LIVE - DAY ONE Offaly County Council elections
2.30am
And that's a wrap. Counting will resume in Mucklagh Community Centre later this morning (Sunday) - at 9.45am to be exact. Time for some much-needed sleep after a very long day!
2.26am
Tullamore Local Electoral Area (1st count result)
Electorate: 23,791
Total Poll: 11,833
Spoiled Votes: 162
Total Valid Poll: 11,671
Quota: 1,459
Number of seats: 7
Broder Patrick (Irish Freedom Party): 418
Bryant Ollie (Fianna Fáil): 1,182
Dillon Deirdre (Non-Party): 155
Farrell Tim (Sinn Féin): 201
Feehan Smollen Sandy (Non-Party): 782
Feighery Neil (Fine Gael): 1,962
Harvey Declan (Fianna Fail): 1,269
Masterson Aoife (Sinn Féin): 1,216
McCormack Tony (Fianna Fáil): 1,326
Moran Frank(Fianna Fail):1,429
O'Brien Sean (Non-Party): 1,337
Walsh Liam (Green Party): 394
1.11am
Just as we were poised to have a first count result after the doubtful votes had been adjudicated on, Returning Officer Monica Cleary announced that a discrepancy uncovered during a recheck means the count for the Edenderry Electoral Area is being adjourned until 9am this morning (Sunday).
Meanwhile, adjudication of doubtful votes for the Tullamore Electoral Area is now about to get underway. More black coffee needed!
00.26
Technically speaking we are now into Day 2 of this election count and the intention of the Returning Officer is to complete the first count in three electoral areas before adjourning proceedings tonight, unless a discrepancy arises! It's going to be a long night ahead, and a lot of strong black coffee will be needed. Although the crowds have thinned out in Mucklagh Community Centre, a number of candidates and their families are still here, including sitting Cllrs Percy Clendennen; Liam Quinn; Eddie Fitzpatrick; Frank Moran and Peter Ormond.
11.15pm
Expected Edenderry poll-topper Eddie Fitzpatrick says he is delighted with his vote and has thanked those who voted for him.
11.05pm
We are still with you in the count centre in Mucklagh. Counting is still continuing and there is talk that maybe a first count in Edenderry will be forthcoming before we finish up tonight.
10.15pm
Expected Tullamore poll-topper Neil Feighery says he believes his vote is an endorsement of the type of politics he practises, founded on hard work, honesty and ensuring that Tullamore avails of all possible Government funding.
10.05pm
Garrett Kelly says he has “no regrets” about entering the local election race in the Birr area, and hopes his candidacy will serve to highlight the daily challenges facing people with disabilities.
Having been diagnosed with a neurological autoimmune condition called Myasthenia Gravis, Garrett entered the race in a bid to make “a significant difference” to the lives of people with disabilities, their families and the youth, and to champion better mental health services for all.
“I was well received on the doorsteps, and I got out and about as much as I could, given my disability” he says “and while I’m obviously disappointed that I may be out of the race after the first count, I’m glad I put my name forward."
Prior to being diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, Garrett Kelly says he was “on course” to represent Ireland in the Paralympics. He was born with Spina Bifida which has resulted in him being confined to a wheelchair throughout his life.
Among the daily challenges he faces as a person with a disability is wheelchair access to buildings and also the issue of uneven, unsafe footpaths, both locally and nationally.
9.50PM
Peter Ormond is set to be the poll-topper in the Birr Electoral Area. He told us he was honoured by the support he received.
9.45PM
Counting is ongoing and not much to report otherwise. MEP candidate Barry Cowen has been in the count centre over the last hour.
8.45PM
As the counting continues in Mucklagh, we look at some of the questions to be answered in the coming hours:
Will Fine Gael increase their seats?
The party currently has four seats on Offaly County Council, but is in with a chance of five, with Hughie Egan hoping to join the four outgoing party representatives (Clendennen, Cribbin, Quinn and Feighery) in the council chamber.
How many councillors will Sinn Féin have?
Aoife Masterson looks very likely to be elected in Tullamore, while Sean Maher is in strong contention in Birr and Claire Murray cannot be ruled out yet in Edenderry.
Will the three big parties dominate the next council?
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin could have up to 15 or more councillors in the 19-strong council.
The swing to independents and smaller parties has not materialised in Offaly, although Independent Ireland's Fergus McDonnell is very likely to be elected, along with John Leahy (Non-Party) in Birr and Sean O'Brien (Non-Party) in Tullamore.
8.15PM
More and more candidates are arriving in the count centre in Mucklagh. Some happy, some hopeful and a few disappointed faces. All will become clearer by tomorrow evening.
7.30PM
Counting is underway in Mucklagh after the votes arrived from Birr in the last hour or so.
Returning Officer Monica Cleary has announced that she will adjourn the count tonight at 11pm and return at 9am in the morning.
