
2.10pm
There will be “strong” public support for Micheál Martin to become Taoiseach again after the next election, a Fianna Fáil junior minister has said.
Jack Chambers said that he saw “huge warmth and support” for Mr Martin’s leadership while canvassing during the local and European elections.
Mr Chambers, who was the party’s director for the local elections, also said that Sinn Féin’s lacklustre result was not a failure of strategy, and more a “rejection of Sinn Féin’s message”.
He also joined the number of senior Fianna Fáil figures who have criticised internet panel polling in the wake of a strong performance from the party in the local and European elections.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
1.30pm
Fine Gael’s Daniel Butler has been eliminated in the contest to become Limerick’s directly-elected mayor.
He is the 12th candidate to been eliminated from the election.
The Fine Gael councillor’s votes will now be distributed among the remaining candidates, which includes the frontrunner John Moran, independent candidate Helen O’Donnell and Fianna Fáil’s Dee Ryan.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Butler said: “You go into an election to win it and I was in it to win it.
“There was a lot against us. We came in very late, we came in in the middle a change of leadership in the Fine Gael party and my director of elections lost his mother during it, and our house was threatened, and the safety of our family was threatened and compromised during the election.
“But we fought on and fought a very good campaign, and I think the vote that I got is reflective of the energy and innovation that I fought in the campaign.
“I fought a very high-calibre campaign and delivered a lot in a short period of time.”
1.05pm
The latest update from Ireland South is that the result of the distribution of Sean Kelly’s 8,000-vote surplus could be announced around mid-afternoon today.
Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly became the first MEP elected on Monday night, taking the first of five seats in the constituency.
Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher, who is more than 20,000 votes short of the quota, appears to be in line for a good proportion of the transfers.
After those votes are distributed, the candidates on the lowest number of votes will be eliminated one by one and their votes distributed, with Mr Kelleher hoping to get elected this evening.
Next in the race for the remaining seats are independent TD Michael McNamara, Fianna Fáil candidate and 1994 Eurovision host Cynthia Ni Mhurchu. Outgoing MEP Mick Wallace, Sinn Féin TD Kathleen Funchion and the Green Party’s Grace O’Sullivan also look to be contention.
The count in Cork could extend into Thursday. Follow the latest here.
12.15pm
Counting is back underway at the RDS for the Dublin constituency, but it will be a while before anyone is elected.
Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews continues to lead the way with over 63,800 votes – 1,300 clear of Fine Gael's Regina Doherty.
After that, Niall Boylan is in third with over 39,600 – 1,100 clear of Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan in fourth. Her running mate Daithí Doolan's 11,000 votes are currently being distributed.
Incumbent Green MEP Ciaran Cuffe is next on 33,000, marginally clear of Labour's Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.
Click here to get the latest on the count.
11.25am
Sinn Féin's Maurice Quinlivan has been eliminated from the Limerick mayoral race on the ninth count.
The TD finished the race more than 9,400 votes behind Independent candidate John Moran, who currently has 20,982 votes.
His votes will now be distributed among the remaining candidates, which includes the frontrunner Mr Moran, Independent candidate Helen O’Donnell, Fianna Fáil’s Dee Ryan and Fine Gael’s Daniel Butler.
Speaking afterwards, Mr Quinlivan said: “It’s a long count. The count is progressing and I want to thank everybody who came out and voted for myself.
“I really appreciate every single person who took time to come out, but also to thank those people who engaged in the mayoral campaign in the last number of weeks.
“I think it was a really positive campaign. One of the most positive campaigns we have been involved in.
“All the candidates did themselves good. So, I want to wish whoever wins all the best for the role.”
11.10am
There will be “strong” public support for Micheál Martin to become taoiseach again after the next election, a Fianna Fáil junior minister has said.
Jack Chambers said that he saw “huge warmth and support” for Mr Martin’s leadership while canvassing during the elections.
Mr Chambers, who was the party’s director for the local elections, also said that Sinn Féin’s lacklustre result was not a failure of strategy, and more a “rejection of Sinn Féin’s message”.
Fianna Fáil figures have praised Mr Martin’s leadership as part of the reason for its steady performance.
Mr Martin said his party had done “far better than predicted”, and that “the moral of the story” of the elections is that polls should not be taken as “gospel”.
Mr Chambers agreed: “I think polling is having a disproportionate impact on the wider public narrative about party support.
“I think we have to be more balanced in our assessment or when we hear about the margin of error of polls, if the polling companies now set out that the margin of error is plus or minus 8 per cent, maybe that’s a more accurate margin of error.”
He said he did not panic when polls put the party at the mid-teens, but said it was “frustrating at times” to have to respond to a “national narrative” about the party’s position.
10.45am
The Taoiseach has expressed concern about the growth of the far right in Europe and said Ireland is not immune to that rise.
Far right parties are doing well in the elections across Europe, with some anti-immigration candidates getting elected to councils here.
"We have seen it significantly grow in some European countries and we are not immune from that here," Mr Harris told Newstalk on his way to a Cabinet meeting this morning.
The Taoiseach said now is the time for centrist politicians to show "courage and guts" on the big issues that are concerning voters.
10.20am
Is a general election looming after these latest results?
The Irish Independent and the Irish Daily Mail have front page stories today about the prospects of by-elections and a snap election after a steady showing for the Government parties in the local and European polls.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald last night challenged the Taoiseach to “bring it on” and call an early general election.
She also rejected any suggestion Taoiseach Simon Harris would be doing her a favour if he stuck to his original plan to go to the polls in early 2025.
We can expect speculation over a Dáil election to grow further over the coming weeks and days...
Read more: Tuesday's front pages
9.50am
Independent candidate John Moran topped the Limerick mayoral election yesterday, but vote counting in the landmark poll will continue today as he remains well short of the quota.
Mr Moran received a total of 18,308 first preference votes in the first count, and was followed in second place by another independent candidate, Helen O’Donnell, who received 12,903 votes.
Fianna Fáil candidate Dee Ryan is in third place while Fine Gael’s candidate Daniel Butler was in fourth place. Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan was in fifth place.
The quota is 39,873 votes.
9.30am
After three days of counting, there are still unfilled seats on some councils. Here is a quick rundown:
- Carlow – 2 seats to fill
- Kildare – 3 seats to fill
- Meath – 5 seats to fill
- Offaly – 2 seats to fill
And here's the current state of the parties in local authorities:
You can compare this year's local results with the 2019 election and get further detail on the vote share in your area by clicking here.
9.05am
Counting also resumes later in the Midlands-North-West constituency, where Fine Gael looks set to get both sitting MEP Maria Walsh and newcomer Nina Carberry elected.
Luke Ming Flanagan topped the poll, and is closely followed by Fianna Fáil's Barry Cowen.
Former RTÉ reporter Ciarán Mullooly is in a good position to take the fifth and final seat, while Sinn Féin is likely to miss out.
The fourth count will get underway at the TF Royal in Castlebar at 10am this morning.
8.55am
Daithí Doolan's 11,000 votes will be distributed as counting resumes for the Dublin constituency later this morning.
They're likely to benefit his Sinn Féin running mate Lynn Boylan, who was overtaken by Independent Ireland's Niall Boylan into third place at the 13th count last night.
Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews and Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty continue to lead the way.
Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe and Labour's Aodhán Ó Ríordáin are also in the mix for the final two seats.
8.45am
Good morning.
With vote counting set to resume, there are still 12 of the 949 council seats to be filled, 13 of the 14 seats in the European Parliament to be confirmed, plus a mayoral contest in Limerick to be decided.
We'll bring you the latest throughout the day here on breakingnews.ie.
