The first count in the European elections for the Midlands Northwest constituency is expected tomorrow.
Early indications are Castlerea man Luke 'Ming' Flanagan and Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowan are polling well.
There are five seats up for grabs in this constituency, which covers 15 counties.
It stretches from Donegal to Laois to Louth and includes all of the Shannonside Northern Sound region.
Five years ago, nearly 650,000 votes were cast in this constituency and the quota was over 129,000.
The constituency is bigger this time, with Laois and Offaly added. It’s expected the quota will be somewhere around 150,000 this time. There are five seats up for grabs, compared to four in 2019.
The counting of votes started this morning and ended at 10pm.
It will resume tomorrow morning and will continue until at least Wednesday.
Initial projections are Ming, a current MEP, will take a seat and Cowan is also going well.
Others in contention for seats are Fine Gael duo Maria Walsh, a sitting MEP, and Nina Carberry.
Ballyleague/Lanesboro man Ciaran Mullooly, from Independent Ireland, and Aontu's Peadar Toibin are also in the running.
Sinn Fein may end up without a seat, though Michelle Gildernew could be in contention for the last seat.
MEP Luke 'Ming' Flanagan is tallying votes at the count centre for the European elections in Castlebar. pic.twitter.com/fnOGHAsifB
— Shannonside FM News (@shannonsidenews) June 9, 2024
