Sitting Galway East TD Sean Canney has become the first candidate elected in the constituency tonight.
Canney surged over the quota in Galway East of 10,631 on the seventh count of the night, finishing at 12,292 votes.
His 1,661 surplus votes will now be redistributed to the candidates competing for the final two seats.
The remaining three standing are Ciaran Cannon (FG), Anne Rabbitte (FF), and Louis O’Hara (SF), with only two seats available.
Up until the last count O’Hara looked quite likely to secure a seat, but he suffered badly in the redistribution of Peter Roche’s (FG) 6,973 votes, only picking up 612 transfers for a current count of 9,411
He’s slipped from second position in the polls to fourth and last on the seventh count, with Ciaran Cannon in second with 9,990 after picking up over 2,500 votes from his party colleague.
Fianna Fáil’s Anne Rabbitte is also back in with a fighting chance to hold onto her seat at 9,535 votes.
This puts her in third place, but leaves just over 100 votes between her and O’Hara. The final results will be seen shortly after Canney’s surplus is redistributed.
