LE2024 Meath: The Story of the Ratoath Count

Sinn Fein's, Fionnan Blake, took the final seat in Ratoath tonight after a marathon two day count.

He was the only newcomer to make the grade in this contest with six of the sitting councillors re-elected.

The seven new Ratoath electoral area councillors are Gillian Toole (Ind), Maria Murphy (FG), Brian Fitzgerald (Ind), Nick Killian (Ind), Caroline O'Reilly, (FF), Gerry O'Connor (FG) and Fionnan Blake (SF).

Independents were the major winners with the three sitting Independents, holding onto their seats and Cllr Gillian Toole topping the poll with a massive vote of 3,158, almost double the quota of 1,657.

Outgoing Dunboyne Fine Gael councillor, Maria Murphy, polled 1,791 and was also elected on the first count.

There were emotional scenes as Caroline O'Reilly (FF) was elected on the eight count. She was co-opted onto the council last year following the sudden death of her cousin, the late Damien O 'Reilly.

Cllr O'Reilly said; "I am proud of the amount of first preferences I received and I am delighted to maintain Damien's legacy. It is was important to hold onto this seat for that reason.

"It was a huge motivating factor in the whole campaign, for myself, Damien's family and friends - it was actually part of the grieving process."

There was also disappointment for Fianna Fail when newcomer, John Donohoe narrowly missed out on taking the seat vacated by Deirdre Geraghty Smith who stepped down after one term as a Fianna Fail councillor.

Labour's Eiish Balfe also came within a whisper of getting elected and was eliminated on the 13th and final count, just behind Blake.

Cllr Gillian Toole said she was delighted with her performance.

"I didn't get to everywhere, I wasn't able to cover the entire electoral area and we had a small budget, just under €5000, we recycled as much as possible.

"I'm looking forward now to getting back to work and the first Community Clinic will take place this Friday in Dunshaughlin," she said.

"I want to thank all those who helped in my campaign. "I had a small team of friends, family and people I worked with on committees."

She also paid tribute to the Meath County Council staff working on the count.

"These are the same people we deal with from Monday to Friday all through the year and now they are here on their weekend, making sure the count runs smoothly," she said.

Cllr Nick Killian, said he was delighted to be re-elected and grateful to the people of Ratoath for giving him the opportunity to represent them one them more time.

"I want to congratulate all the other candidates on their election and hope we can all work together for Ratoath Municipal District in the next five years.The issues raised on the doorsteps were childcare and care for young children with autism. This is a priority for me. We cannot continue to ignore the plight of parents who have to fight for services their for children."

Cllr Brian Fitzgerald expressed his delight at his re-election. "I am delighted to be returned again. We ran a great campaign and we had great help.

"All my usual team were there helping, day and night and my daughter, Anne, did a brilliant job looking after the canvass and campaign."

Cllr Maria Murphy said she was delighted with her vote and particularly her vote in Dunboyne."The people of Dunboyne have given me a mandate to continue what I have been doing for the next five years."It is an honour to be a councillor. I have worked hard since I was elected in 2009 and I will continue to work to promote and improve the area," she said.

RATOATH

Electorate 28,420

Total Poll 13,353

Invalid Ballot Papers 98

Valid Poll 13,255

Seats Seven

Quota 1,657

First Count

Toole Gillian (Ind) 3158 Elected

Murphy Maria (FG) 1,791 Elected

Fitzgerald Brian (Ind) 1,480

O'Reilly Caroline(FF) 1,433

Killian Nick (Ind) 1,025

Donohoe John (FF) 874

O'Connor Gerry (FG) 754

Blake Fionnan (SF) 693

Balfe Eilish (Lab) 483

O'Riordan Fergus (FG) 383

Murray Jean (The National Party) 309

Bonham Ruadháin (Green Party) 284

Murtagh Trish (SF) 212

Rooney Gerry (Workers Party) 178

Carroll Eleanor (Ind) 107

Fahy Carolyn (Party of Animal Welfare) 80

Second Count

Distribution of Toole's surplus

Fitzgerald +93 1,581

O'Reilly +67 1,500

Killian +443 1,468

Donohoe + 90 964

O'Connor +182 936

Blake +76 769

Balfe +192 675

O'Riordan +163 546

Murray + 49 358

Bonham +32 316

Murtagh +26 238

Rooney +50 228

Carroll +13 120

Fahy +25 105

Third Count

Distribution of Murphy's surplus

Fitzgerald +12 1,593

O'Reilly +64 1,564

Killian +3 1,471

Donohoe +2 966

O'Connor +25 961

Blake +3 772

Balfe +4 679

O'Riordan + 9 555

Murray +0 358

Bonham +8 324

Murtagh +1 239

Rooney + 1 229

Carroll +3 123

Fahy +2 107

Fahy eliminated

Fourth Count

Distribution of Fahy's transfers

Fitzgerald +11 1,604

O'Reilly + 9 1,573

Killian +9 1,480

Donohoe, +4 970

O'Connor, +4 965

Blake +7 779

Balfe, +7 686

O'Riordan +3 558

Murray +11 369

Bonham +7 331

Murtagh +4 243

Rooney +4 233

Carroll + 7 130

Eleanor Carroll eliminated

Count Five

Distribution of Carrolls transfers

Fitzgerald +22 1,626

O'Reilly +26 1,599

Killian +17 1,497

Donohoe + 4 974

O'Connor +1 966

Blake +14 793

Balfe +3 689

O'Riordan +2 560

Murray + 9 378

Bonham +6 337

Murtagh +5 248

Rooney +6 239

Rooney eliminated

Sixth Count

Distribution of Rooney's Transfers

Fitzgerald +16 1,642

O'Reilly +10 1,609

Killian +42 1,539

O'Connor +12 978

Donohoe +2 976

Blake +24 817

Balfe +48 737

O'Riordan +11 571

Murray +13 391

Bonham +18 355

Murtagh +19 267

Murtagh Eliminated

Seventh Count, distribution of Murtagh's transfers

Fitzgerald +9 1,651

O'Reilly + 5 1,614

Killian +18 1,557

Blake +189 1,006

O'Connor +1 979

Donohoe, +1 977

Balfe, Eilish + 18 755

O'Riordan +7 578

Murray +4 395

Bonham + 5 360

Bonham eliminated

Eight Count Distribution of Bonham's transfers

Fitzgerald +23 1,674

O'Reilly +54 1,668

Killian + 25 1,582

Blake +33 1,039

O'Connor + 27 1,006

Donohoe +23 1,000

Balfe +118 873

O'Riordan +12 590

Murray +3 398

Fitzgerald, O'Reilly elected

Murray eliminated

Ninth Count,

Distribution of Murray's transfers

Blake +22 1,061

O'Connor +11 1,017

Donohoe +7 1,007

Balfe +22 895

O'Riordan + 21 611

Killian elected

O'Riordan eliminated

Tenth Count

Distribution of O'Riordan's transfers

Balfe +172 1067

Blake +24 1,085

O'Connor +193 1,210

Donohoe + 49 1,056

Eleventh count

Distribution of Killian's surplus

O'Connor + 9 1,219

Blake Fionnan + 9 1,094

Balfe Eilish + 5 1,081

Donohoe John +5 1,061

Twelfth Count

Distribution of Fitzgerald's surplus

O'Connor + 3 1,222

Blake +0 1,094

Balfe + 11 1,092

Donohoe +3 1,064

Donohoe eliminated

Thirteenth Count

Distribution of Donohoe's transfers

O'Connor +381 1,603

Blake +121 1,215

Balfe +108 1,200 -

O'Connor, Blake, elected