GE24: Longford-Westmeath Count Live Blog As It Happened

Live updates on the general election count in Athlone.

3:45 AM:

Micheál Carrigy has been elected for a seat in the Dáil:

On the 15th count Robert Troy, Fianna Fáil and Micheál Carrigy, Fianna Gael have been elected, Taking the last two of the five seats in total. 

1:45 AM: 

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran has been elected to the Dáil on the 14th count:

On the 14th count Paul Hogan was eliminated with a vote of 4,484. 

12:30 PM:

Sorca Clarke, Sinn Féin has been elected to the second seat in the Dáil within the Longford Westmeath Constituency. 

The 13th count has taken place:

11:00PM:

The 12th count has taken place and Sinn Féin candidate Barry Campion has been eliminated. 

Independent candidate Kevin 'Boxer' Moran has reached 10,164 votes, leaving him in need of just 151 more to take a seat in the Dáil. 

10:15PM:

We are in for a long night here in Athlone, while some very important supporters are awaiting the count results. 

Westmeath Man Fintan Bray is anticipating a seat for Fianna Fáil members in tonight's count as he proudly represents for the party. 

Fintan is the first person born with Down Syndrome to have a senior role in Fianna Fáil, a role that he is delighted to maintain. 

Mr Bray says he's an advocate for people with disabilities in Politics: 

9:30 PM:

Following the 11th count here in Athlone, there is now 179 votes between Robert Troy and Kevin 'Boxer' Moran.

Independent Candidate Gerry Warnock is now eliminated with 2,502 votes to be distributed. 

Full 11th counts here: 

8:50 PM:

Sinn Féin candidate Barry Campion now has a total of 2,667 votes leaving him eight in line of the candidates. 

Despite his place in the count so far he says, it won't stop him from running for a seat in the Dáil in the future: 

8:39 PM

Only two votes between Robert Troy and Kevin 'Boxer' Moran after the 10th count here - Troy's 9,067 to Moran's 9,069.

Laura O'Neill of Aontú is now eliminated with 2,472 votes to be distributed. 

It now looks clear that Joe Flaherty is on course to lose his seat at 5,605 votes.

Full 10th counts here:

7:45 PM

Still no candidates elected yet but we've had a birthday celebrated!

Claire Moran surprised her friends son Eoin Cawley with a birthday cake.

Eoin is also the chairman of the Westmeath branch of Ógra Fianna Fail.

Both Claire and Eoin say they're here to support Robert Troy, are hopeful that he will be re-elected and they will both get home at a reasonable time tonight!

7:05 PM:

Count 9 has finished with Fidelma Bennett of Labour eliminated.

Less than 100 votes now separating Clarke and Carrigy -  7,572 to Clarke and 7,679 to Carrigy.

Bennett's transfers could perhaps benefit Clarke the most here.  As the figures of the transfers get bigger, this could be one that shakes things up.

Full result of ninth count below:

6:52 PM:

Counts seem to be going on into the night here in TUS Athlone...

In other news, there's now a gap of 1,800 votes between Micheál Carrigy and Joe Flaherty - the Longford representation in the constituency looks set to shift to Carrigy.

Sorca Clarke seems to be closing the gap between herself and Senator Carrigy by around 233 votes.

6:00 PM:

Louise Heavin has been eliminated in the 8th count. 

5:20 PM:

5:05 PM:

7th count results and the transfers are getting bigger - with Dave Smyth of People Before Profit's elimination providing a 1,047 surplus.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran now moves ahead for that second seat with 8,456 votes.

4:17 PM:

Margaret 'Alcoque' Maguire of Ireland First is now eliminated after the sixth count- with a 885 surplus.

Sixth count results:

4:00 PM: 

Getting overly confident can be the 'kiss of death' - that's according to Sinn Féin's Sorca Clarke.

She's currently in line to fill that final spot in the five seater Longford Westmeath constituency with just over seven thousand votes.

It's a large gap between her and Joe Flaherty of Fianna Fáil in sixth place with 5,429 votes.

