It was a day of high drama at the Hyde Centre in Roscommon that ended with a stunning comeback in the Athlone Local Electoral Area.
It was Independent councillor Emer Kelly who topped the poll in that area, taking a whopping 1,946 first preference votes in the process.
Also exceeding the quota on that first count was Independent councillor Tony Ward with 1786 votes and Fine Gael councillor John Naughten with 1,750.
Independent Councillor Laurence Fallon took the fourth seat there with outgoing Cathaoirleach and Fianna Fáil councillor John Keogh taking the fifth seat on the seventh count.
The real drama arrived in the early hours of the morning, however, as Fine Gael candidate Domnick Connolly and Sinn Féin’s 18-year-old candidate Sam Brooks faced off for the sixth and final seat.
It was Connolly who emerged victorious in that ninth and final count thanks to transfers from eliminated Fianna Fáil candidate James Murray. A stunning political comeback for the Fuerty man, who had lost his seat as an Independent in 2019.
The Roscommon LEA was rather more clear cut with Fianna Fáil councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice topping the poll with 1853 votes. His party colleague and outgoing councillor Marty McDermott was also elected on that count with 1,626 votes.
Independent councillor Anthony Waldron and Independent Ireland councillor Nigel Dineen also retained their seats.
Fine Gael candidate Gareth Scahill took seat five and Fianna Fáil candidate Larry Brennan made it third time lucky in local elections when he took seat six.
Three were elected in the Boyle Local Electoral Area before a recount was called in the battle between Fine Gael councillor Liam Callaghan and the party’s other candidate Dympna Daly Finn.
Independent councillor Valerie Byrne topped the poll there and was elected on the third count. She was followed by Sinn Féin candidate Leah Cull whose stunning performance earned her a seat on the fifth count.
Independent candidate Micheál Frain took the third seat there on count seven.
A full recount was called following count nine with Fine Gael’s Dympna Daly Finn trailing party colleague and outgoing councillor Liam Callaghan by just three votes in the race for the sixth and final seat.
Fianna Fáil’s Sean Moylan stands on the cusp of taking the fourth seat there while Independent Tom Crosby is expected to take the fifth. Paul Forde of Independent Ireland is also still in the running with 1053 votes.
That recount in the Boyle Local Electoral Area is set to take place at Noon today.
