Michael D Higgins has received more than fifty percent of votes in the first count at the Galway East count centre.
However, Peter Casey took in a third of the votes in the constituency, with 33.3% of first preference votes.
Michael D. Higgins received 18,011 first preference votes (53.48%), while Casey received 11,227 votes.
Sinn Féin’s Liadh Ní Riada polled just 3.1%, while businessmen Sean Gallagher and Gavin Duffy also flopped.
Gallagher’s share of the vote plummeted from 30% in the 2011 Presidential election to just 4.1% this time around, while Sinn Féin’s share also decreased – Martin McGuinness received 10.4% of the vote in 2011.
Gavin Duffy received just 516 votes in Galway East and Pieta House founder Joan Freeman polled 4.6%.
The first count in Galway East was the first official result in the country.
