- Almost 40 council seats have been filled in the local elections as the counting begins to wrap up on Saturday
- The Government parties are doing much better than expected, while it has been a disappointing campaign for Sinn Féin
- Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are battling each other to be the largest party in local government
- The Greens are also doing better than expected, and Independents are seeing gains
- Ballots for the European and Limerick mayoral elections will be counted on Sunday and Monday
21.50
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said there has been “no massive breakthrough for the far right in these elections” based on the tallies to date.
“That can only be a good thing,” the Fianna Fáil TD said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the Independent candidates that get elected “will be varied and diverse” and not all will be far right, but he urged them to make sure that councils run efficiently and effectively.
“There’s been too much of people having a free lunch on councils for far too long,” he said.
Read more: ‘No massive breakthrough’ for the far right in elections
21.45
Some more seats filled as the vote counts continue into the night.
Naoise Ó Muirí of Fine Gael and Deirdre Heney of Fianna Fáil, two long-standing councillors in Dublin City, have been comfortably elected on the first count in Clontarf.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil’s Bernard Moynihan has been elected on the first count in the Kanturk LEA in Cork after getting slightly over 3,000 votes.
21.10
Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty has told RTÉ that the party will make gains in some counties, but they would have to “dust themselves down” and look at “the lessons that can be learned”.
Its Cork North Central TD, Thomas Gould, said that the party still has a chance of increasing its seats across Cork city and county.
“It’s just that we don’t know how much yet,” he said at the Cork City Hall count centre, adding that despite poor turnout in some core areas, “we’re hopeful”.
As things stand at 9pm, Sinn Féin has taken only one council seat, compared to nine for Fianna Fáil and 12 for Fine Gael.
20.50
Conamara North in Co Galway and Corca Dhuibhne in Co Kerry are the first LEAs to fill all their seats.
An Independent candidate, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Independent Ireland won council seats for Conamara North.
While Sinn Féin, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil took the seats in Corca Dhuibhne.
20.35
Michael Healy Rae’s son, Jackie Healy Rae junior, has been elected on the first count in the Castleisland LEA of Kerry County Council.
Jackie Healy Rae elected in Castleisland with almost a quota and a half pic.twitter.com/qUDjO7Sebd
— Seán Mac an tSíthigh (@Buailtin) June 8, 2024
Check our dedicated results page to get the latest on the results in Kerry.
20.10
Fine Gael's Tommy Kinsella has been returned to the Bagenalstown LEA of Carlow County Council.
While Tom Brabazon of Fianna Fáíl has been elected to the Donaghmede LEA of Dublin City Council with 2,759 first preference votes.
19.40
Independent candidate Paddy Holohan may win two seats on South Dublin County Council.
Tallies suggest the former MMA fighter will top the poll in Tallaght South – but he also looks likely to take a seat in Tallaght Central after deciding to stand in both local electoral areas. If Mr Holohan does win a second seat, he can nominate his preferred candidate to co-opt.
Mr Holohan was elected as a Sinn Féin councillor in 2019 but left the party after making comments about then taoiseach Leo Varadkar in his weekly podcast.
19.23
Independent candidate Declan Meehan is set to become the first ever openly gay man to serve on Donegal County Council.
Tally figures seen by RTÉ show that the community worker is in line to top the poll in the Milford LEA.
Speaking to RTÉ, Mr Meehan said he hopes to be an inspiration for other members of the LGBTQ+ community who may be reluctant to enter local politics.
Donegal is also set to elect councillors from the 100% Redress party, which is campaigning for 100 per cent redress for homes affected by mica and defective blocks.
18.50
The first councillors have been elected to Dublin City Council.
Fine Gael's James Geoghegan and Hazel Chu from the Green Party were elected on the first count in Pembroke.
James Geoghegan (FG) and Hazel Chu (Green) both elected on the first count in Pembroke - the first elected to Dublin City Council for 2024-2029. pic.twitter.com/E0OBfLajjo
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 8, 2024
View our dedicated results page for Dublin City Council to get the latest updates.
18.25
Minister for Finance and senior Fianna Fáil politician Michael McGrath said it was early days but the tallies “give some encouragement that the party has done well and has certainly defied opinion polls”.
He said online polls in particular “seem to underestimate” the strength of Fianna Fáil.
“Overall, I’m satisfied the early signs are that we will have a reasonably good outturn in Cork city and county and around the country,” he said while at Cork City Hall.
Asked whether the party would retain its position as the largest party in local government, Mr McGrath said the party would be “there or thereabouts”.
