Strong showing from Barry Cowen as first count completed in Midland's-North-West constituency in European Elections

With over 650,000 valid votes cast and counted, the first count has been completed for the hotly-contested Midlands-North-West European Elections.

Counting continues in the TF Hotel and Theatre in Castlebar, Co Mayo, as no candidates met the quota of 113,325 votes needed to be elected MEP.

Over 27 candidates had thrown their names in the ring to represent the European Parliament district stretching from Donegal to Offaly and Mayo to Louth, with many candidates entering politics for the first time.

Returning Officer Marian Chambers Higgins made the announcement of the first count just before 10:30pm, with four candidates emerging as frontrunners.

Luke 'Ming' Flanagan secured the most first preference votes at 78,214. This was not enough for Flanagan to be elected on the first count, but puts him clear of his competition, with Flanagan likely to be elected in a subsequent count.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both saw relative success in the first count, with Fianna Fáil's Barry Cowen and Fine Gael candidates Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh all securing over 70,000 votes. 

The race for the final seat will be a close one, with former RTÉ correspondent and Independent Ireland candidate Ciaran Mullooly leading the charge for the fifth MEP spot at 57,297 votes. Sinn Féin will put their hope in Michelle Gildernew, as she picked up 45,807 votes, followed closely by Fianna Fáil's Lisa Chambers at 44,069 and Aontú's Peadar Tóibín at 40,702 votes.

Three independent candidates have been excluded to distribute votes, including Charlotte Keenan, Daniel Pocock and Stephen Garland.