Day one of the Kildare South and Kildare North counts

11.44pm 

 Count 5 in Kildare South and outgoing TD Patricia Byrne has been eliminated with 762 votes. Counting will resume in the morning at 9am. We are going to bid good night and see you all in the morning.

11.00pm 

 The next count in Kildare South will be the final one of the night. It looks like Patricia Ryan, who topped the poll in 2020, will be eliminated.

10.48pm 

Fourth count in Kildare South with the distribution of Tom McDonnell’s 534 votes. Doesn’t move the needle much. Green Party’s Monaa K Sood has been eliminated on 618 votes. Her votes will now be distributed.

10.40pm 

No clear word on what has happened in Kildare North but it appears a pretty significant issue has arisen. Count staff in Kildare North are still  working despite the announcement that the count had been suspended. 

10.05pm 

 This is mad. Kildare North count has been suspended until tomorrow morning. No first count tonight.

10.02pm 

Third count in Kildare South and cllr Tom McDonnell, who garnered national headlines when he was elected in the local elections earlier this year, had been eliminated. His 534 votes will now be distributed.

9.45pm 

Fine Gael’s Martin Heydon is delighted at topping the poll for Kildare South at this year’s general election.

He said: “It's a lovely feeling to top the poll again. I topped it in 2011 and 2016 and I won the second seat last time. It won't happen tonight, but tomorrow I will be elected for four terms. If someone had told me that back when I first was elected at 32 years of age, I would have never believed it. In a way, when you serve for a while, it's nearly more satisfying than the first time, because the first time they're taking a chance on you, and at this time you really feel they're voting based on your track record. There’s no greater feeling in politics.” 

9.30pm 

Our reporter Finian Coghlan has a bit of analysis of the first count here in Kildare South.

“The man in the sweating seat in this three-seater is Senator Mark Wall (Lab) on 6,654 votes, a troublesome 587 behind the last seat of O’Raghallaigh.”

9.10pm

Count 2 in Kildare South, the distribution of O’Neill and Doran’s combined 275 votes. People Before Profits Rob Cosgrave is eliminated and his 505 votes will now be distributed. No sign yet of a Kildare North vote.

8.35pm 

First count in Kildare South. Quota is 10,734. Martin Heydon tops the poll with 9,262 followed by Fiona O’Loughlin (7489), Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (7241), Mark Wall (6654). Other notables include Chris Pender (3157), Cathal Berry (3007). Outgoing TD Patricia Ryan gets 678 votes. Independent Leanne O’Neill and Edel Doran of Independent Ireland have been eliminated and their surplus will now be distributed.

8.15pm

7.59pm

7.50pm 

I think it’s fair to say that a first count may not have been as imminent as we thought!

7.10pm

First results expected imminently

7.05pm 

As people went to the polls yesterday, Kildare North poll topper James Lawless went to see Gladiator II.

The outgoing minister of state gave his review.

"It was enjoyable, not as good as the first one. I was hoping to see Conclave but times didn't suit! Paul Mescal in it gives an extra interest!"

He added: “The dream of Rome... the dream of North Kildare!” 

To keep his mind off things, he also did the Parkrun in Naas this morning!

6.35pm 

Martin Heydon has entered the count hall with his family a short while ago. Looking happy and deservedly so. Bit of chat that the tally figures may not be entirely accurate and some candidates may get a bump that could alter the picture.

6pm 

Adjudication on doubtful votes for both Kildare South and Kildare North will now take place

5.25pm 

Bit of a lull here after the tallies but it seems a first count result for either Kildare North and Kildare South is still some way off. There still hasn’t been the adjudication of spoiled votes which normally takes a bit of time.

5.06pm 

So here is the lay of the land in Kildare South, Martin Heydon will top the poll for Fine Gael followed by Senator Fiona O’Loughlin. Sinn Féin’s Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh has performed remarkably well and is in third with Mark Wall of Labour currently outside the last seat.

It seems unlikely that Independent TD Cathal Berry can stay in the hunt while outgoing TD Patricia Ryan will not be re-elected.

Transfers, of course, will be crucial to determining the final outcome.

5.00pm 

 Fianna Fail’s, James Lawless, in the lead on final tally before the first count, with Social Democrat’s Aidan Farrelly and Sinn Fein’s Réada Cronin close behind. As it stands, Fianna Fail’s Naoise Ó Cearúil is in place for the fourth seat. It could possibly be a battle between Fine Gael’s Joe Neville and Bernard Durkan for a seat with both very close in numbers.

