Guirke elected in Meath West

The first seat in Meath West has been filled with Sinn Féin's Johnny Guirke being elected on the third count.

Guirke topped the poll with 8,604 votes but had to wait until the third count to be elected when transfers from Social Democrats' candidate Ronan Moore brought him over the line.

With no candidate reaching the quota after the first count, returning officer Des Foley eliminated the six lowest candidates: Seamus McMenamin (GP), Finbar Lynch (PBP) Sandy Gallagher (Lab); Ben Gilroy (Liberty Republic), Ian McGauley (National Alliance) and Damien Reilly (Ind).

Their votes weren't enough to elect any candidate so Ronan Moore of the Social Democrats was the next to go.

With the help of a sizeable chunk of Moore's transfers, Guirke finished the third count on 9,887 to comfortably surpass the quota of 9,427.

Speaking after being elected, Johnny Guirke said he was delighted and paid tribute to the 100 plus people he said had worked on the campaign with him over the past six to eight weeks.

"I'm more delighted for the party and the people who work for Sinn Féin and I'm delighted for myself and delighted for my family. The team behind Sinn Fein is unbelievable."

Having lost part of his territory in Westmeath where he achieved around 2,000 votes in 2020, Guirke said he was delighted to to top the poll.

"We lost around 40 per cent of my vote in Westmeath from the last election. To come in here and top the poll is a remarkable achievement for the party and for all the activists in Sinn Féin."