“It looks like it will be between us and Fine Gael,” he added.
18.00
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said it is likely that party colleague Aodhán Ó Ríordáin could win a seat in the European elections.
Asked whether she believes he will pick up a seat in the Dublin constituency, Ms Bacik said: “It looks like it certainly. It’s early days and obviously we don’t have anything like a decent tally but certainly, yeah he’s in the mix.
“We are delighted in Labour to see positive signs across the country. We ran a lot of new candidates and we were delighted at how strong the campaigns were that we ran.
“We’ve got some gains likely it seems, though it’s early days yet.
“We’ve got some great new faces, like Darragh Moriarty, in the south west inner city in Dublin.”
17.48
Fine Gael's Tommy Griffin has been elected on the third count in Corca Dhuibhne.
For more details of the vote in Kerry, view our dedicated results page.
Tommy Griffin of Fine Gael has been elected in Corcha Dhuibhne pic.twitter.com/jUlIgcfNKi
— Radio Kerry (@radiokerry) June 8, 2024
17.10
Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said his party is “doing far better than predicted”.
“The idea that Fianna Fáil would be coming in a distant third is completely disproven,” Mr Martin said at Cork City Hall this afternoon.
“I’ve been looking at opinion polls now for the last three years, this ‘internet panel’ polling having Fianna Fáil at 14 per cent and 15 per cent. Clearly Fianna Fáil will be well ahead of that and will be over 20% by the time all of these counts are collated and put together.
“We put up a very robust performance and we’re holding our own compared to our performance in the general election of 2020.
“We’ve had a great result here in Cork so far it seems on the tallies, although an awful lot will be determined by the the transfers and by the later counts. I think this will go well into the early morning.”
He thanked outgoing councillors for the party’s “robust” performance and to Jack Chambers as the party’s director of elections for the local elections.
“A tremendous comprehensive approach by Jack as director of elections, and that clearly has yielded results.”
16.55
Minister of State and Fine Gael TD Colm Burke has said he is “very happy” with how the party is faring in the local elections in the north Cork area.
Asked about the impact of new Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, Mr Burke said: “In fairness to Simon Harris, he’s put in a new energy, he’s done everything possible to get a positive view out there for Fine Gael.
“The European elections is a challenge, it’s such a big constituency. When I ran in 2009, we had only Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, five counties, there were still 11,000 ballot papers with no mark of any description on them because people who came out to vote in the local elections had no interest in the European elections,” he said.
“Therefore, when the constituency runs all the way from Wicklow to the Dingle peninsula, then you’re bound to have a problem in relation to name recognition.
“I think it’s interesting to watch the ballot papers this morning for the Euro elections where, I think, most ballot papers had only marked a maximum of five names, they didn’t go beyond five names.”
He added: “I saw some ballot papers where they marked, 1 John Mullins, 2 Billy Kelleher, or 1 Billy Kelleher, 2 Sean Kelly. I didn’t see the ballots, but my understanding is that Michael McNamara did very well up in Clare, that may benefit him when the first count results come through.”
16.21
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has said the idea that Sinn Féin will inevitably be in the next Government has been “shattered”.
The Fine Gael stalwart said: “The early tallies show that there is a large majority of people who are willing to vote in a very different way to how extremists and the far right will make the case for.”
Mr Donohoe added: “I think there is a very compelling narrative to be made – at a very early stage in this – that Fine Gael has been successful in getting out its votes, that our campaign has made a difference, and that the approach of the Government parties has been recognised by voters.”
Asked about Fine Gael’s performance compared to Sinn Féin, he said: “Overall, the portrayal that some have offered of Fine Gael as a tired party – that narrative, that claim has been shattered by the results that we’re seeing potentially coming through at the moment.
“And the other narrative that there’s anything inevitable about Sinn Féin being in government – that’s been shattered too.”
He said he believes that, regardless of the results, the Government would “go the full distance” before a general election must be called by March at the latest.
15.35
Independent Thomas Welby has become the first councillor to be formally elected.
He took a seat on Galway County Council for the Conamara North LEA.
A serving councillor, he topped the poll after the first count with 1,758 votes – exceeding the quota of 1,591.
For more details of the first count, view our dedicated results page for Galway County Council.
Toradh an 1 Comhaireamh do Thoghlimistéar Áitiúil Chonamara Thuaidh.
