- Luke 'Ming' Flanagan has topped the poll in the first count of the Midlands North-West constituency, ahead of Fine Gael's Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh.
- We're into the 12th count in the Dublin constituency, with Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Regina Doherty of Fine Gael still leading the way.
- With around 87 per cent of seats filled in the local elections, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are neck and neck for the overall share of the local vote.
- In Ireland South, Fine Gael's Sean Kelly has become the first MEP elected in Ireland.
- John Moran has topped the poll in the Limerick mayoral race and now stands at 19,080 votes following the sixth count.
Local election results – State of the parties
European election results – State of the parties
10.30pm
The first count in the Midlands North-West show Independent Luke 'Ming' Flanagan topping the poll, but short of a quota.
With the quota set at 11,325, Flanagan has 78,214, ahead of Barry Cowen of Fianna Fáil on 73,908; Fine Gael's Nina Carbery on 72,888; Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh on 71,476; Independent Ireland party's Ciaran Mullooly on 57,297 and Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew on 45,807.
They are followed by Fianna Fáil's Lisa Chambers on 44,069, Aontú's Peadar Tóibín on 40,742, and Fianna Fáil's Niall Blaney on 30,387.
Sitting Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus is in danger of losing his seat as he received just 29,427 first preferences.
With just 20 first preference votes separating Barry Cowen and Nina Carberry, both look set to take seats.
The results put Fine Gael in a strong position to win two seats in the constituency. However, of the three Fianna Fáil candidates, while Barry Cowen looks set to regain a seat in the constituency for the party, his two running mates, Lisa Chambers and Niall Blaney face an uphill struggle to take the final seat.
10pm
Seán Kelly has been re-elected to the European Parliament in the first count for the Ireland South constituency.
The former boss of the GAA from Kerry has been an MEP since 2009 and will return to Brussels for another five-year term from July.
The second count will continue tomorrow, and it’s expected Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher and Independent Michael McNamara will take the second and third seat.
South East MEP candidates Cynthia Ní Mhuruchú, Kathleen Funchion, Mick Wallace and Grace O’Sullivan are all still in contention.
Photo Credit: Gavin Reilly, X
9.55pm
Limerick sixth count:
Independent - John Moran - plus 462 - 19,080
Independent - Helen O'Donnell - plus 313 - 13,588
Fianna Fáil - Dee Ryan - plus 289 -12,370
Aontú's Sarah Beasley excluded with 2,859 votes.
9.50pm
Fine Gael's Sean Kelly has become the first MEP elected in Ireland.
9.45pm
Niall Boylan has moved into fourth place in the European Parliament Dublin constituency count.
The move happened after count 12, and it's possible he could overtake Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin and move into third by the end of the next count.
Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's Regina Doherty are both well out in front, but are still over 10,000 votes shy of the quota.
9.20pm
Sinn Féin’s leader has challenged the Taoiseach to “bring it on” and call an early general election.
Mary Lou McDonald struck a defiant note following her party’s disappointing showing in the local election and rejected any suggestion Taoiseach Simon Harris would be doing her a favour if he stuck to his original plan to go to the polls in early 2025.
Mr Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have both moved to dampen speculation of an earlier-than-expected general election after their respective parties – Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – performed better than many pollsters had predicted in Friday’s local and European elections.
Counting in both those contests continued on Monday, while ballots began to be totted up in Limerick for Ireland’s first ever directly elected mayor.
7.55pm
A first count announcement for the Ireland South constituency is expected in the next hour or so.
It’s virtually certain the returning officer will announce Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly as the winner of the first seat.
Counting is expected to end after the announcement, and will continue in the morning.
7.50pm
Nobody will be elected as an MEP from the Dublin constituency until at least tomorrow. Ten counts have taken place, with little change at the top of the order.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lead the way, while the Green Party, Independent Ireland and Labour are part of the chasing pack.
6.45pm
Limerick third count result:
Independent - John Moran - plus 34 - 18,397
Independent - Helen O'Donnell - plus 25 - 13,016
Fianna Fáil - Dee Ryan - plus 22 - 11,864
Social Democrats candidate Elisa O'Donovan has received the most transfers (77) from People Before Profit's Ruairi Fahy.
The Party of Animal Welfare's Gerben Uunk has been eliminated.