It looks like the count will carry on into the evening once more as transfers gradually build.

Ms Clarke says,  confirmation of that spot will take some time:

3:34 PM:

After count five, Tanya Cannon of Fine Gael is out with 658 votes.

The gap between Joe Flaherty and Sorca Clarke for that last seat is even more evident now - with Flaherty's 5,429 behind Clarke's 7,072.

 He's also more than 1,800 votes behind Carrigy meaning it now looks even more likely he won't be able to retain his seat.

See the fifth count results below:

3:10 PM:

Count 5 in 5!

2:39 PM: 

Fourth count results as things stand:

2:30 PM:

Fourth count has been completed.

Dympna Cunniffe of Fianna Fail eliminated with 546 votes- her surplus will now be distributed.

A long wait ahead until we start getting to the bigger eliminations - perhaps when Gerry Warnock gets eliminated, we'll finally start to see the ball rolling.

2:20 PM:

Fourth count expected in five minutes!

1:30 PM:

Counting has resumed in Longford Westmeath.

1:24 PM:

Here's how things stand after the third count:

1:20 PM:

The third count has concluded in Longford-Westmeath.

Laura O'Neill got the highest amount of transfers at 35 votes - but still only sitting at 1,971 votes.

Carol Okeke from the Green Party has been eliminated- her 474 votes will now be distributed.

1:02 PM:

"I don't contest elections to lose them" - that's according to Independent Ireland's Paul Hogan.

This comes following the second count placing him in seventh with 2,970 votes.

Despite the latest figures Councillor Hogan is not deterred from contesting another election.

He's been actively opposing the construction of an IPAS centre in Athlone alongside Westmeath County Council. 

Mr Hogan says his involvement with Lissywollen was not political:

A third count is expected in ten minutes.

12:10 PM:

Here's how the first and second count looks:

11:53 AM:

Second count just completed here in Longford Westmeath.

3 Independents eliminated on the second count-Donal Jackson, Charlotte Keenan and Paul Bradley.

Burke's surplus of 579 has been distributed with Robert Troy and Micheál Carrigy being the biggest winners here.

Troy gets a boost of 200 votes to 8,116 while Carrigy's vote is up by 107 to 7,197.

Jackson, Keenan and Bradley's votes to be distributed now.

11:15 AM:

It's a good showing for the party in Longford-Westmeath.

That's according to Sorca Ni Donnacha, \Fine Gael Director of Elections.

He's currently in 4th place for a seat at 7,090 votes after the first count.

Peter Burke was elected yesterday evening on the first count.

Ms Ni Donnacha says Micheal Carrigy worked hard:

09:15am:

Morning! The count has just resumed here in Athlone this morning. Only one count completed yesterday and one candidate elected in Peter Burke, with Fine Gael poised to take another seat with Micheál Carrigy polling quite at 7,090, in 4th position.

Behind Burke, is Robert Troy for Fianna Fáil who finished yesterday around 2,000 votes short of the quota and is looking in a good place to be elected later on today.

The Boxer comeback seems to be underway, with Kevin 'Boxer' Moran in third position at the moment on 8,056. He will be aiming to return to the Dáil, after losing his seat in 2020, running as an Independent. 

Making up the elected zone in 5th is Sorca Clarke, aiming to hold the Sinn Féin seat in Longford-Westmeath. 

Joe Flaherty may be facing some worries this morning, he polled in 6th position just outside of the election zone, meaning we could see an incumbent unseated here today.

No candidates eliminated so far, so we're due for plenty of action here today. Stay tuned!

22:57PM:

We've adjoined counting for the evening here in Longford-Westmeath - counting will resume tomorrow at 9 am.

Peter Burke of Fine Gael has been re-elected on the first count.

The remaining four seats look to be filled by Robert Troy (FF) , Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind), Sorca Clarke (SF) and Senator Micheál Carrigy (FG.)

With Joe Flaherty in sixth, he looks in danger of losing his seat but we'll have to wait and see.