5.00PM
The final tallies for the Tullamore area:
Broder (Irish Freedom Party) 392 3%
Bryant (Fianna Fáil) 1133, 10%
Dillon (Non-Party) 145 1%
Farrell (Sinn Féin) 178 2%
Feehan Smollen (Non-Party) 791 7%
Feighery (Fine Gael) 1920 17%
Harvey (Fianna Fail) 1237 11%
Masterson (Sinn Féin) 1236 11%
McCormack (Fianna Fáil) 1329 12%
Moran (Fianna Fail) 1384 12%
O'Brien (Non-Party) 1312, 11%
Walsh (Green Party) 373 3%
4.30PM
See the full tallies for Edenderry here
See the full tallies for Birr here
3.30PM
31 boxes of 41 in Tullamore (75.6%)
Broder 329 (4%), Bryant 997 (11%), Dillon 133 (1%), Farrell 166 (2%), Feehan Smollen 702 (8%), Feighery 1647 (18%), Harvey 865 (9%), Masterson 906 (10%), McCormack 872 (10%), Moran 1416 (16%), O'Brien 797 (9%), Walsh 280 (3%)
3.10PM
With 75% of the boxes tallied for the Birr area, this is the current state of play:
Boylan 134 (2%), Buckley 288 (3%), A. Claffey 96 (1%), C Claffey 275 (3%), Clendennen 1,317 (16%), Daly 600 (7%), Deegan 268 (3%), Egan 695 (8%), Hennessy Kennedy 672 (8%), Kelly 47 (1%), Koneva 69 (1%), Leahy 1285 (15%), Maher 745 (9%), O'Meara 276 (3%), Ormond 1505 (18%).
3PM
The latest tally figures from the Tullamore area where 26 of the 41 boxes have been tallied. So, with 63.4% of votes tallied, the following is the picture:
Broder 279 (4%), Bryant 948 (12%), Dillon 117 (2%), Farrell 139 (2%), Feehan Smollen 650 (8%), Feighery 1,430 (19%), Harvey 695 (9%), Masterson 775 (10%), McCormack 693 (9%), Moran 1134 (15%), O'Brien 650 (8%), Walsh 211 (3%).
Fine Gael's sole flagbearer Neil Feighery is in a very strong position and likely to be elected on the first count.
2.55PM
The tallying is continuing here in Birr - with full tallies expected for Edenderry very shortly. We should have an idea of the lay of the land at that stage.
1.30PM
Tullamore - 21 out of 41 boxes tallied - 51.2%
Broder 234 (4%), Bryant 869 (15%), Dillon 92 (2%), Farrell 96 (2%), Feehan Smollen 598 (10%), Feighery 1257 (21%), Harvey 344 (6%), Masterson 525 (9%), McCormack 388 (7%), Moran 1118 (19%), O'Brien 305 (5%), Walsh 111 (2%)
12.50PM - 24 out of 40 - 60% of Birr Boxes
Boylan 98 (2%), Buckley 113 (2%), A. Claffey 65 (1%), C. Claffey 223 (4%), Clendennen 1200 (19%), Daly 564 (9%), Deegan 237 (4%), Egan 426 (7%), Hennessy Kennedy 643 (10%), Kelly 43 (1%), Koneva 55 (1%), Leahy 927 (15%), Maher 665 (11%), O'Meara 226 (4%), Ormond (791 (13%)
22 out of 30 - 73.3% of Edenderry Boxes
Cribbin 503 (9.5%), Fitzpatrick 1205 (22.8%), Hackett 116 (2.2%), McDermott 355 (6.4%), McDonnell 722 (13.7%), McNamee 386 (7.3%), Murray (SF) 534 (10.1%), Murray (FF) 743 (14.1%), Quinn 617 (11.7%), Ryan 109 (2.1%)
12.30PM - 50% of Birr Boxes
Tallies are coming thick and fast here in Birr, and we now have 50% of the Birr boxes tallied and the figures are:
Boylan 88 (2%), Buckley 101 (2%), A. Claffey 61 (1%), C Claffey 203 (4%), Clendennen 1066 (19%), Daly 559 (10%), Deegan 218 (4%), Egan 423 (8%), Hennessy Kennedy 557 (10%), Kelly 37 (1%), Koneva 47 (1%), Leahy 763 (14%), Maher 579 (10%), O'Meara 197 (4%), Ormond 695 (12%).
12.15PM - LATEST TALLIES
The latest tallies show that Frank Moran (Fianna Fáil), Tullamore, and Eddie Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil), Edenderry, are well on their way to being elected, with Fitzpatrick almost certain to exceed the quota on the first count.
