Mick Barry and Colm Burke claim final seats in Cork North Central

Colm Burke and Mick Barry have taken the final two seats in Cork North-Central.

Neither candidate reached the quota but both were deemed elected after the elimination of Kenneth O'Flynn, the former Fianna Fáil turned Independent candidate.

For Burke, it has long been an ambition to secure a Dáil seat. The senator first ran for the Dáil in the 1980s but it has eluded him until now.

He saw off the issue of Dara Murphy's absence in the constituency to retain the party's seat.

It was a real dogfight for the final seat.

After the first count, four candidates were split by just 1000 votes but transfers fell to Mick Barry, the Solidarity TD, who eventually saw off the other challengers to retain the seat he won in 2016.