Crowley set to top poll ahead of Sinn Féin newcomer
The fourth seat in the expanded constituency was always going to be a scrap, with Fine Gael hoping its vote-management strategy would bring Cork’s Deirdre Clune or even Wicklow young gun Simon Harris over the line.
But one of the big talking points at the Nemo Rangers count centre in Cork was the relatively high transfer rate between Crowley and the other Fianna Fáil candidate, anti- pylon campaigner Kieran Hartley.
Fine Gael was also hoping Ms Ní Riada would not be elected on first count for fear it would damage Ms Clune’s chances as Sinn Féin voters are unlikely to transfer to Fine Gael.
Tallies showed Ms Ní Riada picked up a wide swathe of votes all over the constituency and, according to Sinn Féin, they were not the party’s traditional one-candidate vote, meaning her transfers could go to any number of candidates, including Green candidate Grace O’Sullivan.
Still, Ms Clune, daughter of Fine Gael grandee and former foreign affairs minister Peter Barry, looked the favourite to take the final seat.
At the time of going to press, the first count had not been called due to the sheer number of ballot papers, 700,000, that needed to be counted.
But tallies had sitting Fianna Fáil MEP and perennial king of the Euros Brian Cowley on 27.9% of the vote; Ms Ní Riada, a former RTÉ producer and daughter of Sean Ó Riada, at 19.62%; and former GAA president and sitting MEP Seán Kelly on 11.89%.
Fine Gael’s Deirdre Clune was at 7.28% and Mr Harris at 5.93%.
Labour’s Phil Prendergast was at 4.32% while Fianna Fáil’s anti-pylon candidate was at 4.92%. Ms O’Sullivan of the Greens was at 4.6% and Ballyhea Says No campaigner Diarmuid O’Flynn was at 5.59%.
The first count was expected at midnight with the Ireland South vote likely to continue into the early hours of tomorrow
Death and taxes are life’s two certainties but maybe there’s a case for adding Brian Crowley’s Euro seat victories to that little list of guarantees.
Such is the predictability of his poll-topping performance that by yesterday afternoon, much of the speculation at the Nemo Rangers count centre in Cork had shifted from who would take the second seat to whether or not Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were in Cork.
Comment of the day surely went to Newstalk’s Jonathan Healy, who reckoned a child conceived by the KK couple in Cork would have to be named Passage.
The Fianna Fáil poll- topper himself turned up late in the day, face wreathed in smiles, describing himself as “humbled but thrilled” by the size and scale of his vote, but also by the fact that he had managed to do so well when so many votes had gone the way of Sinn Féin and the Independents.
His success was down to terrific teams on the ground he said, dismissing any suggestions of poor vote management and arguing that voting has become more “personalised”.
Did he have the X-factor? He didn’t know about that, but he definitely has charm in buckets — his opening gambit to me was “like your dress”.
Euro candidates and supporters drifted in and out of the count centre throughout the day, a million miles away from the glam world of the Kardashians, with its glaring lights and functional chairs.
Frank Connelly, tallyman extraordinaire, had Crowley at 26% to 27% by mid-afternoon, followed by Sinn Féin candidate Liadh Ní Riada.
A tallyman for 50 years, he had agreed to work on Diarmuid O’Flynn’s campaign.
“I knew him from hurling matches and his father played for Galway,” said Frank, who is from Galway.
His preference was to support “one person, one cause” he said.
Independent Diarmuid was polling reasonably well and his daughter Sadhbh was on hand to monitor the counting.
She had spotted a “GAA” vote she said, with voters giving the former GAA president and Fine Gael candidate Seán Kelly their number one and her father, a GAA sports writer, their number two, and vice versa.
Liadh Ní Riada had family members present too.
Brother Cathal said he was “thrilled” for her.
Sister Rachel said it was a “great achievement” and a credit to Sinn Féin for the manner in which her vote was managed.
How she would manage in Brussels with three young daughters at home was a conversation for another day, Cathal said.
Green Party candidate Grace O’Sullivan was delighted with her own performance and optimistic of her chances of taking the fourth seat.
If Liadh got elected on the first count, she was hoping to benefit from transfers.
She was warmly embraced by former MEP for Leinster Nuala Ahern, who said she had run a “terrific campaign”.
“My motivation was for healthy air and clean water. We need to look to the future to survive,” Grace said.
Fianna Fáil candidate Kieran Hartley was hoping to survive the battle for the final seat.
He reckoned he would do very well from his party colleague’s transfers, but conceded it would be “a dogfight”.
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney was hopeful Fine Gael would take a second seat.
He thought Deirdre Clune had a better chance than Harris but conceded there were too many permutations to call it — Crowley transfers; whether Ní Riada got elected on the first count; whether Hartley was a serious contender.
At the end of the day, the destination of the first three seats seemed pretty definite, but the fourth was anyone’s guess.
There’s nothing certain then — save death, taxes and Crowley for the first seat.
For more in depth updates and analysis on the fallout from this year's election and access to our comprehensive results database visit our special Election 2014 section.
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