Election 2024 — All MEPs elected after marathon week of counting concludes
Fianna Fail candidate Barry Cowen at the Midlands-North-West count centre in the TF Royal Theatre in Castlebar, Co Mayo, as counting continues in the European elections. Picture date: Monday June 10, 2024.
All counting in Elections 2024 has concluded overnight after a marathon week.
The final seats in both Ireland South and Midlands-North-West were decided on Thursday, six days after Ireland went to the polls.
In Ireland South, Billy Kelleher and Sean Kelly retained their seat in the European Parliament, being joined by Michael McNamara, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú and Kathleen Funcion. Mick Wallace and Grace O'Sullivan lost their seats.
In Midlands-North West, counting wrapped up at around 4am on Friday morning, with the final four seats being taken by Barry Cowen, Ciaran Mullooly, Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh. They joined Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, who was elected earlier on Thursday.
The MEP elections concluded six days of counts across the local, European and Limerick Mayoral elections.
Fianna Fáil is now the largest party in local Government having secured 248 council seats out of the available 949, while John Moran was named Limerick's mayor after topping the poll from pillar to post.
You can all the results as they happened at the Irish Examiner election hub.
All Irish MEPs have been elected, after a marathon week of vote counting in centres across the country.
The final four seats to be filled were in Midlands North West, where Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen, Independent Ireland’s Ciaran Mullooly and Fine Gael’s Maria Walsh and Nina Carberry got over the line.
Mr Cowen was elected by reaching the quota on the 20th count, while the remaining three candidates got over the line with the elimination of Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew.
In the final count, Ms Gildernew had 81,693 votes compared to Mr Mullooly’s 86,689, more than 5,500 votes below the Independent Ireland candidate.
Earlier on Thursday, Independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan was returned on the 19th count, having garnered 118,754 votes throughout the five-day count.
Ireland was the last EU country to fill all of its European Parliament seats.
Arriving at the TF Royal Hotel in Castlebar for the final hours of the Midlands North West count, Taoiseach Simon Harris met with Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh, who are both due to be elected as MEPs.
Mr Harris said that the party has had “incredible results” in Midlands North West, but said that descriptions of Ms Carberry and Ms Walsh as celebrity candidates were “clearly nonsense”.
“We just won the election, didn’t we? Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh just won the election,” Mr Harris said.
“Nina Carberry is not a celebrity, she’s a champion. She’s a champion so a little less pejorative language would be useful when you have people who are award-winning, people who run businesses, people who write books, joining an experienced MEP.”
The Taoiseach said that he has not assessed when the Government will hold the expected four by-elections to fill Dáil seats, but that he was not "afraid" of by-elections.
Speaking after the announcement of the results, Mick Wallace said it was too early to say if he will run in the upcoming general election.
The elections of Kathleen Funchion and Michael McNamara will result in by-elections in Carlow-Kilkenny and Clare. The government insists these will be held before December.
And, now, final focus turns to Midlands North-West where the remaining seats are due to be filled in the early hours of Friday morning.
Cynthia Ní Mhurchú says she will have a double celebration as tomorrow is her birthday.
The former RTÉ presenter said it was "an honour" to be elected and put it down to a well-run campaign, thanking Billy Kelleher and others for their help.
Ms Funchion, meanwhile, said it was a "long few days" and she was "very proud" of the result.
Speaking at the Nemo Rangers count centre, Mary Lou McDonald said having two Sinn Féin members elected is a "great achievement" but admitted that overall the elections did not go as well as expected.
Ms McDonald said: "We now have two MEPS returning for Sinn Fein, that's a great achievement. It's an improvement on the position.
"Of course, we have 102 councillors elected. It's not the runaway success perhaps that some might have expected but it represents progress. So I'm very pleased with that generally, but I'm absolutely full of joy for Kathleen [Funchion], who has worked so hard that she has turned in this result and she will be I know an incredible advocate for Ireland."
She said the party will now "regroup" but she still wants a general election in the near future.
Sitting MEP Mick Wallace has lost his seat.
Fianna Fáil has won a second seat in Ireland South after Cynthia Ní Mhurchú was elected alongside Sinn Féin's Kathleen Funchion and Independent Michael McNamara.
