Live Updates: Roscommon County Council - Athlone Electoral Area

* Sunday's live updates from the count centre in Roscommon can be found at this link:

https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2024/06/09/live-updates-day-two-athlone-electoral-area-roscommon/

12:45am: After almost 16 hours since the count began, the first count has not yet been completed and Returning Officer Caitlín Conneely has called a halt to the proceedings in Dr Hyde Park. The count will resume at 10am in the morning.

I'll be back tomorrow for another day of live updates with the latest from the count. Keep up to date with me again tomorrow at www.westmeathindependent.ie. Kayley Hardiman, signing off. Oíche mhaith!

12:06am: Into the early hours of Sunday morning now and the candidates are still adjudicating the doubtful votes.

11:06pm: The adjudication of doubtful votes is ongoing for the Athlone electoral area.

9:42pm: Crowds are beginning to build again in the count centre as everyone is eagerly awaiting the first count including Emer Kelly who is seen beaming below and looks sure to take the first seat in the Athlone electoral area.

9:31pm: It's looking like it might be a long night as we wait for the results of the first count in Dr Hyde Park. Reinforcements are needed!

8:48pm: Very little to report here. Independent TD Denis Naughten and candidate for the Midlands-North-west constituency in the European Parliament Luke (Ming) Flanagan are seen having a chat below as the first count gets underway.

6:15pm: Final tallies are showing that Emer Kelly (1948,) Tony Ward (1787) and John Naughten (1737) are all holding strong and look set to secure seats in the six-seat Athlone area. They are followed by Laurence Fallon (1203), John Keogh (933), James Murray, (550), Sam Brooks (512), Domnick Connolly (481), Joe Harney (409) and Dominic Naughton (256.)

4:47pm: We are eagerly awaiting the first count to begin in Roscommon.

4:15pm: Another tally for Kiltoom has come in with 66 votes for both Laurence Fallon and Emer Kelly and a whopping 126 votes for Tony Ward.

3:40pm: Things have fallen quiet here in the count centre in Dr Hyde Park as the remaining votes are being tallied.

2.49pm: Seasoned political observers are predicting a titanic battle for the last seat in the Athlone Electoral Area, with transfers likely to play a key role.

2.32pm: Update on the current state of play (total votes tallied: 6545, 18 boxes):

Brooks, Sam (Sinn Féin) 5%

Connolly, Domnick (Fine Gael) 6%

Fallon, Laurence (Non-Party) 14%

Harney, Joe (Sinn Féin) 4%

Kelly, Emer (Non-Party) 20%

Keogh, John (Fianna Fáil) 9%

Murray, James (Fianna Fáil) 7%

Naughten, John (Fine Gael) 13%

Naughton, Dominic (Non-Party) 2%

Ward, Tony (Non-Party) 20%

Spoiled votes: 1%

2.20pm: Tally from a Bealnamulla box has John Keogh on top with 100 first preferences, followed by John Naughten with 76.

2.15pm: Knockcroghery box tally shows 154 votes for Laurence Fallon, with Emer Kelly next on 53.

2.12pm: Excuse the break in transmission - fresh tea and coffee arrived in our vicinity and was gratefully received!

1.16pm: The tally for a Brideswell box has Tony Ward on top (157), with Emer Kelly next on 105.

1.04pm: One of the Cornafulla boxes shows 198 votes for John Naughten, followed by Tony Ward (78), Joe Harney (59), Emer Kelly (49).

12.38pm: Bealnamulla resident John Keogh has the highest vote in one of the Bealnamulla boxes (124), followed by John Naughten (90). Next are Emer Kelly (56), Joe Harney (48) and Tony Ward (47).

12.31pm: Update on the current state of play (total votes tallied: 3727, 10 boxes):

Brooks, Sam (Sinn Féin) 7%

Connolly, Domnick (Fine Gael) 5%

Fallon, Laurence (Non-Party) 16%

Harney, Joe (Sinn Féin) 2%

Kelly, Emer (Non-Party) 23%

Keogh, John (Fianna Fáil) 7%

Murray, James (Fianna Fáil) 9%

Naughten, John (Fine Gael) 9%

Naughton, Dominic (Non-Party) 2%

Ward, Tony (Non-Party) 20%

Spoiled votes: 1%

12.17pm: A second Kiltoom box shows a similar pattern to the one from the same area referred to below - Tony Ward with the highest first preference votes (184), followed by Emer Kelly (87).

