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
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