Ms Ní Mhurchú joins party colleague Billy Kelleher, who was elected earlier on Thursday. Fine Gael's Seán Kelly took the first seat earlier this week.
After his election, Mr Flanagan was hoisted up on shoulders, draped in a Palestinian flag and cheered: “Viva Palestina”.
“I’m feeling absolutely elated and I’m just honoured to get the opportunity to get the opportunity, for the third time, to represent this constituency,” Mr Flanagan said.
Mr Flanagan said that he would be heading to Brussels shortly to try secure his position on the powerful agriculture committee, alongside working with the petitions committee to help those impacted by the Mica crisis.
He also railed against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urging other Irish MEPs to vote against her return.
Luke 'Ming' Flanagan is the first MEP elected in the Midlands North-West constituency following the conclusion of the 19th count.
He exceeded the quota following the distribution of the votes of Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín.
Fianna Fáil candidate Lisa Chambers has also been excluded ahead of the next count.
Barry Cowan, Maria Walsh, Nina Carberry, Ciaran Mullooly, and Michelle Gildernew are vying for the remaining four seats, with a result expected in the early hours of the morning.
Sitting Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan has lost her seat after the 19th count in Ireland South. Ms O'Sullivan was eliminated some 4,800 votes adrift of Mick Wallace, who is currently in sixth place.
The distribution of Ms O'Sullivan's 69,197 votes will decide the final five in Ireland South.
Ms O'Sullivan described her term as "the honour of a lifetime" and urged Ireland's new slate of MEPs to "work constructively to defend the Green Deal, human rights and the rule of law, and to prioritise a Europe that tackles the social, environmental and economic issues that face Europeans across the continent."
Independent TD Michael McNamara says that he is "nervous", despite holding a commanding position in third place in the Ireland South count at present.
Mr McNamara said that should he be elected, he would prefer to sit with one of the larger groupings in Europe, but said that Irish parties may veto his entry.
In Ireland South, sitting Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has retained his seat in the European Parliament.
Billy Kelleher's election came as he picked up 12,271 votes from Fine Gael's John Mullins, putting him on 120,105 votes in total.
Mr Kelleher said that he was "deeply humbled and honoured" by his re-election. He said that it was "emotional" but a "huge honour". He thanked his wife Liza and his children Rebecca, Isabelle and Billy.
His party leader, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, said that Mr Kelleher's election showed that Ireland had voted to send "serious, committed people" to the European Parliament. He said that the party has a chance at a second seat in a "stunning performance", saying that Mr Kelleher had "created the space" for Cynthia Ní Mhurchú to be in contention for the last seat.
Mr Kelleher's surplus of 5,344 votes will be distributed before the final elimination, likely of the Green Party's Grace O'Sullivan, which will decide the final shape of the constituency. A final declaration is due around 9pm.
After count 18 in the Midlands North-West, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has been eliminated, and Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew has overtaken Independent Ciaran Mullooly.
After his exclusion, Ms Gildernew received 20,692 transfers from her running mate Chris McManus. She is now 1,694 ahead of Mullooly.
At the top of the pile, Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan looks odds on to surpass the 113,325 quota in the coming hours, with 110,533 votes as of the 18th count.
It is currently expected that all five seats will be elected in the early hours of Friday morning.
With 18 counts complete, it appears as though Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher may become the second MEP re-elected in the Ireland South constituency.
The distribution of the votes to Fine Gael's John Mullins (FG) indicate Billy Kelleher may secure upwards of 11,000 votes on the next count, pushing him well beyond the 114,761 quota.
At Nemo Rangers in Cork, we've had the first count of the day and the 17th overall, distributing the votes of far-right candidate Derek Blighe.
With a massive 17,100 non-transferable votes, the big winner was Michael McNamara who picked up over 8,100 votes. while Mick Wallace got 4,764 and 4,571 went to Kathleen Funchion.
The count saw the elimination of Fine Gael's John Mullins, whose votes are likely to put Billy Kelleher over the quota,.
Mr McNamara is at 83,702 votes and Ms Funchion at 81,268. Mr Wallace has 71,910 and is clear of both Cynthia Ní Mhurchú on 66,198 and Grace O'Sullivan on 63,923.
