Meath West Decides: Live Updates from the Count Centre
*** LIVE COVERAGE from the Meath West Count Centre at Trim GAA Centre with ANN CASEY & NOELLE FINEGAN
Final Result Meath West
Johnny Guirke (SF)
Peadar Tóibín (Aontu)
Aisling Dempsey (FF)
Fifth Count - distribution of Peadar Tóibín's surplus
Dempsey + 352 8,806 - elected
Nelson Murray +275 8098 - eliminated
Fourth Count - distribution of French's transfers
Tóibin + 1,720 10,054 Elected
Dempsey + 1,338 8,454
Nelson Murray + 982 7,823
6.50pm Third Count - distribution of Moore's transfers
Guirke + 988 9887 - elected
Tóibin + 296 8,334
Dempsey + 433 7,116
Nelson Murray + 448 6,841
French + 747 5,045
French eliminated
6.15 pm Second Count
Distribution of Gilroy, Gallagher, McGauley, McMenamin and Reilly's transfers
Guirke + 295 8,899
Tóibin +475 8,083
Dempsey + 148 6683
Nelson Murray +229 6393
French + 329 4,398
Moore +703 3,244
Non transferrable votes 150
Moore eliminated
5pm: First Count Result
Electorate 65,148
Total Poll 37,935
Spoiled votes 230
Total Valid Poll 37,705
Quota 9,427
Guirke, Johnny (SF) 8,604
Tóibin, Peadar (Aontu) 7,562
Dempsey, Aisling (FF) 6,539
Nelson Murray, Linda (FG) 6,164
French, Noel (Ind) 3,969
Moore, Ronan (Soc Dem) 2,542
McMenamin, Seamus (Green Party) 568
Lynch, Finbar (PBP) 505
Gallagher, Sandy (Lab) 420
Gilroy, Ben (Liberty Republic) 416
McGauley, Ian (Irish People) 216
Reilly, Damien (Ind) 203
Gilroy, Gallagher, McGauley, McMenamin, Reilly eliminated
16.00: "It will be a long night yet," was the prediction of outgoing Fine Gael TD, Damien English who is at the count centre of support his party'w candidate, Linda Nelson Murray,
He said; "It is going to be tight but we are still hopeful. Linda has done very well to be in fourth place on her first time out. It is all down to transfers, we know a lot of those to be transferred are from the Trim area so that mightn't just suit Linda. We are still hopeful, we have a really good chance."
15.50; Sinn Fein's Johnny Guirke has arrived at the count centre, as the announcement of first count results are imminent.
15.30; Returning officer, Des Foley has announced the adjudication of 'doubtful' votes is about to begin.
11.50; With all boxes open, counting of first preference votes in the Meath West will begin shortly.
The final tally shows Johnny Guirke (SF) on 23 per cent, Peadar Toibin (Aontu) on 20 per cent, Aisling Dempsey (FF) 18 per cent, Linda Nelson Murray (FG) 16 per cent, Noel French (Ind) ten per cent, Ronan Moore (Soc Dem) seven per cent, Seamus McMenamin (Green Party) two per cent, Sandy Gallagher (Lab) one per cent, Ben, Gilroy (Liberty Republic) one per cent, Finbar Lynch (PBP) one per cent, Ian MCGauley (Irish People) one per cent, and Damien Reilly (Ind) one per cent.
At this point it looks as if nobody will make the quota to be elected on the first count. Tallies put the quota at 9,081. Guirke is the closest at 8,219. Bear in mind these are tally figures and not official figures.
11.30am With 80 per cent of boxes opened, tallies show Johnny Guirke (SF) on 24 per cent, Peadar Toibin (Aontu) on 20 per cent, Aisling Dempsey (FF) 17 per cent, Linda Nelson Murray (FG) 17 per cent, Noel French (Ind) ten per cent, Ronan Moore (Soc Dem) six per cent, Seamus McMenamin (Green Party) two per cent, Sandy Gallagher (Lab) one per cent, Ben Gilroy (Liberty Republic) one per cent, Finbar Lynch (PBP) one per cent, Ian MCGauley (Irish People) one per cent, and Damien Reilly (Ind) one per cent.
