The general election count for the Offaly constituency has begun at Birr Community School.
Returning officer Sean Ryan gave the go-ahead at 9am for the first 30 ballot boxes to be opened and the tallypeople immediately got to work.
All ballot papers in 111 boxes must first be verified before the actual counting of the votes takes place.
However, in the meantime, tallies will give a good indication in the next couple of hours of the first preference totals for each candidate.
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