That's all from Longford-Westmeath, signing off until tomorrow morning!

10:33pm:

Peter Burke has been elected on the first count for Longford Westmeath.

The Fine Gael rep will resume his seat in the 34th Dáil.

He achieved 10,864 votes, beating the quota of 10,315.

His surplus of 549 will now be distributed.

Counting has adjourned here for the evening and will resume at 9am tomorrow.

10:11pm:

Result expected here in 10 minutes. Peter Burke is current favourite to be elected first, having topped the tallies.

Stay tuned!

8:46 PM:

Aengus O' Rourke says an election like this makes him miss his late mother even more.

Mary O' Rourke served in three Ministerial positions for Health, Education and Public Enterprise as well as being the Deputy Leader of Fianna Fàil.

The former Westmeath rep passed away in October.

Her son, and Councillor in Westmeath, Aengus O' Rourke says he is thinking about her a lot during this time:

In other news, the spoiled votes count is underway and after that's complete, we should finally be expecting a first count.

8:37 PM:

Still awaiting the first count-Peter Burke and Robert Troy seemed to be earlier as well:

6:51 PM:

Robert Troy is maintaining confidence in Fianna Fàil's performance in Longford Westmeath.

The outgoing TD placed second in the tallies, while his fellow party member Joe Flaherty is just outside of the elected zone in 6th, placing him in danger.

Deputy Troy says it's still hard to know what will happen at this stage:

6:20pm:

The estimated quota for a seat in Longford Westmeath currently stands at 10,200. Tallies show Peter Burke at 10,860, so likely to see a good outcome for him.

A first count is not expected here in Athlone until closer to 9pm this evening.

4:41 PM:

Over the moon and ecstatic- that's how Kevin 'Boxer' Moran felt earlier after tallies were completed in Longford Westmeath.

He's in third place after a complete tally count with counting currently underway.

Councillor Moran lost his seat in 2020 and returned to local politics in June topping the poll in the local elections.

He said he knocked on every door in the constituency over the past few weeks:

He was ready to pull out some punches earlier on his arrival!

3:30pm:

The tally figures are in and out in front it's the Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke. He has taken 10,860 first preferences from the current figures.

Robert Troy recovered well, after spending most of the morning in 6th place, the Fianna Fáil incumbent finishes the tally in 2nd.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Sorca Clarke and Micheál Carrigy make up the top five in that order. 

Joe Flaherty ended the tallies in 6th meaning he could be in danger of losing his seat.

Counting has now commenced for Longford-Westmeath with no official result expected until later on this evening.

Full final tally figures:

3:10pm:

All votes have been tallied here in Athlone and we are awaiting the announcement of the final figures.

2:40pm:

Only four boxes remain to be opened, from the Mullingar - Kinnegad area.

2:07 PM:

The Longford tally has been completed.

Here's the standings with the complete Longford tally:

Fine Gael's Peter Burke still showing a strong lead at 8,428 - 16.7% of the vote.  Senator Micheál Carrigy in second place at 6,791 with a 13.5% share.

Robert Troy's been moving from fourth up to third on 6,218.  Sorca Clarke holding her own in fourth with 5,703.  Kevin Boxer Moran down to 5th in 5,618 with as Joe Flaherty remains in trouble on 5,031.

2 pm:

Sorca Clarke is holding strong for Sinn Fein in Longford Westmeath.

The incumbent TD is currently in 4th position as per the tally figure.

She looks likely to be the only Sinn Fein representative in the area with Barry Campion sitting in 8th.

She says she has been proud to represent the people of the constituency over the last 4 years and would be happy to do so again.

1:20pm:

Robert Troy has seen a major come back in the tally figures. The Fianna Fáil man is now in second behind Peter Burke who is maintaining a fair lead at 17%. Fine Gael also hold third position at the moment with Carrigy, and Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Sorca Clarke  make up the top five respectively. 

Despite holding his own in the elected zone for most of the morning, Joe Flaherty has dropped to 6th place. A full tally is expected here shortly, with the possibility of a first count later on this evening.

