Roche finally bows to the inevitable amid in-fighting spat
The former European affairs minister made a controversial recount call on Sunday night in a bid to ensure his own running mate, Cllr Pat Fitzgerald, was eliminated ahead of him so that he might benefit from Mr Fitzgerald’s transfers.
But rechecking of 700 spoilt and several thousand disputed votes only widened the gap between Mr Fitzgerald and Mr Roche from three votes to 14. Loud cheers filled the count centre in Greystones — a former Roche stronghold — when the decision to proceed with his elimination and the rest of the count was announced shortly before 8pm.
