Fifth count possible before Higgins confirmation

A fifth count may be required before Michael D Higgins is confirmed as President-Elect.

When counting resumed on the third count across the country this morning there was an expectation that a fourth count would finalise the result.

However, sources close to the Labour camp say the transfer rate from David Norris to Michael D Higgins is not as high as expected.

That means that even when Gay Mitchell is eliminated and his votes are transferred, the 70-year-old Galway man may still be shy of the quota.

In that case, Martin McGuinness' votes would have to be distributed to confirm Michael D Higgins as the ninth president of Ireland, meaning an early-evening final result.

Results will then be collated in the two constitutional referendums. It is understood votes have already been counted. The results just need to be fed into the central count centre, meaning the overall results should be known fairly quickly after the Presidential result.