The situation as it stands here in Athlone:

12:50pm:

The top five have seen a major shift. Tallies now show the Fianna Fàil incumbent Robert Troy is now sitting in 4th, after residing in 6th position for most of the day.

He has switched places with party mate Joe Flaherty who now may be facing some trouble.

12:32 PM:

In other news, we're expecting a full tally around 1 pm.

Here's how things stand currently:

Peter Burke is in the lead currently at 3,830 - followed by Senator Michael Carrigy at 3,517.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran is holding his own at 2,746 - Joe Flaherty in 4th followed by Sorca Clarke.

12:26 PM:

A wedding ring has been returned after it was found in a count box in the Gael Scoil an Choilín count centre in Mullingar.

Peter Creamer made the discovery earlier this morning.

It's since been claimed.

Fine Gael Councillor for Athlone-Moate Tom Farrell was also counting tallies at that centre - he was there when the ring was found:

12pm:

As we head into the afternoon more and more candidates are arriving to check their tallies. Micheál Carrigy is looking pleased with his results so far, as is Joe Flaherty currently sitting in 2nd and 5th respectively.

The top five names have been changing among themselves frequently but if the tallies are anything to go by, there could be two new faces in the Dáil to represent the people of Longford and Westmeath. 

Barry Campion has been spotted here for Sinn Féin; Laura O'Neill for Aontú and Paul Hogan for Independent Ireland also at the count centre. 

No definite results expected here until later on this evening.

Also the wedding ring found in a Mullingar box has been claimed! It is now back in the hands of its rightful owner.

11:45am

Just before noon here and we have reached the 35% mark of boxes opened in Athlone. The top 5, at least according to the tallies, have jumped around amongst themselves with Fine Gael coming out the best so far. Robert Troy appears to be facing some trouble, currently sitting just outside of the elected zone. Current tally results are showing:

1 - Carrigy FG

2 - Burke FG

3 - Moran Ind

4 - Flaherty FF

5 - Clarke SF:

Micheál Carrigy is remaining hopeful:

10:35 AM:

Here's the current tallies as things stand at Longford-Westmeath.

12.4% of boxes have been opened so far- Peter Burke of Fine Gael leading at 1,223.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran not far behind at 1,087 followed by Senator Micheál Carrigy.

As things stand, Sinn Feín's Sorca Clarke may not top the poll again on the first count as with 2020 - she's at 771 votes.

We're also receiving word a wedding ring has been found in one of the Mullingar count boxes in Gael Scoil an Choilín in Mullingar!

9am: 

The count is underway here in Athlone for the 2024 general election to decide the 34th Dáil.  Boxes are opening here and sorting has commenced.

An extra seat is available in Longford-Westmeath this time out, bringing the constituency to a five-seater. 

Incumbents include Fianna Fáil's Robert Troy and Joe Flaherty, who will be hoping for a similar surge in support for their party as there was in the Westmeath local elections back in June. 

Sinn Féin's Sorca Clarke topped the poll last time out in 2020, and is one of two candidate's running in the constituency for the party, along with Barry Campion who failed to secure a seat in Longford in local elections earlier this year.

Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will also be vying for his seat back, hoping to represent Fine Gael in the area.

Other notable names in contention are Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, who topped the poll in Westmeath in June. He will be aiming to make a grand return to the Dáil, this time as an Independent. 

Gerry Warnock sacrificed his place on Longford County Council to focus on this campaign, another Independent candidate.

Louise Heavin left the Green Party to run as an Independent in this race. she previously served as a member of Westmeath County Council for the party, but lost her seat in the summer. 

Paul Hogan won his seat in Westmeath in June, after being co-opted onto the council. After previously serving as an Independent, he is now a member of the Independent Ireland party.

Senator Micheál Carrigy will join Minister Burke in hoping for Fine Gael support, after missing out on a Dáil seat in 2020. 

Labour, Aontú, People Before Profit, the Green Party and Ireland First also have names running for a seat in the constituency. 

More to follow.