LIVE UPDATES: DAY TWO: Athlone Electoral Area (Roscommon)

3:48am: Thanks for staying tuned throughout the day for our updates on the count in Roscommon! Kayley Hardiman signing off after a hectic local election.

3:37am: After a marathon of a day and night, Domnick Connolly, has been elected as the final councillor in the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon without reaching the quota.

The ninth count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 1,078 (+76)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 1,116 (+373)

2:58am: It's looking like Domnick Connolly may secure the last seat if talk in the media centre here in Roscommon is anything to go by.

2.30am: James Murray has been eliminated in the eight count and his surplus will be distributed among the remaining candidates.

The eighth count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 1,002 (+15)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 743 (+6)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 728 (18)

1:54am: John Keogh has been elected on the seventh count with 1,442 votes. His surplus will now be distributed among the remaining candidates just one seat remains to be filled which is sure to be a battle amongst the remaining candidates.

The seventh count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 987 (+275)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 737 (+16)

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 1,442 (+103)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 710 (+9)

12:43am: I'm hoping to see the remaining two seats filled when the next count is complete. John Keogh leads the remaining candidates with 1,339 votes and looks set to be the fifth candidate elected to Roscommon County Council.

There are just 20 votes separating Domnick Connolly (721), Sam Brooks (712) and James Murray (701.) Any one of the latter three could take the remaining seat. Still all to play for here in the count centre in Roscommon.

12:13:am Technically into Monday morning now and four candidates are in contention for the remaining two seats; Sam Brooks, Domnick Connolly, John Keogh and James Murray.

11:41pm: Into the sixth count now and no candidate has been elected. As the candidate with the lowest votes, Joe Harney, has been eliminated and his surplus votes (536) will now be distributed.

The sixth count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 712 (+65)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 721 (+38)

Harney, Sinn Féin, 536 (+43)

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 1,339 (+72)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 701 (+18)

11:22pm: There are still two seats left to fill here and no sign of the sixth count results yet. At the moment, John Keogh has the highest number of votes (1,267) followed by Domnick Connolly and James Murray, both (683), Sam Brooks (647) and Joe Harney (493.) The quota is 1,403 votes.

10:20pm: The fifth count has just come in but again no one has reached the quota to be elected. Due to there being no surplus votes available, the candidate with the lowest number of votes, Dominic Naughton, has been eliminated with 433 votes.

The fifth count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 647 (+5)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 683 (+29)

Harney, Sinn Féin, 493 (+7)

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 1,267 (+19)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 683 (+11)

9:32pm: John Keogh (pictured below) is hoping to take the next seat in the count.

8:50pm: Some talk on the floor here at the count centre that the count will continue into tomorrow. Stay tuned with me here with all the latest updates. Kayley Hardiman reporting.

8:13pm: The results of count four have just been announced and no candidate has been elected.

The fourth count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 642 (+33)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 654 (+73)

Harney, Sinn Féin, 486 (+28)

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 1,248 (+152)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 660 (+7)

Naughton, Non-Party, 422 (+54)

The count will proceed with the distribution of Laurence Fallon's surplus votes which are the only available surplus votes.

7:31pm There has been a lull in the proceedings. We are currently waiting on count four to come in.

6.25pm

Some Oireachtas members have been seen at the count, including Deputies Denis Naughten and Claire Kerrane and Senator Aisling Dolan. Former Oireachtas member Terry Leyden is also present.

5.50pm - Third count in Athlone area

Distribution of surplus of Tony Ward 383

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 609 (+30)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 581 (+34)

Fallon, Non-Party 1497 (+127)

Harney, Sinn Féin, 458 (+20)

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 1,096 (+89)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 653 (+32)

Naughton, Non-Party, 368 (+43)

As Laurence Fallon has exceeded the quota he has been deemed elected, and the fourth count will involve the distribution of John Naughten's surplus of 347 votes.

5.20pm - Where will the last seat go?

Whilst the poll-topping performance of Independent Cllr Emer Kelly was the main story of the Athlone Electoral Area of Roscommon County Council, there are still a lot of questions to answer as the count ticked on into Sunday tea time.

The main issue to be resolved is the destination of the sixth and final seat, with Sinn Féin's Sam Brooks, Fianna Fáil's James Murray and Fine Gael Domnick Connolly the contenders. Most commentators here are not willing to call it, with probably the identity of the first of the three to be eliminated, being the ultimate deciding factor.

Already, Kelly, fellow independent Tony Ward and Fine Gael's John Naughten have been elected.

Independent Laurence Fallon is likely to be elected in the third count, the results of which are due very shortly.

Fianna Fáil's John Keogh has seen his first preference vote drop from 1,010 last time to 931 on this occasion, but is set to be elected

The final seat is up for grabs, with the distribution of the surplus of John Naughten, Fallon, and the likely elimination of non-party candidate Dominic Naughton and Sinn Féin's Joe Harney being the expected next steps.

It could be count seven or eight before we know the destination of that last seat. A long night in the Hyde awaits.

4:29pm: Laurence Fallon has said that he will definitely be elected on the next count. He currently has 1,370 votes, just 33 votes shy of the quota of 1,403. He added that Sam Brooks could take a seat, which would be "historic."

2:46pm: No candidate has been elected in the second count in Dr Hyde Park.

The second count votes were as follows:

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 579 (+64)

Connolly, Fine Gael, 547 (+65)

Fallon, Non-Party, 1,370 (+168)

Harney, Sinn Féin, 430 (+25)

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 1,007 (+76)

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 621 (+74)

Naughton, Non-Party, 325 (+71)

The count will proceed with the distribution of Ward's surplus.

12.05pm - We have candidates elected!

The first three candidates have been elected in the six-seater Athlone Electoral Area of Roscommon. Emer Kelly topped the pool with 1,946 votes, whilst Tony Ward and John Naughten were also elected, with all three having exceeded the quota on the first count.

The first count votes were as follows

Electorate: 15,862

Total Poll: 9,903

Invalid Votes: 85

Total Vall Poll: 9,818

Quota: 1,403

Brooks, Sinn Féin, 515

Connolly, Fine Gael, 482

Fallon, Non-Party, 1,202

Harney, Sinn Féin, 405

Kelly, Non-Party, 1,946

Keogh, Fianna Fáil, 931

Murray, Fianna Fáil, 547

Naughten, Fine Gael, 1,750

Naughton, Non-Party, 254

Ward, Non-Party, 1,786

Kelly, Ward and Naughten were all elected, and the count proceeds with the distribution of Kelly's surplus of 543.

10:22am Getting off to a slow start here in Dr Hyde Park.

10:05am: Good morning! Kayley Hardiman here. I’ll be providing updates on the Westmeath Independent website today on the counts for the Athlone electoral area of Roscommon. There are six seats on offer in the area with ten candidates in contention.

Emer Kelly, Tony Ward and John Naughten and all in a very strong position following the tallies yesterday. I'm excited to see what happens in the first count and will be here with all the live updates throughout the day.

Here's a summary of yesterday's events at the count. https://www.westmeathindependent.ie/2024/06/08/live-updates-rosommon-county-council-athlone-electoral-area/