Birr
14 out of 40 boxes opened (35%)
Boylan 51 (1%), Buckley 66 (2%), A Claffey 35 (1%), C. Claffey 154 (4%), Clendennen 741 (19%), Daly 354 (9%), Deegan 206 (5%), Egan 216 (6%), Hennessy Kennedy 477 (12%), Kelly 35 (1%), Koneva 34 (1%), Leahy 417 (11%), Maher 551 (13%), O'Meara 143 (4%), Ormond 423 (11%).
Edenderry
16 out of 30 boxes opened (53.3%)
Cribbin 431 (10.3%), Fitzpatrick 1168 (27.9%), Hackett 109 (2.6%), McDermott 293 (7.3%), McDonnell 598 (14.3%), McNamee 318 (7.6%), Murray (SF) 405 (9.7%), Murray (FF) 431 (10.3%), Quinn 338 (8.1%), Ryan 98 (2.3%).
Tullamore
16 out of 41 boxes opened (39%)
Broder 180 (4%), Bryant 591 (13%), Dillon 73 (2%), Farrell 60 (1%), Feehan Smollen 541 (12%), Feighery 798 (18%), Harvey 211 (5%), Masterson 334 (8%), McCormack 272 (6%), Moran 1041 (24%), O'Brien 172 (4%), Walsh 95 (2%).
11.25AM
A reminder of the candidates, the areas, and the analysis of each area.
11.05AM - FIRST SIGNIFICANT TALLIES
BIRR
With eleven out of 40 boxes tallied in the Birr area, believed to be the part of the Birr urban and Crinkle areas, here is the share of the vote, according to the tallies.
Boylan 34 (1%), Buckley 15 (1%), A. Claffey 20 (1%), C. Claffey 132 (5%), Clendennen 576 (23%), Daly 26 (1%), Deegan 192 (8%), Egan 45 (2%), Hennessy Kennedy 450 (18%), Kelly 27 (1%), Koneva 34 (1%), Leahy 149 (6%), Maher 486 (19%), O'Meara 25 (5%), Ormond 234 (9%)
EDENDERRY
With six of 30 boxes tallied in the Edenderry area, believed to be the rural areas around Daingean and Rhode, as well as Cloneygowan, the picture is as follows:
Cribbin 226 (9.2%), Fitzpatrick 458 (18.6%), Hackett 66 (2.7%), McDermott 157 (6.4%), McDonnell 336 (13.7%), McNamee 182 (7.4%), Murray (SF) 313 (12.7%), Murray (FF) 376 (15.3%), Quinn 308 (12.5%), Ryan 39 (1.6%).
TULLAMORE
In Tullamore, ten boxes are tallied out of 41, with the boxes understood to come from areas including parts of Clara and Killeigh, with the votes tallied as follows
Broder 147, Bryant 552, Dillon 68, Farrell 49, Feehan Smollen 375, Feighery 589, Harvey 184, Masterson 299, McCormack 247, Moran 755, O'Brien 166 and Walsh 87
10.45AM
Tallies from a box from Clara, Box 73 Clara Boys NS
Broder 8, Bryant 5, Dillon 2, Farrell 15, Feehan Smollen 76, Feighery 7, Harvey 6, Masterson 21, McCormck 10, Moran 167, O'Brien 5, Walsh 3
10.15AM
Some early tallies from the Edenderry electoral area.
Box No 51 - Daingean NS
Cribbin 3, Fitzpatrick 36, Hackett 5, McDermott 1, McDonnell 78, McNamee 17, Murray (SF) 21, Murray (FF) 45, Quinn 66, Ryan 11.
Box No 47 - Clonegyowan NS
Cribbin 12, Fitzpatrick 249, Hackett 57, McDermott 7, McDonnell 41, McNamee 7, Murray (SF) 10, Murray (FF) 3, Quinn 21, Ryan 11.
Box 43 - Ballyfore GAA Centre
Cribbin 85, Fitzpatrick 16, Hackett 6, McDermott 48, McDonnell 78. McNamee 26, Murray (SF) 31, Murray (FF) 62, Quinn 59, Ryan 2
Some notable figures there, with Fergus McDonnell (Independent Ireland) performing credibly, while Mark Hackett stuggled a little in those boxes.
Obviously, three boxes don't tell a whole lot, but, still, some interesting figures there.
9.35AM
The process here in Birr is that the European and local votes are being separated and a tally is underway initially for the European Parliament election in Offaly while they are being
It's understood it is one of the few constituencies where a European Parliament tally is being undertaken.
After that tally is completed, the local election votes will then be tallied.
As a result it may be some time before a picture of the local election race emerges here in Birr, though, on the positive side, we may have an idea of how the European race is going - though it would be a huge surprise if Barry Cowen did not top that particular poll in his native county.
9AM - Birr Count Centre
Welcome to St Brendan's Community School in Birr where European Parliament and Offaly County Council votes are being segregated, prior to the local election votes being transported to Mucklagh Community Centre later today for the official count.
Tadhg Carey and Geraldine Grennan will be keeping you up to date throughout the weekend, on all the updates.