6.35pm
Counting is picking up pace in Limerick mayoral race.
John Moran has topped the poll and now stands at 18,363 votes following the second count.
Helen O’Donnell, another independent, is just shy of 13,000 - while Dee Ryan of Fianna Fáil has over 11,800 votes.
People Before Profit’s Ruairí Fahy has been eliminated and his 692 votes are being distributed.
Thirteen candidates remain in contention.
5.43pm
We're into the ninth count in the Dublin constituency, with Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Regina Doherty of Fine Gael still leading the way. Neither are close to a quota, while there is a battle for the last two seats behind them.
Niall Boylan is picking up plenty of transfers from lower down the ballot, and is putting pressure on Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe in the 4th spot.
Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan is third in the poll at the moment, and she says the campaign was a lot different on the ground compared to what was witnessed online.
5.10pm
Sinn Féin TD and MEP candidate Kathleen Funchion has said that she is “very hopeful” she will be elected to the Ireland South constituency.
The roughly 715,000 EU election ballot papers at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork went through a lengthy “sub-sort” before the actual count began.
Ireland’s electoral system of proportional representation means that a candidate must reach a quota to be elected.
The announcement of first count result had been expected by lunchtime on Monday, but is now expected closer to 6pm.
Based on the size of ballot piles stacked in the sports club’s hall, Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly and Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher will be re-elected as MEPs.
But several rounds of further counting – after eliminated candidates’ votes are redistributed – will be needed before the final three seats become clear.
Along with Ms Funchion, in contention for those seats are Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara, who was vocal in his opposition to the two defeated March referenda; and outgoing MEP and ex-Co Wexford TD Mick Wallace.
5pm
Sinn Féin’s disappointing election results are down to people tiring of its failure to present credible alternative plans, the Minister for Housing has claimed.
Sinn Féin has repeatedly accused Darragh O’Brien of failing to deal adequately with the housing crisis.
Mr O’Brien, in turn, has been one of the main opposition party’s most vocal critics, leading to frequent fiery clashes in the Dáil.
The Fianna Fáil minister rounded on his rivals on Monday when asked to assess its failure to make major gains at the local elections.
4.50pm
An eighth count is said to be imminent at the RDS in Dublin for the European Parliament constituency.
Seven counts in, and it's as you were at the top of the poll here in the RDS. Barry Andrews and Regina Doherty of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael respectively lead the way, both have over 61,000 votes but still well shy of the 75,000+ quota.
After that it's anyone's guess, with Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan and outgoing MEP Ciarán Cuffe still occupying the final two seats at this moment.
Close is Niall Boylan of Independent Ireland. Mr Boylan picking up more transfers than Labour's Aodhan Ó Ríordáin, but he was expected to benefit more from those down the ballot.
Nobody is expected to be elected until tomorrow at the earliest.
3.30pm
Vote-counting in a historic election in Ireland is under way – and “all is still to play for”, according to one of the running candidates.
For the first time ever, Irish citizens will select its first directly-elected mayor.
The first count in the Limerick election is expected later on Monday afternoon.
It is the first time Irish citizens will elect their first local mayor, in what is seen as a test case for the rest of the state.
A total of 15 candidates are running for the mayor’s seat.
Dozens of staff are counting the votes at Limerick Racecourse, which is being used as a count centre.
Independent candidate John Moran is leading the race on 24 per cent, according to tallies.
He is followed closely by another independent candidate, Helen O’Donnell.
2pm
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has insisted the leaders of the Coalition remain committed to serving a full term as he dismissed speculation over an early general election.
The Fianna Fáil leader said the Government would stay focused on delivery, citing the budget as its main priority, despite renewed focus on the prospect of an earlier-than-expected polling day.
Vote counting in the local and European elections resumed in Ireland on Monday. In Limerick, a count for Ireland’s first-ever directly elected mayor began on Monday.
While it could still take days to finish counting every vote across the country, the political ramifications of the results so far have raised major questions for the leaders of the main parties.
1.30pm
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said he believes a lack of solutions to the issues facing the public was the reason behind Sinn Féin's poor showing in the elections.
He added that while he is happy with his own party's results so far, there are areas Fianna Fáil must assess.
