Storm Ciara to hit as voters go to the polls
Storm Ciara is set to hit as the country goes to the polls for the first Saturday general election in the history of the state and the winds of change are also expected to significantly alter the political landscape.
As frustrations mount over what many see as the government's failure to address the crises in health and housing as well as the growing fears locally that the Just Transition for Bord na Móna and ESB workers will be anything but, it's looking increasingly likely that Fine Gael's time as the dominant power in the Dáil is over.
In the newly reunited Laois Offaly constituency, 15 candidates, including the six outgoing TDs - Barry Cowen and Sean Fleming (FF), Charlie Flanagan and Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (FG), Carol Nolan (Ind) and Brian Stanley (SF) - are battling for five seats which means that at least one local member of the last Dail will be looking for a new job next week.
After a relatively low-key election campaign, things have hotted up in the last seven days as Sinn Fein first overtook Fine Gael and then Fianna Fail in the opinion polls.
This surge in popularity for Mary Lou McDonald's party is reflected in the bookies cutting Brian Stanley's odds to top the poll. At the time of writing, a number of bookmakers had Stanley the favourite to claim first seat ahead of Fianna Fail early front runner Barry Cowen.
However, while they may be in a battle to claim the first seat, many are predicting that Fianna Fail stand a good chance of having three local TDs in the next Dáil.
Cowen and his party colleague Sean Fleming from Laoisare seen as shoe-ins to return to Leinster House, while with the right vote management Peter Ormond is expected to contest for the last seat.
If Fine Gael's position in the polls is reflected locally, the party faces a real struggle to return its two outgoing TDs. Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan is expected to retain his seat, while it is predicted that his party colleague Marcella Corcoran Kennedy will face a tough fight to keep hers.
Carol Nolan, who left Sinn Fein in 2018 in protest at the party's stance on abortion, is seen as the other outgoing TD whose seat is most under threat. She is one of a number of candidates along with Ormond and Corcoran Kennedy who are in contention for the final seat.
Other Dáil hopefuls who are expected to put up a challenge for the fifth seat include Cllr John Leahy and outgoing Seanad member Pippa Hackett of the Green Party who is the only candidate in a vast North Offaly area.
Cllr Ken Smollen from the Irish Democratic Party is sure to secure significantly more first preference votes than in 2016 of 971. Whether he will have enough to be in the mix for a seat remains to be seen.
According to Offaly County Council, there are 56,685 Offaly people on the Register of Electors in the Laois Offaly constituency, while there are 1,658 from the Portarlington area register to vote in the newly redrawn South Kildare constituency for the first time. Polling stations will open at 7am and close at 10pm this Saturday, with the count for Laois Offaly commencing in the Kea-Lew Business Park in Portlaoise early on Sunday morning.