Dublin South West too close to call

By Shaun Connolly, Political Correspondent

The byelection battle in Dublin South West is so tight that Sinn Féin sources are already talking about a recount.

The party's candidate Cathal King had been tipped to romp home in the seat vacated by former Minister Brian Hayes, but an impressive showing by former Socialist MEP Paul Murphy has turned the poll into a knife-edge political thriller.

After the sixth count, Mr Murphy continued to close the gap on Sinn Féin by pulling within 392 votes of Mr King.

So here's where we are after the 6th count in Dublin South West #dsw14 pic.twitter.com/DULaQGNHlu

— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) October 11, 2014

Sinn Féin sources say the final result may be so close that a recount is inevitable.

Fighting under the Anti-Austerity Alliance banner, Mr Murphy tried to turn the byelection into a referendum on water charging as he urged people to refuse to pay the new levy.

Government parties polled poorly, but Mr Hayes, who quit the Dáil to become an MEP , blamed this on a low turnout of 35%.

Labour's Pamela Kearns has been eliminated from the count.