Killeavy sweeps to victory after dramatic Tullamore count

Sinn Fein candidate Brendan Killeavy romped home with over 1,250 votes to spare after the first count in the Tullamore Electoral Area.

With a quota of 1,523, Killeavy polled 2,778 first preference votes to secure his seat on Offaly County Council.

However the real drama in Tullamore came in the battle for the seventh and final seat when, after a recount, Fianna Fail’s Danny Owens edged out Independent Sean O’Brien by just four votes.

O’Brien found himself 460 votes behind Owens after the first count however he received considerably more transfers and by the time 11th count, the pair were tied on 1,230 votes apiece.

However the final count was the distribution of Sinead Dooley’s surplus of 18 and Danny Owens received six of those votes with Sean O’Brien only receiving two. A recount was carried out on Monday but the result stayed the same meaning all four Fianna Fail candidates, Owens, Dooley, Declan Harvey and Frank Moran were elected.

Independent Dervill Dolan was elected on the first count with a surplus of 345 votes while the other seat went to Fine Gael’s Tommy McKeigue with his party colleague Molly Buckley, a long serving County Councillor and two time General Election candidate, surprisingly losing out.

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First Preference Votes

Brendan Killeavy (SF) – 2,778

Dervill Dolan (IND) – 1,868

Sinead Dooley (FF) – 1,161

Frank Moran (FF) – 1,111

Declan Harvey (FF) – 1,105

Tommy McKeigue (FG) – 964

Danny Owens (FF) – 938

Molly Buckley (FG) – 616

Sean O’Brien (IND) – 478

Paddy Doheny (LAB) – 349

John Bracken (IND) – 321

Theresa Wrafter (FG) – 295

Seamus Kirwan (IND) – 141

Richard Brennan (GP) - 58

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Elected Candidates

Brendan Killeavy

Dervill Dolan

Sinead Dooley

Frank Moran

Declan Harvey

Tommy McKeigue

Danny Owens

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Share of the vote

FF – 35.5%

IND – 23%

SF – 22.8%

FG – 15.4%

LAB – 2.8%

GP – 0.5%

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To view the full round by round counts click here to go to the Offaly County Council website by clicking here