Aontú the big winner in Bailieboro-Cootehill

Published: Sat 25 May 2019, 3:18 PM

Last updated: Sat 25 May 2019, 4:23 PM

It is still all to play for in the Bailieborough-Cootehill area as a final tally nears completion.

The estimated quota is 1,576; below what it was in 2014, when the figure was 1,678.

Only one candidate looks set to make the quota, and that’s Aontú’s Sarah O’Reilly, who has tallied an estimated 1,683 votes, or 15% of the overall vote in the Municipal District Area.

The former Fianna Fáil candidate from Bailieborough was co-opted to the council in place of Niamh Smyth TD when she earned a seat in Leinster House. Her surplus could go anywhere if, as was the case in Ballyjamesduff, some Aontú supporters gave their candidate a ‘1’ with no other preference for other candidates in the race.

Other candidates over the 1,000 tally mark are Val Smith from Lavey on 1,134 (10%), Fianna Fáil’s Clifford Kelly from Kingscourt on 1,348 (12%), and Cootehill’s Carmel Brady (FG) on 1,001 (9%). Francis McDermott (FF) from Shercock is next in line on 922 (8%), as is Aidan Fitzpatrick (FF) on 892 (8%).

Looking set to get eliminated early on is Labour Party’s Mary Roche, a first time candidate from Cootehill, with 116 tallied votes, or one per cent.

There are 13 candidates in the field, and the remainder are tallying between 5-7%.

Sinn Féin’s Paddy McDonald is no dead cert sitting on 767 (7%), two votes ahead of fellow party member Bridget Boyle on 765 (7%), and in line with returning Fianna Fail candidate Gerry Murray 773 (7%).

Elsewhere Fine Gael’s John O’Hare is on 654 (6%), and Shirley Hall on 616 (5%).

Fianna Fáil entered this morning positive off the back of strong voter turn-out in the likes of Shercock and Kingscourt, but no one could have predicted the fall off in the Sinn Fein vote, where McDonald is down votes on five years ago, when he got 879 first preference, nor the massive support for Aontú's O'Reilly in her first election.

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https://www.anglocelt.ie/elections/roundup/articles/2019/05/24/4174595-live-election-blog-2019/