4.40pm 

Final tally Kildare North 

James Lawless – FF – 8350 

Aidan Farrelly – SD – 7116 

Réada Cronin – SF – 6426 

Naoise Ó Cearúil - FF- 5581 

Joe Neville – FG – 5145 

Bernard Durkan – FG – 4463 

Angela Feeney – Lab – 3211 

Evie Sammon – FG – 2928 

Bill Clear – Ind - 2812 

Una O’Connor - Aon – 2034 

Vincent P. Martin – GP – 1957 

Gerry Waters – IFP – 1193 

Caroline Hogan – SF – 1181 

Leah Whelan – PBP-S – 1062 

Avril Corcoran – TIP – 533

Seán Gill – CPI - 72

4.35pm

Quota expected to be around 10,000 in Kildare South

4.30pm

3.30pm 

Sinn Féin very happy with Ni Raghallaigh performance in Kildare South.

In Kildare North, talk that Fianna Fáil could get a second seat with Naoise O Cearúil doing well and potentially transfer-friendly while James Lawless will top the poll.

3.18pm

Final tally Kildare South 

Cathal Berry Ind 2814 

Melissa Byrne Aon 1572 

Willie Carton II 906 

Anthony Casey IFP 868 

Rob Cosgrave PBP-Sol 467 

Edel Doran II 131 

Martin Heydon 8655 

Tom McDonnell 477 

Shónagh Ni Raghallaigh SF 6807 

Fiona O’Loughlin FF 7003 

Leanne O’Neill Ind 159 

Chris Pender SD 2922 

Patricia Ryan Ind 655 

Moona k Sood GP 535 

Mark Wall Lab 6393

3.05pm

2.45pm

2.33pm 

With 70 per cent of the boxes tallied in Kildare North, James Lawless is leading with 6,200 votes for Fianna Fáil with Aidan Farrelly of the Social Democrats on 5157.

Sinn Féin’s Reada Cronin sits at 4672 with cllrs Joe Neville and Naoise O Cearúil both at around 3900. Fine Gael's Bernard Durkan is further back at 3,367 while Evie Sammon of Fine Gael and former Social Democrat Bill Clear are at 2200 and 2086 respectively.

2.30pm 

80 per cent of vote tallied in Kildare South. Martin Heydon on 7,000. Mark Wall, Fiona O’Loughlin and Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh all around the 5400-5500.

Ní Raghallaigh strong showing has surprised some while Wall appears to have increased his vote from 2020.

Cathal Berry is back at over 2,000 while former Sinn Féin TD Patrica Ryan is further adrift.

2.10pm 

In Kildare North, with 60 per cent of boxes tallied, Fianna Fáil’s James Lawless is leading the way with 5,200 votes. Social Democrats’ Aidan Farrelly will also be very pleased with his showing so far with 4,500 votes. Sinn Féin Reada Cronin stands at 4,00 votes with Fine Gael’s Joe Neville and Naoise O’Cearúil of Fianna Fáil at 3,700 and 3,300 votes respectively. Veteran Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan has 2,900 in this five-seater.

2pm

1.55pm 

The first count is going to get underway shortly in both constituencies with ballots being sorted

1.50pm 

 60 per cent of boxes tallied in Kildare South. Heydon very strong at over 6,000 votes. Mark Wall of Labour also doing very well at 4,400 followed by Fianna Fáil’s Fiona O’Loughlin (4,200) and Sinn Féin’s Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (4,100).

Outgoing TD is Cathal Berry at 1,900 while Patricia Ryan who topped the poll is currently at 295 votes.

1.11pm 

Incomplete tally figures in Kildare South show Martin Heydon leading the pack with over 5000 votes. Sinn Féin’s Shonagh Ni Raghallaigh and Senator Fiona O’Loughlin of Fianna Fáil are following behind with a little over 3600 votes and Mark Wall of Labour over 3500. Independent Cathal Berry stood at 1482 vote in this early tally and Sinn Féin TD Patricia Ryan are polling in the hundreds but you’d imagine many boxes favourable to the pair have yet to be opened.

1pm 

First counts have yet to start here in Punchestown. Incomplete tally figures have been emerging which show Sinn Féin and Labour doing well in Kildare South. Long way to go yet.