LE2024 DAY 2: Five Local Electoral Areas complete with 33 seats filled
Counting has resumed at the Meath Count Centre here in Simonstown GAA.
Stay with us throughout the day for Live Updates and Count Results.
Here are the rolling Local Electoral Area stories compiled by the Meath Chronicle team of Noelle Finegan, Sally Harding, Ann Casey and Leah Doherty.
The Story of the Ratoath Count
The Story of the Laytown Bettystown Count
The Story of the Ashbourne Count
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DAY TWO
The voting has concluded for today and the recount in the Navan LEA will commence at 10am tomorrow morning.
21.20: Sinn Fein's Fionann Blake and Fine Gael's Gerry O'Connor filled the last two seats in the Ratoath LEA after the thirteenth count without reaching the quota.
21.15: All seats have now been filled in the Kells Electoral Area with Independent David Gilroy, Mike Bray (FF), Michael Gallagher (SF) and Peter Caffrey (SF) all elected on the tenth count to fill the remaining four seats.
19.35: A full recount of votes in the Navan LEA has been announced upon request by Fianna Fail's Kashif Ali who was eliminated on the eleventh count.
The recount will begin at 10am tomorrow.
19.12: No candidates have been elected in the ninth count in the Kells LEA.
Fine Gael candidate, Seamus McGee, has been eliminated.
19.04: No candidates have been elected in the eleventh count in the Navan LEA.
Fianna Fail candidate Kashif Ali has been eliminated.
18.20: Fianna Fail's Sean Drew has been re elected in the Kells LEA after the eighth count.
17.55: Sinn Fein candidate Maria White and Independant candidate Carol Lennon have taken the last two seats in the Laytown/Bettystown LEA after the eleventh count.
5pm: Sinn Fein's Helen Meyer and Fianna Fail's Conor Tormey are the last two candidates to be elected to Meath County Council in the Ashbourne LEA after the eleventh count.
16.45: No candidates have been elected in the Kells LEA after the seventh count.
Fianna Fail candidate, Paul McCabe, has been eliminated.
16.35: Independant Cllr Nick Killian has been re elected in the Ratoath LEA after the ninth count.
16.20: Fianna Fail's Wayne Harding has been re elected to Meath County Council in the Laytown/Bettystown LEA after the tenth count.
Sinn Fein candidate, Seamus Lynch, has been eliminated.
3.50: Independant's Brian Fitzgerald and Fianna Fail's Caroline O'Reilly have been elected to Meath County Council in the Ratoath LEA after the eighth count.
3.38: Fianna Fail's Stephen McKee has been re elected in the Laytown/Bettystown LEA after the ninth count.
This brings the total number of councillors elected to Meath County Council to the half way mark with 20 seats left to fill.
3.35: Fine Gael's Suzanne Jamal has been re elected in the Ashbourne LEA after the tenth count.
3.25: The amended sixth count of the Kells LEA has just been announced.
While Peter Devin (Aontu) has been ahead of Paul McCabe (FF) by two votes, a recheck resulted in a reversal of the order with candidate Peter Devin being eliminated, two votes behind candidate Paul McCabe.
3pm: Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, arrives at the count centre in Simonstown GAA with her three year-old son, Michael.
14.30: No candidates have been elected in the eighth count in the Laytown/Bettystown LEA.
Fianna Fail candidate Tom Behan has been eliminated.
14.20: Fine Gael Cllr Alan Tobin is the third councillor to be re elected in the Ashbourne LEA after the ninth count.
14.16: No candidates have been elected in the sixth count in the Ratoath LEA.
Sinn Fein candidate, Trish Murtagh, has been eliminated.
14.12: No candidates have been elected in the sixth count in the Navan LEA.
Sinn Fein candidate, Frances Murphy, has been eliminated.
13.25: The six seats in the Trim LEA have been filled with Fianna Fail's Aishling Dempsey being re elected by exceeding the quota in the eighth count.
Fianna Fail candidate Padraig Coffey, Social Democrat's Ronan Moore and Aontu's Dave Boyne have all been elected without reaching the quota.
13.10: No candidates have been elected in the eighth count in the Ashbourne LEA.
Sinn Fein candidate, Maria Ui Ruairc, has been eliminated.
12.45: Independant Cllr Geraldine Keogan is the thirteenth councillor to be elected to Meath County Council, after the seventh count in the Laytown/Bettystown LEA.
12.30: No candidates have been elected in the fourth count in the Ratoath LEA.
Independant candidate, Eleanor Carroll, has been eliminated.
12.05: The first sitting councillor, Fine Gael's Niamh Souhan, has been eliminated in the seventh count in the Trim LEA.
11.50: No candidates have been elected in the fourth count in the Navan LEA.
Aontu's Francis O'Toole has been eliminated.