12.13pm: One of the Moore boxes reveals a strong vote for John Naughten, 180, and the sitting FG councillor will also be expected to hoover up a considerable number of votes in the Bealnamulla and Monksland boxes.

12.01pm: It's still early in the overall scheme of things, but the indications are looking very optimistic for Emer Kelly, Tony Ward and Laurence Fallon. That trio will surely retain their seats.

Interestingly, Cllr Emer Kelly was co-opted onto the council following the resignation of Athleague's Ivan Connaughton, but she certainly looks like she will be elected in her own right with plenty to spare.

11.52am: Update on the current state of play (total votes tallied 3047):

Brooks, Sam (Sinn Féin) 7%

Connolly, Domnick (Fine Gael) 3%

Fallon, Laurence (Non-Party) 18%

Harney, Joe (Sinn Féin) 1%

Kelly, Emer (Non-Party) 24%

Keogh, John (Fianna Fáil) 7%

Murray, James (Fianna Fáil) 9%

Naughten, John (Fine Gael) 5%

Naughton, Dominic (Non-Party) 2%

Ward, Tony (Non-Party) 22%

Spoiled votes: 1%

11.30am: Here is the current state of play from the total votes tallied (2276):

Brooks, Sam (Sinn Féin) 6%

Connolly, Domnick (Fine Gael) 3%

Fallon, Laurence (Non-Party) 19%

Harney, Joe (Sinn Féin) 2%

Kelly, Emer (Non-Party) 26%

Keogh, John (Fianna Fáil) 6%

Murray, James (Fianna Fáil) 10%

Naughten, John (Fine Gael) 4%

Naughton, Dominic (Non-Party) 1%

Ward, Tony (Non-Party) 22%

11.27am: From the total votes now tallied (2276), Emer Kelly has the largest first preference vote: 26%.

11.23am: Returning to the aforementioned tally from one of the Athleague boxes, there was another positive indicator for Emer Kelly, who had 108 votes, second only to James Murray. Laurence Fallon was third with 71 votes.

11.14am: John Naughten - one of those aiming to retain his seat - has by far the most first preference votes in the tally for Drum Hall, with 224 votes.

11.02am: The youngest candidate in the field, Sam Brooks of Sinn Féin, has the highest number of first preferences in a tally for the Taughmaconnell box. He has 117, just ahead of Fianna Fáil's John Keogh on 110.

10.57am: A tally from one of the Athleague boxes shows James Murray with 167 first preference votes, followed by Kelly with 107.

A reminder of the ten candidates seeking election in the Athlone LEA of Roscommon County Council:

Brooks, Sam (Sinn Féin)

Connolly, Domnick (Fine Gael)

Fallon, Laurence (Non-Party)

Harney, Joe (Sinn Féin)

Kelly, Emer (Non-Party)

Keogh, John (Fianna Fáil)

Murray, James (Fianna Fáil)

Naughten, John (Fine Gael)

Naughton, Dominic (Non-Party)

Ward, Tony (Non-Party)

10.47am: Tony Ward top of the pile in the tally for the Kiltoom box with 175 votes, followed by Emer Kelly with 87.

10.35am: There is more good news for Emer Kelly in the Curraghboy NS box tally - where she has 110 votes, second only to Tony Ward.

10.32am: As would be expected, Tony Ward - who topped the poll in 2019 - has the most votes in the Curraghboy NS box, his home turf. Ward has 175 first preference votes there according to the tally.

10.26am: The Glanduff NS tally reveals a strong showing for Laurence Fallon, with 261 first preference votes. He would have have been hoping to poll strongly here as it's quite close to his Knockcroghery base.

10.21am: Early indications are positive for Emer Kelly. From the Dysart NS box, tallies indicated she had 223 first preference votes. As Dysart is close to her Ballyforan base, she would be expected to poll well there. But she appears to be picking up votes all over - 113 in the Curraghboy box, 63 in the Glanduff NS box and 44 in Rahara.

10.15am: Good morning! Kayley Hardiman and Kieran Galvin here, we’ll be providing updates on the Westmeath Independent website regarding the counts for the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon County Council.

There are six seats up for grabs, with ten candidates in contention, including five incumbents.