GE24: Longford-Westmeath Count Live Blog

Live updates on the general election count in Athlone.

22:57PM:

We've adjoined counting for the evening here in Longford-Westmeath - counting will resume tomorrow at 9 am.

Peter Burke of Fine Gael has been re-elected on the first count.

The remaining four seats look to be filled by Robert Troy (FF) , Kevin 'Boxer' Moran (Ind), Sorca Clarke (SF) and Senator Micheál Carrigy (FG.)

With Joe Flaherty in sixth, he looks in danger of losing his seat but we'll have to wait and see.

That's all from Longford-Westmeath, signing off until tomorrow morning!

10:33pm:

Peter Burke has been elected on the first count for Longford Westmeath.

The Fine Gael rep will resume his seat in the 34th Dáil.

He achieved 10,864 votes, beating the quota of 10,315.

His surplus of 549 will now be distributed.

Counting has adjourned here for the evening and will resume at 9am tomorrow.

10:11pm:

Result expected here in 10 minutes. Peter Burke is current favourite to be elected first, having topped the tallies.

Stay tuned!

8:46 PM:

Aengus O' Rourke says an election like this makes him miss his late mother even more.

Mary O' Rourke served in three Ministerial positions for Health, Education and Public Enterprise as well as being the Deputy Leader of Fianna Fàil.

The former Westmeath rep passed away in October.

Her son, and Councillor in Westmeath, Aengus O' Rourke says he is thinking about her a lot during this time:

In other news, the spoiled votes count is underway and after that's complete, we should finally be expecting a first count.

8:37 PM:

Still awaiting the first count-Peter Burke and Robert Troy seemed to be earlier as well:

6:51 PM:

Robert Troy is maintaining confidence in Fianna Fàil's performance in Longford Westmeath.

The outgoing TD placed second in the tallies, while his fellow party member Joe Flaherty is just outside of the elected zone in 6th, placing him in danger.

Deputy Troy says it's still hard to know what will happen at this stage:

6:20pm:

The estimated quota for a seat in Longford Westmeath currently stands at 10,200. Tallies show Peter Burke at 10,860, so likely to see a good outcome for him.

A first count is not expected here in Athlone until closer to 9pm this evening.

4:41 PM:

Over the moon and ecstatic- that's how Kevin 'Boxer' Moran felt earlier after tallies were completed in Longford Westmeath.

He's in third place after a complete tally count with counting currently underway.

Councillor Moran lost his seat in 2020 and returned to local politics in June topping the poll in the local elections.

He said he knocked on every door in the constituency over the past few weeks:

He was ready to pull out some punches earlier on his arrival!

3:30pm:

The tally figures are in and out in front it's the Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke. He has taken 10,860 first preferences from the current figures.

Robert Troy recovered well, after spending most of the morning in 6th place, the Fianna Fáil incumbent finishes the tally in 2nd.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Sorca Clarke and Micheál Carrigy make up the top five in that order. 

Joe Flaherty ended the tallies in 6th meaning he could be in danger of losing his seat.

Counting has now commenced for Longford-Westmeath with no official result expected until later on this evening.

Full final tally figures:

3:10pm:

All votes have been tallied here in Athlone and we are awaiting the announcement of the final figures.

2:40pm:

Only four boxes remain to be opened, from the Mullingar - Kinnegad area.

2:07 PM:

The Longford tally has been completed.

Here's the standings with the complete Longford tally:

Fine Gael's Peter Burke still showing a strong lead at 8,428 - 16.7% of the vote.  Senator Micheál Carrigy in second place at 6,791 with a 13.5% share.

Robert Troy's been moving from fourth up to third on 6,218.  Sorca Clarke holding her own in fourth with 5,703.  Kevin Boxer Moran down to 5th in 5,618 with as Joe Flaherty remains in trouble on 5,031.

2 pm:

Sorca Clarke is holding strong for Sinn Fein in Longford Westmeath.

The incumbent TD is currently in 4th position as per the tally figure.

She looks likely to be the only Sinn Fein representative in the area with Barry Campion sitting in 8th.

She says she has been proud to represent the people of the constituency over the last 4 years and would be happy to do so again.

1:20pm:

Robert Troy has seen a major come back in the tally figures. The Fianna Fáil man is now in second behind Peter Burke who is maintaining a fair lead at 17%. Fine Gael also hold third position at the moment with Carrigy, and Kevin 'Boxer' Moran and Sorca Clarke  make up the top five respectively. 