10.50am: With 59 per cent of boxes open, tallies show Johnny Guirke (SF) on 25 per cent, Peadar Toibin (Aontu) on 20 per cent, Aisling Dempsey (FF) 17 per cent, Linda Nelson Murray (FG) 17 per cent, Noel French (Ind) nine per cent, Ronan Moore (Soc Dem) six per cent, Seamus McMenamin (Green Party) two per cent, Sandy Gallagher (Lab) one per cent, Ben, Gilroy (Liberty Republic) one per cent, Finbar Lynch (PBP) one per cent. Ian MCGauley (Irish People) one per cent, and Damien Reilly (Ind) one per cent.
10.05am; With 27 boxes open, early tallies show Johnny Guirke (SF) on 23 per cent, Peadar Toibin (Aontu) on 19 per cent, Aisling Dempsey (FF) 18 per cent, Linda Nelson Murray (FG) 18 per cent, Noel French (Ind) nine per cent, Ronan Moore (Soc Dem) six per cent, Seamus McMenamin (Green Party) two per cent, Sandy Gallagher (Lab) two per cent, Ben Gilroy (Liberty Republic) one per cent, Finbar Lynch (PBP) one per cent and Ian MCGauley (Irish People) one per cent.
9.30am Counting is underway for the Meath West constituency in the Trim GAA Centre. With 103 boxes, returning officer, Des Foley expects all boxes to be opened by 12 midday.
The turnout in Meath West was 57.8 per cent down from 61.5 per cent in 2020.
37.720 votes were cast in Meath West of a total electorate of 65,720.
AISLING DEMPSEY
(FIANNA FAIL)
'Family supports and childcare are so very important today'
As Aisling Dempsey faces into a General Election as the sole Fianna Fail candidate in Meath West, her biggest task will be to break out of her home town of Trim (population 9,563) into Navan (33,886) where she is relatively unknown, she admitted this week. READ ON...
NOEL FRENCH
(Independent)
‘I’m not going in to talk. I'm going in to get things done’
riday's General Election is Trim councillor Noel French's second outing in Meath West but while he ran for the Fine Gael party in 2020, this time he is contesting the election as an independent.
He was one of three Fine Gael candidates in the three-seater constituency last time and polled around seven per cent with his transfers helping bring Damien English over the line. READ ON...
PEADAR TÓIBÍN
(AONTÚ)
'Meath West has been treated diastrously by this Government'
Peadar Tóibín might not use the term “make or break” as the General Election looms but if he is not joined by at least one Aontú Party TD in the Dail his critics are bound to say “this is a one-man band”. READ ON...
JOHNNY GUIRKE
(SINN FEIN)
‘I'm in politics to make a difference to those who are being left behind’
Even allowing for personal illness, illness of a family member and a bereavement, the harsh political reality may be that Mary Lou McDonald’s leadership of Sinn Fein has taken a “wobble” and that she may find it difficult to regain ground in the wake of the party’s handling of the Stanley and particularly O Donnghaile affairs. READ ON...
RONAN MOORE
(Social Democrats)
'It's heartbreaking to see people who need the most basic services having to fight for them'
Childcare and disability services are two of the issues Cllr Ronan Moore is most passionate about. The Social Democrat councillor for the Trim area says we have a dysfunctional childcare system where professionals are getting just over the minimum wage. READ ON...
LINDA NELSON MURRAY
(Fine Gael)
‘I love representing the people of Navan and to give back any way I can’
Linda Nelson Murray's first taste of politics was when she took on the insurance industry when she faced losing her business over massive insurance costs.
Determined to protect the business she had built with her husband, Finbarr Murray, she formed the Play Activity and Leisure Ireland (PALI) lobby group, spoke before a Dáil committee and her campaigning saw a reduction in insurance costs for those in the leisure industry. READ ON...
SANDY GALLAGHER
(Labour)
Gallagher wants united approach on climate change
The Labour Party is running Sandy Gallagher as their candidate in Meath West.
The Ballivor woman says she does not come from a political background but when the political parties visited IT Tallaght when she was a student there in 2002, Labour were the only party with Marriage Equality and the Repeal of the 8th Amendment on their agenda. READ ON...
FINBAR LYNCH
(People Before Profit)
Housing crisis the priority for PBP
Navan man, Finbar Lynch, is who is running as a People Before Profit candidate in Meath West says the housing crisis is central to his party's campaign.
Lynch, who works in the public sector, says he experienced the housing crisis himself while in college and living and working in Dublin when he lived in seven different places over a nine to ten year period.