11.40: In the Kells LEA, there are just two votes between the bottom two candidates, Peter Devin on 900 votes and Paul McCabe on 898 votes after the sixth count. At the request of McCabes agents, a simple recheck of both candidates votes is now under way.
11.15: Fine Gael's Paddy Meade has been re elected in the Laytown/Bettystown area and is the twelfth councillor to be elected to Meath County Council.
Aontu's Peter Whelan has been eliminated.
10.55: Sinn Féin's hopes of reclaiming a seat in the Trim Electoral Area have been dashed as the party's second candidate Daithí McEvoy has been eliminated on the sixth count. Sinn Fein's other hopeful, Aoife Drew, was eliminated on the fourth count.
10.50: No candidates have been elected in the third count in the Ratoath LEA.
Animal Welfare candidate, Carolyn Fahy, has been eliminated.
10.45: No candidates have been elected in the third count in the Navan LEA.
Independant candidate, Edel Gillick, has been eliminated.
10.30: No candidates have been elected in the sixth count in the Ashbourne LEA.
Independant candidate, Charles Bobbett has been eliminated.
10.05: No candidates have been elected or eliminated in the fifth count in the Kells LEA.
They will now distribute the surplus of Cllr Eugene Cassidy's surplus of three votes.
09.55: No candidates have been elected in the fifth count in the Laytown/Bettystown LEA.
Fine Gael candidate, Declan O'Neill, has been eliminated
09.50: No candidates have been elected in the fifth count in the Trim LEA.
Fine Gael's Luba Healy has been eliminated.
09.45: No candidates have been elected in the fifth count in the Ashbourne LEA.
The National's Party Jean Murray has been eliminated.
09.40: Counting is under way here in all six Local Electoral Areas.
Yesterday saw 11 of the 40 seats filled on Meath County Council.
So far the following councillors have been elected:
Ashbourne LEA:
Joe Bonner (Ind)
Amanda Smith (Ind)
Kells LEA:
Sarah Reilly (FG)
Eugene Cassidy (FG)
Laytown/Bettystown LEA:
Sharon Tolan (FG)
Navan LEA:
Eddie Fennessy (SF)
Emer Toibin (Aontu)
Ratoath LEA:
Gillian Toole (Ind)
Maria Murphy (FG)
Trim LEA:
Noel French (Ind)
Joe Fox (FG)
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DAY ONE
9.22: The result of the second count in Ratoath LEA has been announced. No candidates have been elected or eliminated.
Cllr Maria Murphy's surplus are now being distributed.
Here is the full story of the Ratoath count.
9.10: Independant Cllr Amanda Smith has been elected on the second count in the Ashbourne Electoral Area with 1,532 votes.
Independant candidate Marcin Czekalski and Independant candidate Cathal Loftus-Ashbourne have been eliminated.
20.45: No candidates have been elected or eliminated in the third count in the Trim Electoral Area.
Cllr Joe Fox's surplus are now being distributed.
20.35: Sinn Fein Cllr Eddie Fennessy and Aontu Cllr Emer Toibin are the two councillors elected in the Navan Electoral Area.
Cllr Eddie Fennessy topped the poll with 1,711 votes while Cllr Emer Toibin got 1,588 votes.
Here is the full story of the Navan count.
20.20: Fine Gael Cllr Eugene Cassidy has been re elected on the second count in the Kells Electoral Area.
New candidate Colm Mac an tSionnaigh from Independant Ireland has been eliminated.
Here is the full story of the Kells count.
20.05: Independant Cllr, Joe Bonner, who has been re elected says why he thinks he has made such an impact with constituents.
"My intention was to go out there and tell the truth and keep people informed and listened to what they had to say and I think the people have rewarded me for that."
Here is the full story of the Ashbourne count.
19.22: Tracy McElhinney has been eliminated after the second count in the Trim Electoral Area.
19.10: Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan has been reelected by topping the poll with 1,782 votes in the Laytown/Bettystown Local Electoral Area.
18.57: Independant Cllr Gillian Toole and Fine Gael Cllr Maria Murphy have been elected to Meath County Council in the Ratoath Local Electoral Area.
Cllr Gillian Toole topped the poll with 3,158 votes while Cllr Maria Murphy got 1,794 votes.
18.34: Fine Gael Cllr Sarah Reilly tops the poll with 2,077 (Quota 1,871)
17.48: Independent councillor, Joe Bonner, has been re-elected to Meath County Council by topping the poll with 2,685 votes in the Ashbourne Local Electoral Area. Quota was 1,532.
17.35: First results in five minutes from Ashbourne!
17.30: They're about to count the 'doubtful ballots' in the Kells and Laytown Bettystown areas now. So papers with any form of question over its validity are presented in front of the political teams for inspection and if they are to be included in the count
17.29:
17.14: The former Fine Gael councillor turned independent, Noel French polled a remarkable 3,963 first preferences to be elected on the first count along with sitting councillor Joe Fox of Fine Gael who also exceeded the quota with 1,881 votes.