Despite holding his own in the elected zone for most of the morning, Joe Flaherty has dropped to 6th place. A full tally is expected here shortly, with the possibility of a first count later on this evening.

The situation as it stands here in Athlone:

12:50pm:

The top five have seen a major shift. Tallies now show the Fianna Fàil incumbent Robert Troy is now sitting in 4th, after residing in 6th position for most of the day.

He has switched places with party mate Joe Flaherty who now may be facing some trouble.

12:32 PM:

In other news, we're expecting a full tally around 1 pm.

Here's how things stand currently:

Peter Burke is in the lead currently at 3,830 - followed by Senator Michael Carrigy at 3,517.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran is holding his own at 2,746 - Joe Flaherty in 4th followed by Sorca Clarke.

12:26 PM:

A wedding ring has been returned after it was found in a count box in the Gael Scoil an Choilín count centre in Mullingar.

Peter Creamer made the discovery earlier this morning.

It's since been claimed.

Fine Gael Councillor for Athlone-Moate Tom Farrell was also counting tallies at that centre - he was there when the ring was found:

12pm:

As we head into the afternoon more and more candidates are arriving to check their tallies. Micheál Carrigy is looking pleased with his results so far, as is Joe Flaherty currently sitting in 2nd and 5th respectively.

The top five names have been changing among themselves frequently but if the tallies are anything to go by, there could be two new faces in the Dáil to represent the people of Longford and Westmeath. 

Barry Campion has been spotted here for Sinn Féin; Laura O'Neill for Aontú and Paul Hogan for Independent Ireland also at the count centre. 

No definite results expected here until later on this evening.

Also the wedding ring found in a Mullingar box has been claimed! It is now back in the hands of its rightful owner.

11:45am

Just before noon here and we have reached the 35% mark of boxes opened in Athlone. The top 5, at least according to the tallies, have jumped around amongst themselves with Fine Gael coming out the best so far. Robert Troy appears to be facing some trouble, currently sitting just outside of the elected zone. Current tally results are showing:

1 - Carrigy FG

2 - Burke FG

3 - Moran Ind

4 - Flaherty FF

5 - Clarke SF:

Micheál Carrigy is remaining hopeful:

10:35 AM:

Here's the current tallies as things stand at Longford-Westmeath.

12.4% of boxes have been opened so far- Peter Burke of Fine Gael leading at 1,223.

Kevin 'Boxer' Moran not far behind at 1,087 followed by Senator Micheál Carrigy.

As things stand, Sinn Feín's Sorca Clarke may not top the poll again on the first count as with 2020 - she's at 771 votes.

We're also receiving word a wedding ring has been found in one of the Mullingar count boxes in Gael Scoil an Choilín in Mullingar!

9am: 

The count is underway here in Athlone for the 2024 general election to decide the 34th Dáil.  Boxes are opening here and sorting has commenced.

An extra seat is available in Longford-Westmeath this time out, bringing the constituency to a five-seater. 

Incumbents include Fianna Fáil's Robert Troy and Joe Flaherty, who will be hoping for a similar surge in support for their party as there was in the Westmeath local elections back in June. 

Sinn Féin's Sorca Clarke topped the poll last time out in 2020, and is one of two candidate's running in the constituency for the party, along with Barry Campion who failed to secure a seat in Longford in local elections earlier this year.

Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will also be vying for his seat back, hoping to represent Fine Gael in the area.

Other notable names in contention are Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, who topped the poll in Westmeath in June. He will be aiming to make a grand return to the Dáil, this time as an Independent. 

Gerry Warnock sacrificed his place on Longford County Council to focus on this campaign, another Independent candidate.

Louise Heavin left the Green Party to run as an Independent in this race. she previously served as a member of Westmeath County Council for the party, but lost her seat in the summer. 

Paul Hogan won his seat in Westmeath in June, after being co-opted onto the council. After previously serving as an Independent, he is now a member of the Independent Ireland party.

Senator Micheál Carrigy will join Minister Burke in hoping for Fine Gael support, after missing out on a Dáil seat in 2020. 

Labour, Aontú, People Before Profit, the Green Party and Ireland First also have names running for a seat in the constituency. 

More to follow.