Ireland South count to go right down to the wire
A dogfight to the last is expected in Ireland South with three seats yet to be filled. A fifth day of counting will be required to determine the final order, with Deirdre Clune, Liadh Ní Riada and Grace O’Sullivan all battling to secure the seats.
The candidate who ends up taking the fifth seat will face a further wait before assuming their role as it is the so-called ‘cold storage’ seat, which will only become available when Britain leaves the European Union. While Sinn Féin members at the count centre in Nemo Rangers GAA Club were remaining tight-lipped about their next steps, the Green Party say they are “in fighting mode” as the last seat looks like it could come down to just a few hundred votes.
To be left battling for the final seat is a disappointment for Green Party candidate Grace O’Sullivan who, just hours before the election of Billy Kelleher, had been talking about “miracle transfers” and her target of getting the fourth seat. She later conceded that she faces an uphill battle and said the party will do everything to secure the seat.
Ms O'Sullivan said:
The gap is so small that it’s now significant. Now I am in trouble, I am in serious trouble, I am not looking at a seat at all
“There was such a bounce there, but now there is a lot of angst and tension in our corner and a lot of relief elsewhere. I feel in fighting form, this will be a fight to the end for the fifth seat. I will have to wait and see the numbers and if the margin of error is small, we are going to have to talk about a recount.”
Ms O’Sullivan said she will only seek a recount if “it is worthwhile and reasonable”.
The Sinn Féin camp, meanwhile, were keeping tight-lipped about their chances of securing the seat. Earlier in the day, the transfers of Andrew Doyle and Shiela Nunan had blown the race wide open, with Malcolm Byrne’s eventual elimination proving significant. The Wexford councillor said he was proud of the campaign his team ran.
“It was always going to be tough when you are up against a couple of big names in politics,” Mr Byrne said.
“I am not disappointed, I had a great campaign team around me and we knew it was always going to be difficult when you are trying to compete with strong names, but we ran a positive pro-European-themed campaign,” he said.
Mr Byrne, who was re-elected to Wexford Council in the local elections, said he would continue to campaign on issues.
“We are moving fairly soon towards a general election, there are European issues that we fought on, but there are also a lot of domestic issues that will continue to surface and I will continue to campaign on,” said Mr Byrne.
Labour’s Sheila Nunan, meanwhile, said she was “proud of the grassroots campaign” she undertook. She paid tribute to her supporters and urged the newly-elected MEPs not to take their responsibilities lightly.
“I entered this race to fight for a social Europe, a more accountable Europe and a Europe that will endure well into the future,” she said.
