Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins tops the poll with 9,361 votes in Limerick but has not reached the quota of 11,261 to be elected.

In the Mid-West constituencies of Limerick and Clare, the country-wide trend of a swing to Fine Gael is being duplicated.

THREE women made an eleventh-hour decision yesterday to register as candidates in the Clare constituency in an effort to “balance the ballot.”