"We have lessons to learn from this, we have to evaluate the selection from our own point of view.
"We did well in many areas, but there are other areas where we didn't do as well, and there are aspects of the logistics of our campaign that we can improve upon," Mr Martin said.
With 833 of the 949 council seats filled by lunchtime on Monday, Fianna Fáil is almost level with Fine Gael in terms of their share of first-preference votes, each taking around 23 per cent.
After better than anticipated performances by the Coalition parties, speculation is rising over the chance of an early general election.
However, the Tánaiste poured cold water on the idea, insisting the three party leaders remain committed to serving a full term, which will see the election taking place next spring.
12.25pm
Two MEPs could be selected in Ireland South by the end of the day.
The constituency's counting, taking place at Nemo Rangers in Cork, is expected to return Fine Gael's Seán Kelly to the European Parliament in the first count, the results of which are expected to be announced around 4pm.
Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher appears to be running in second, while Independent candidate Michael McNamara seems in with a shout of taking the third seat.
In Midlands–North-West, counters say they're progressing on schedule, with the result of the first count expected this evening.
12.10pm
In the local elections, counting is continuing to fill the remaining seats in various councils across the country, with recounts taking place in parts of Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Wexford, among others.
In the Dublin constituency for the European elections, a third count has failed to see a candidate elected.
Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews remains the frontrunner there, where Conor Murphy and Eamonn Murphy (both Independent) have been eliminated and their votes transferred.
Andy Heasman (Irish People) is expected to be the next to be eliminated, with his first-preference votes to be distributed in the fourth count.
11.40am
The mammoth task of counting ballots in Midlands–North-West, where 27 candidates were on the ballot, is underway.
It is expected that the result of the first count in Castlebar could be announced in the early evening, with Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan (Independent) and Maria Walsh (Fine Gael) appearing to have got off to a strong start.
Meanwhile, in the Dublin local elections, three recounts are taking place in Fingal, looking at ballots from the Howth/Malahide, Blanchardstown and Castleknock LEAs.
11.05am
A second count in the Dublin European Parliament constituency is expected shortly, but a candidate may not be elected until this evening.
The second count will see the distribution of Independent candidate Conor Murphy, who claimed 1,065 first-preference votes.
Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews is out ahead on 16.5 per cent, followed by Fine Gael's Regina Doherty.
Running in third is Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan, followed closely by Green MEP Ciaran Cuffe, Labour's Aodhán Ó Ríordáin and Independent Ireland's Niall Boylan.
European election first preference share by party – Dublin
10.30am
Counting is underway in Limerick in the race to become the State’s first directly-elected mayor.
The successful candidate is expected to be confirmed by the end of the day.
Fifteen candidates are battling it out for the position, with two independents – John Moran and Helen O'Donnell – currently leading the pack, on 24 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, all 40 seats have now been filled on Limerick Council.
7.30am
Counting in each of the three constituencies for the European elections is due to continue on Monday.
The count for Dublin will resume at 10am, while the sorting of ballots in Ireland South will get back underway from 9am, with a first count expected to begin at around lunchtime.
In Limerick, the counting of ballots to decide the first directly-elected mayor in the State is also set to commence at 9am.
Most local authority seats have now been filled.
A first count in the Ireland South constituency is expected later today. The first count in Midlands–North-West could still be days away, while Dublin's second count is expected around lunchtime.
The first count was declared there last night, with Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews topping the poll closely followed by Regina Doherty of Fine Gael, but neither had reached the quota to be elected.
Andrews says the result could help Fianna Fáil in the upcoming General election in Dublin - but he's ruled out another run for the Dáil himself.
The first count in Dublin's European constituency set the quota at 75,345, with Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews getting 62,147 votes and Fine Gael's Regina Doherty securing 61,344 votes. Both are well ahead of the rest of the pack, with the nearest rival being Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan on 35,431.
She is closely followed by the Green Party's Ciarán Cuffe on 32,204, Labour's Aodhan Ó Ríordáin on 30,733, and Independent Ireland's Niall Boylan on 30,637. Next up is the Independent 4 Change MEP Clare Daly on 26,855 and PBP-Solidarity candidate Brid Smith on 21,577.
Michael McAleer, Muireann Duffy and James Cox
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