Count 17 here in Nemo sees over 8,000 of Derek Blighe's votes go to Michael McNamara. John Mullins has been eliminated and his transfers should see Billy Kelleher elected. After that, it appears to be a race for the 5th seat between Ni Mhurchú and Wallace. pic.twitter.com/RItUiYdCBT
— Paul Hosford (@PTHosford) June 13, 2024
The sense here is that after Mr Mullins' transfers and Billy Kelleher's surplus, the fifth seat will come down to a straight fight between Mr Wallace and Ms Ní Mhurchú after Grace O'Sullivan is eliminated.
Having been eliminated from the Midlands North West count this morning, Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus has lost his seat at the European Parliament, reports Political Reporter Tadgh McNally.
Speaking to reporters, Mr MacManus said that he was disappointed to lose his seat but that it was no secret that Sinn Féin didn’t have a good election day.
“I left nothing on the pitch. Me and my team worked as hard as we could over the last number of weeks during the actual campaign,” Mr MacManus said.
“I committed myself to the full four plus years as an MEP and worked as hard as I possibly could. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for us on this day.”
Mr MacManus said that he hopes his transfers will play a role in getting his running mate, Michelle Gildernew, over the line.
“It’s all to play for. The numbers are maybe not in Michelle’s favour, but I wouldn’t be writing her off just yet. There’s at least another three counts to go.”
Asked if he was interested in running at a general election for Sinn Féin, Mr MacManus said that it would not be the last time you see his name on a ballot paper.
“If I was to run in a general election now, I’d have an awful lot of spare posters,” he joked.
His 36,157 votes are now due to be distributed, as the 18th count commences in Midlands North West.
It is expected that a large portion of these votes will go to Ms Gildernew, but it is unclear whether this will be enough to see her overtake Independent Ireland’s Ciaran Mullooly.
Meanwhile, Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan has hit 106,461 votes, bringing him closer to the 113,325 vote quota. Ms Gildernew remains behind Aontú's Peadar Tóibín, but will likely overtake him with transfers.
After count 17 for the Midlands North-West constituency in Castlebar, Sinn Féin's Chris MacManus has been excluded. His 36,157 votes will now be distributed.
Now that all of the country's local council seats have all been filled, here's a breakdown how many seats each party/political grouping secured overall:
- Fianna Fáil 248
- Fine Gael 245
- Sinn Féin 102
- Labour 56
- Social Democrats 35
- Greens 23
- People Before Profit-Solidarity 13
- Aontú 8
- Independents 186
- Others 33.
As counts continue in both the Midlands North-West and Ireland South, there will be plenty of candidates who sought election that will not be getting their deposits or expenses back.
They may have poured thousands upon thousands of euros into their campaigns, littering the countryside and towns with posters and leaflets, but fail to recoup any of their costs as they do not meet the requirements for a rebate.
Here's a story on the matter from Political Reporter Tadgh McNally:
Following his party's successes during the local elections, Taoiseach Simon Harris has been urged by some of his parliamentary colleagues to call a general election sooner rather than later.
Political Editor Elaine Loughlin has the story:
A quick reminder of where things stand in each European constituency:
• Fine Gael's Seán Kelly is the only MEP elected so here so far. He reached the quota on the first count. After count 16, sitting Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has 106,051 - just shy of the quota of 114,761.
The next five candidates are: Sinn Féin's Kathleen Funchion on 76,697, Independent Michael McNamara on 75,570, sitting Independent MEP Mick Wallace on 67,146, Fianna Fáil's Cynthia Ní Mhurchú on 65,361, and sitting Green MEP Grace O'Sullivan on 63,335.
• After count 16, Independent Luke 'Ming' Flanagan is leading the way here with 103,653 votes, 7,000 votes or so off the quota of 113,325.
Behind him are Fine Gael's Maria Walsh and Nina Carbery on 83,060 and 82,086, respectively. Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen is in fourth with 78,841, Independent Ciaran Mullooly is fifth on 71,107, and Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín on 54,531.
• Voting in the Dublin constituency concluded on Tuesday. The four candidates elected are Fine Gael Senator Regina Doherty, sitting Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews, sitting Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, and Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin.
- Catch up on all of Tuesday's and Wednesday's events here
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