In 2019, Noel French, achieved the highest first preference of any candidate in a Meath County Council election at 3,052 and this time round has managed to exceed that vote by another 900 votes.
Cllr Joe Fox, who was elected on the second count in 2019 with 1,474 first preferences has also increased his vote by over 400 votes.
In third place at present is sitting councillor Aisling Dempsey (FF) followed by Dave Boyne of Aontu in fourth place. Both look well positioned to take a seat.
16:35: Noel French (Ind) and Joe Fox (FG) are the first two candidates to be elected to Meath County Council from the Trim Local Electoral Area.
4pm: 173 people in the Trim Electoral Area spoiled their votes in Friday's election - but they're very polite in that neck of the woods. Not one wrote "Down with the Government" or "Anarchists forever" compared to the 2019 election when some of the language was purple. This time around the spoiled votes comprised mainly technical issues on the ballot paper. Nineteen ballot papers had no official stamp which meant that the polling official failed to tamp the paper or the machine misfed and left the paper blank apart from the candidates' names.
Seventy seven papers failed to indicate a number 1 preference.Some papers had multiple ticks only, with no numbers. Another paper had 2 Xs. Some people had two marks in the number one panel.
Sixty five papers indicated a Number 1 for more than one candidate. Twelve papers had writing only on the papers comprising initials, or a signature or tickets. The spoiled votes are being adjudicated upon at the moment and some of them might survive the process. Candiates' agents lined the bariers as the examination of ballot papers continued and made appeals for the survival of some of the papers.
15.45: Aontu leader and Meath West TD, Peadar Toibin is in bouyant form at the Count Centre in Navan.
His party has seen a substantial increase in the vote across the country and in Navan, his sister Emer - a sitting councillor - has increased her vote from 12 to 14 per cent and Dave Boyne looks likely to be elected in the Trim Electoral Area.
"Dave Boyne is very popular in Trim and will do good job," he predicted.
He was also pleased with the increased vote for his party across County Meath with Peter Devin in Kells, Peter Whelan in Laytown/Bettystown and Brandon Scott in Ashbourne who took a solid five per cent of the vote in "a squeezed election."
"They will all be back, they are all committed to public service," he said.
"Peter Whelan increased his vote by 200 per cent, despite being based in the Slane/Lobinstown area at the very edge of the big Laytown Bettystown district," he pointed out.
As regards his own performance in the European Poll, he said some tallies showed him at 18 per cent, but acknowledged that he would need to be polling that in his own county.
"I saw another tally from Monaghan that had me at seven per cent. You need to be a 10 to 12 per cent to get elected," he said.
15.15: Shoud be first result from Trim very shortly...Dara McGowan returning officer has just announced.
14.31: Independent candidate for Laytown/Bettystown Carol Lennon is polling at seven percent receiving 931 votes on the first count in yesterday's tally and putting her in with a chance of securing a seat when results are announced later day.
"I'm excited," said Carol.
"People have been asking me are you nervous and I'm like no because at the end of the day, what's for you won't pass you," she added.
"I would be delighted to be elected because I'd love to be able to serve the community in a official capacity but if I'm not, I'll still represent the community as I've always done."
Carol who qualified as a barrister last year is a carer for her children who have autism. She is running alongside colleague, Geraldine Keogan who is hoping to retain her seat in the Laytown/Bettystown municipal district area.
"I have been caring for the last 22 years and I have been an activist for 22 years just looking for inclusivity as in doing that people noticed me.
"I was approached and asked if I would consider running for election and I thought it was the next gradual step.
"Politics was always on the horizon, it was probably a five or ten year plan and all of a sudden it became six weeks."
14.27:
14.20:
1.35: Family support..Ratoath Ind Cllr Brian Fitzgerald here with his family at the Meath Count,
1.33: Major public order incident avoided here at the Meath Count after media were informed that they would be fed at some point during the day!
1.30: Returning Officer, Dara McGowan in conversation with Cllr Sarah Reilly who is topping the poll in Kells
1pm: Worth a look at how the 40 Council seats are broken down into their Local Electoral or Municipal District areas.
Navan 7, Trim 6, Laytown/Bettystown 7, Ratoath 7, Kells 7, Ashbourne 6.
12.45: Candidates arriving in increasing numbers, some in celebratory mood and other more with trepidation...
12:40:
9.33: The Council are livestreaming all the results so we've pinned the link to the top of the page (above) for the day. Dara McGowan, Returning Officer will be the maker and breaker of dreams today (and tomorrow). Read our chat with him about the process of running a Local Election Count
9.31: Here is the full tally results from yesterday if you need to refresh...
9.30:
9am: Returning Officer Dara McGowan explains the procedures for the count, ensuring all seals and boxes are correct before releasing to count staff to commence the count.