WATCH: Edenderry poll-topper in Offaly local elections reacts to 'great vote'

We caught up with Edenderry poll-topper Eddie Fitzpatrick who will be elected after the first official county in the Offaly Local Elections this evening.

Cloneyhurke man Fitzpatrick collared 22% of all the votes cast in the Edenderry area which extends as far as his native Cloneyhurke and on to Geashill in that area of the county.

Eddie dominated boxes in that stronghold but also picked up votes in Edenderry town itself on his way to topping the poll. he spoke to us outside the count centre in Mucklagh on Saturday evening where he said he was "delighted to be re-elected to Offaly County Council again with a great vote."

"I'm honoured and delighted and want to thank my supporters," he added.

He said he hopes he, his fellow councillors and Offaly County Council management can "improve and do better things for the Edenderry Municipal District as we move forward."

What about the other candidates in Edenderry?

The picture is also becoming clear in Edenderry with all 30 boxes to be counted tallied there. Fianna Fail's Eddie Fitzpatrick will top the poll and get elected on the first count with 1,770 votes based on tallies. The quota will be just below 1,300 votes.

Fergus McDonnell has made a spectacular return to local politics and has almost doubled his first preference votes from 2019. He has grabbed over 1,000 votes (1,087), according to the tallies. 

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Next up is Claire Murray (FF) on 955 votes, Liam Quinn on 948 and Noel Cribbin on 832. They have a way to go to meet the quota but will almost certainly be elected once transfers start getting dished out.

That leaves a fight on for the final seat and it would appear the second Claire Murray in the race, the Sinn Féin hopeful, is in poll position with the most first preference votes of the remaining candidates with 707. However, John McNamee (SD) on 559 and Robert McDermott (FF) on 552 are both close enough to mount a challenge when it comes to transfers.

McDermott in particular will benefit from two Fianna Fail candidates likely to get elected ahead of him. Rory Ryan (SF) getting eliminated early will help Claire Murray and it could come down to a handful of votes in the end. It's hard to predict the transfers John McNamee will get as a first-time candidate but he's not out of it at this stage.