Early signs positive for Mullooly in Offaly

Early European Parliament election tallies, unsurprisingly, show Barry Cowen topping the poll in his native Offaly.

There have also been some strong performances from Fine Gael's Nina Carberry, sitting MEP Luke Ming Flanagan and Independent Ireland's Ciaran Mullooly.

Carberry had been given the Offaly area as part of the constituency carve up with running mate Maria Walsh, so her vote in this area is not a useful barometer of the overall picture necessarily.

Interestingly though in some early boxes tallied Ciaran Mullooly is outvoting Ming Flanagan and would appear to be in strong contention for a seat.

Some more concrete tallies will emerge in the coming hour.

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