Results of the 1st Count for the Conamara North Local Electoral Area. #LE24 #Gaillimh #Galway pic.twitter.com/PuNv016It4— Galway County Council (@GalwayCoCo) June 8, 2024
15.25
The counting of local election ballots has begun at Cork City Hall after rough early tallies indicated strong support for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil candidates.
Returning officer Paul Moynihan said that for the five local electoral areas in the city, it appeared turnout had been maintained since the last local elections in 2019.
Count staff sorted through postal votes under lamps before opening the giant wooden boxes holding votes from Friday’s poll.
People with anxious expressions and holding scribbled tally notes surrounded the five count spaces for the city’s five electoral areas as the sorting began just after 3pm.
14.58
A mouse was among the surprises in ballot boxes as counting for the elections got underway this morning.
Staff in Mayo were warned that the rodent may have got into a particular box and to tip it out very carefully.
Three rings were also apparently lost in boxes as people voted yesterday, with two recovered in Wicklow and Wexford, and one still missing in Galway.
14.50
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said early indications show there “won’t be a wipe out” of his party.
He also said that his candidates Claire Byrne and Michael Pidgeon had the potential to top the polls in their Dublin city regions.
Speaking at the RDS count centre in south Dublin, he added: “My eyes are on the country, I think we have a chance in Dingle [with] Peadar Ó Fionnáin. It’s very tight to call but he’s not out of the running.
“If we win a seat in Dingle I’ll be celebrating as much as Dublin Bay South, if not more because that would send a really strong signal about the whole country.
“So far, we are hopeful but obviously we have to wait and see what happens. We look forward to see the next two days.”
14.28
In the Limerick mayoral election, a cross-party tally indicates that Independent candidate John Moran is in the lead with around 25 per cent of the tallied votes.
The former secretary general at the Department of Finance is ahead of Independent candidate Helen O’Donnell, who is polling in second place.
13.43
Transfers are likely to be key to deciding the final seats.
According to Fianna Fáil's Barry Cowen, who is an MEP candidate, "the transfers are not as predictable as they normally would be, so that means we are moving into a new era – or a new phase – of election trends that we are not well versed in. So we just have to await that and see how that emerges."
His view is echoed by several commentators who have been talking to the tallies from various parties.
13.25
Partial tallies show that Luke Ming Flanagan and Fine Gael's Maria Walsh are polling well in Midlands–North-West.
The separating of votes is well underway at the TF Royal in Castlebar. As expected, it’s a slow process, given that there are 27 candidates.
It is taking count staff five seconds just to unfold the 28-inch-long ballot paper. Tallies are limited at this stage, but Luke Ming Flanagan is polling well across a number of counties and in particular Donegal, where he will have the backing of many Mica campaigners.
Maria Walsh is also understood to be polling well in Mayo and Galway. But at this stage, it is too early to say who will take any of the five seats in Midlands–North-West.
13.15
Partial tallies show Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are in the running for a seat in the Dublin constituency.
However, Sinn Féin could be dragged into a fight for the remaining two seats.
Tallies across Dublin city and county show Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty polling well and likely to hold their respective party’s seats.
Independent Ireland’s Niall Boylan could well be in the running for a seat also, with good numbers across the four council areas.
Sinn Féin has been putting up strong performances in Dublin Mid West and in areas of Dublin Fingal, however they could fall into the scrap for the last two seats.
Aodhán Ó Ríordáin of Labour, Brid Smyth of People Before Profit and incumbent MEP Clare Daly will also be in the mix – however Ms Daly's vote could be down significantly on 2019.
Ciarán Cuffe and the Greens appear to be holding well in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and in city areas. However, with only a very partial tally being conducted, Dublin is still very much up in the air.
12.35
There is only a partial tally being conducted for the Dublin constituency.
Former Labour TD and Senator Kevin Humphreys believes there are some trends emerging, which at this early stage could worry Sinn Féin.
Mr Humphreys told Newstalk: "What I'm seeing is Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are doing quite well. I think [Niall] Boylan, Independent, does well across all the boxes, especially in working-class deprived areas where there is a very strong vote for him.
"He certainly is in a running for a seat at this stage, that may change throughout the day, and there's going to be a battle royale for the last seat."
Sinn Fein's Eoin Ó Broin is also watching as count staff sort the ballots in Simmonscourt RDS this morning.
13.00
Partial tallies show Luke Ming Flanagan and Fine Gael's Maria Walsh are polling well in Midlands–North-West.
12.30
Count centre staff are continuing to process boxes in Cork before counting begins in the local elections.
There has been no huge surprise yet, with the tallies suggesting the main government and party and opposition candidates are doing well.
