Three seats for Fine Gael in Bandon-Kinsale

Fine Gael secured three seats in the Bandon Kinsale area last night, with Fianna Fáil securing two seats and Sinn Féin's Rachel McCarthy topping the poll.

On the eighth count, the transfers of Labour's Tomas O'Brien pushed sitting FG Cllr Kevin Murphy over the line, along with Fianna Fáil's Margaret Murphy O'Mahony.

That left just Independent Michael Ring and young Bandon Fine Gael candidate James O'Sullivan in the race for the last seat, but Ring was always too far back to make up the difference.

O'Sullivan, 27, was duly elected.

Earlier, Rachel McCarthy topped the poll and was elected on the first count, alongside Alan Coleman of Fianna Fáil.

On the sixth count, Fine Gael's Tim Lombard was returned to the Council, in a race that was cut-and-dried from early in the day.