Seanad vote LIVE: Recount looms as Hazel Chu and Aubrey McCarthy battle for final seat

Counting in the Seanad elections continues at the RDS, in Dublin.

Counting for all Seanad panels is underway with just one seat filled when counts adjourned on Wednesday night.

The two university panels began counting on Wednesday — the National University of Ireland (NUI) panel and the Dublin University/Trinity College panel. Each of these panels have three seats.

Votes for the five vocational panels — Agriculture; Labour; Cultural and Educational; Industrial and Commercial; and Administrative — began in Leinster House on Thursday morning.

Michael McDowell was the first person to be elected to the Seanad after he reached the quota on the first count.

The result came in shortly after midnight and saw the Independent senator comfortably retain his seat.

It has been a strong result for the five incumbents with all on course to retain their seats leaving just one seat up for grabs following the retirement of long-time senator David Norris last year.

Follow along for the latest results here:

9.45pm

A request for a full recount has been made in the Dublin University/Trinity College panel in the Seanad election.

The count at Trinity College was adjourned shortly before 10pm on Thursday night after the final count left just 31 votes between the final two candidates.

Independent candidate Aubrey McCarthy finished with 3,741 votes while the Green Party's Hazel Chu had 3,710 - both were short of the quota of 4,450.

With a small margin separating the two, Ms Chu called for a full recount a request which the returning officer said would be considered when they return to the Trinity exam hall this morning.

The battle between Ms Chu and Mr McCarthy heated up after Ms Chu managed to pick up over 700 votes following the elimination of her Green Party colleague, Ossian Smyth.

Earlier, Independent senators Lynn Ruane and Tom Clonan were elected in quick succession in Trinity as had been expected.

Over at the RDS, the National University of Ireland panel returned its three senators - Michael McDowell, Rónán Mullen and Alice-Mary Higgins - for another term early on Thursday afternoon.

Meanwhile, counting is underway in the vocational panels after polling closed on Thursday morning with 43 members to be elected across the five panels over the coming days.

The panels will be counted one at a time with the five-seat Cultural and Educational panel up first.

Sinn Féin's Pauline Tully was the first to take a seat getting elected on the second count after falling just two short in the first. The former TD in Cavan-Monaghan lost her seat in November's general election.

Fine Gael's Cathal Byrne will be deemed elected shortly as the count continues in Leinster House.

Those in the running to take the three remaining seats include Fianna Fáil's senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee and Shane Curley; Fine Gael's Seán Kyne and Shane O'Callaghan; and Independent councillor Joe Conway.

7.25pm

Incumbent Tom Clonan has been elected on the 13th count taking the second seat in the Dublin University/Trinity College panel.

Mr Clonan finished up with 488 votes over the quota and those are now being distributed.

As expected, a large chunk of Ossian Smyth's votes went to his Green Party colleague Hazel Chu pushing her into the lead for the third seat for the first time.

Ms Chu currently has 2,962, followed by Aubrey McCarthy with 2,630 and Hugo MacNeill with 2,359.

These three will continue to fight it out for the final seat in this constituency.

This was always going to be the interesting race here as Mr Clonan and Lynn Ruane, who was elected this afternoon, were expected to retain their seats.

With Ms Chu currently 1,488 votes away from the quota there is still a fair bit of counting yet to be done here at Trinity College.

4.57pm

Lynn Ruane has been elected on the 11th count at Trinity College taking the first seat in the Dublin University/Trinity College panel.

An independent senator since 2016, Ms Ruane was expected to retain her seat in the Seanad.

With 4,806 votes, Ms Ruane exceeded the 4,450 quota and her surplus of 356 will now be distributed.

Fellow incumbent Tom Clonan is set to be elected shortly as he is now just 181 from the quota.

The Green Party's Oissan Smyth will be eliminated and it would be expected that this will benefit his colleague Hazel Chu.

The final seat is still up for grabs with very little to separate Ms Chu (2,062), Independent Hugo MacNeill (2,116) and Independent Aubrey McCarthy (2,314).

Meanwhile in Leinster House, the initial tally for the Cultural and Educational panel shows Sinn Féin's Pauline Tully on the cusp of reaching the quota in the first count.

Also leading the pack are Cathal Byrne, Shane Curley, Seán Kyne, Joe Flaherty, Lorraine Clifford-Lee, Joe Conway and Shane O'Callaghan.

3pm

Following the eighth and final count at the RDS both Senators Rónán Mullen and Alice-Mary Higgins have retained their seats.

No surprises in the National University of Ireland panel as the first count showed a clear path for the three incumbents — McDowell, Mullen and Higgins — to keep the three seats.

Meanwhile, there is still no one elected in the Dublin University/Trinity College panel.

Counting is ongoing at Trinity College with Lynn Ruane just over 300 votes away from reaching the quota.

They are on the 10th count with former minister Katherine Zappone eliminated on the ninth count.

Ruane has led the way throughout, closely followed by fellow incumbent Tom Clonan with both expected to be elected this afternoon.

The fight for the third and final seat rumbles on with Independents Aubrey McCarthy and Hugo MacNeill and the two Green Party candidates Hazel Chu and Ossian Smyth all in the mix.