Who is likely to get elected in Offaly as the local election counts take shape?

The Offaly Local Elections count is well underway in Mucklagh with four candidates elected on the first count across the Tullamore, Edenderry and Birr Municipal Districts - but who else is likely to be elected today?

TULLAMORE

In Tullamore, Neil Feighery (FG) topped the poll and was elected on the first count with 1,962 votes, comfortably surpassing the quota of 1,459. He was the first candidate officially elected in Offaly in this election.

Frank Moran (FF) was just 30 votes short of the quota and will be re-elected in the seven-seat Tullamore area. Sean O'Brien (Ind), Tony McCormack (FF), Declan Harvey (FF) are all guaranteed to be elected with 1,337, 1,326 and 1,269 first preference votes respectively in the first count.

That leaves two seats for two new councillors and they look certain to be Aoife Masterson of Sinn Féin (1,216) and Ollie Bryant of Fianna Fáil. They will perform well with transfers and are too far ahead of the next highest candidate, Sandy Feehan Smollen (Ind) on 782. 

Tullamore's likely seven councillors:

Neil Feighery - ELECTED (Count 1)

Frank Moran (FF) - ELECTED (Count 3)

Tony McCormack (FF)

Declan Harvey (FF)

Ollie Bryant (FF)

Aoife Masterson (SF)

Sean O'Brien (Ind)

Elsewhere in Tullamore, Patrick Broder of the Irish Freedom Party took 418 first preferences with the Greens' Liam Walsh getting 394 votes. Sinn Fein's Tim Farrell and Independent Deirdre Dillon returned 201 and 155 votes respectively. They are all too far behind to win a seat.

EDENDERRY

Eddie Fitzpatrick (FF) and Fergus McDonnell (Ind) were both elected on the first count in Edenderry on 1,998 and 1,320 votes respectively. The quota in Edenderry is 1,251 and there are a number of candidates very close to that figure and will likely be elected as counts continue today. 

Two other candidates topped 1,000 votes. Fianna Fail's Claire Murray received 1,134 while Fine Gael's Liam Quinn pulled in 1,066 first preference votes. They will both be elected later today.

Noel Cribbin looks to be clear of the pack and will also retain his seat but there looks set to be a real battle for the final seat with three candidates, Claire Murray (Sinn Fein), John McNamee (Social Democrats) and Robert McDermott (Fianna Fail), separated by just 34 votes. McDermott is third of those three in terms of first preference votes but with so many Fianna Fail candidates likely to get elected ahead of him, he will mop up a lot of transfers and should win that final seat. 

Tullamore's likely six councillors:

Eddie Fitzpatrick - FF - ELECTED COUNT 1

Fergus McDonnell - Independent Ireland - ELECTED COUNT 1

Claire Murray - FF 

Liam Quinn - FG 

Noel Cribbin - FG 

Robert McDermott - FF 

Elsewhere in Edenderry, Mark Hackett (GP) got 270 votes while Rory Ryan of Sinn Féin got 194 votes. Both will be eliminated early and are out of the race.

BIRR

Peter Ormond (FF) and John Leahy (Ind) have been elected on the first count in Birr with 1,943 and 1,815 votes respectively.

Next up is John Clendennen (FG) on 1,562 and Hugh Egan (FG) on 1,171. Both of the Fine Gael candidates will be elected in later counts. 

The battle for the final two seats will be very interesting with Sean Maher of Sinn Féin leading the chasing pack behind the big four on 927 votes. Next is Barbara Daly (FF) on 879, Aubrey Hennessey-Kennedy (FF) on 829 and Clare Claffey (SD) on 603 votes.

The Peter Ormond transfers will help fellow Fianna Fail candidates Hennessey-Kennedy and Barbara Daly while Sean Maher and Clare Claffey will also be hopeful of significant transfers. This one could come down to the wire.

Jonathan O'Meara (Ind) is back on 554 votes, Mike Boylan (Ind) on 483, Martin Buckley on 429, Michael Deegan on 380, Aubrey Claffey (Aon) on 191, Ekaterina Koneva on 143 and Garrett Kelly on 71. They are all too far back to mount a meaningful challenge for the last seat in this six-seater.

Birr's likely six councillors:

Peter Ormond - FF - ELECTED COUNT 1

John Leahy - Ind - ELECTED COUNT 1

John Clendennen - FG

Hugh Egan - FG

Barbara Daly - FF

Aubrey Kennedy-Hennessey - FF

FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES as counting gets underway this evening at the official Offaly county centre in Mucklagh on our dedicated live blog here.