One of the longest counts in the country finally finished on Monday night, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael occupying the majority of the seats on Laois Countty Council.
Three sitting councillors in Graiguecullen-Portarlington comfortably exceeded the quota of 1,447 and were re-elected on the first count. Pádraig Fleming (FF), brother of Public Accounts Committee chairman Seán Fleming TD, topped the poll with 1,752 first preferences, followed by Aidan Mullins (SF) on 1,606 and Tom Mulhall (FG) with 1,539.
Paschal McEvoy (FF) was elected on the following count, with Independent Ben Brennan and Aisling Moran (FG) needing to depend on transfers from party colleagues to be elected after the seventh count.
Fine Gael’s Willie Aird and Fianna Fáil’s John Joe Fennelly were elected on the first count in the Portlaoise district, and they were eventually joined by Fine Gael’s Thomasina Connell and Mary Sweeney, Sinn Féin’s Caroline Dwane Stanley, Fianna Fáil’s Catherine Fitzgerald and Labour’s Noel Tuohy.
In Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick, David Goodwin of Fine Gael lost his seat on Laois County Council, 46 years after he was first elected. And it was also a disappointing outing for high-profile former GAA president Liam O’Neill, the Fianna Fáil candidate polling just 575 first preferences.
(First preference votes: candidates elected in bold)
Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick: 6 seats
Paddy Bracken (Fianna Fáíl) - 1,414 (elected count 5)
James Kelly (Ind) - 1,517 (elected count 6)
Seamús McDonald (Fianna Fáíl) - 1,089 (elected count 9)
John King (Fine Gael) - 1,254 (elected count 10)
Ollie Clooney (Ind) - 1,129 (elected count 10)
Conor Bergin (Fine Gael) - 925 (elected count 10)
Brendan Phelan (Ind) - 931
David Goodwin (Fine Gael) - 825
Lorna Holohan Garry (Sinn Féin) - 649
Liam O'Neill (Fianna Fáíl) - 575
Fergal Conroy (Fine Gael) - 559
Declan Good (Fianna Fáil) - 542
Brian Furlong (Ind) - 326
Ger Hogan (Ind) - 192
Graiguecullen-Portarlington: 6 seats
Padraig Fleming (Fianna Fáil) - 1,752 (elected count 1)
Tom Mulhall (Fine Gael) - 1,539 (elected count 1)
Aidan Mullins (Sinn Féin) - 1,606 (elected count 1)
Paschal McEvoy (Fianna Fáil) - 1,410 (elected count 2)
Ben Brennan (Ind) - 1,264 (elected count 7)
Aisling Moran (Fine Gael) - 894 (elected count 7)
Eoin Barry (Labour Party) - 756
Vivienne Phelan (Fine Gael) - 541
Deirdre O'Connell-Hopkins (Fianna Fáil) - 364
Portlaoise: 7 seats
Willie Aird (Fine Gael) - 1,573 (elected count 1)
John Joe Fennelly (Fianna Fáil) - 1,456 (elected count 1)
Caroline Dwane Stanley (Sinn Féin) - 1,210 (elected count 5)
Catherine Fitzgerald (Fianna Fáil) - 1,080 (elected count 9)
Noel Tuohy (Labour Party) - 1,041 (elected count 10)
Mary Sweeney (Fine Gael) - 1,024 (elected count 12)
Thomasina Connell (Fine Gael) 437 (elected count 14)
Naeem Iqbal (Ind) - 454
Dominic Dunne (Renua Ireland) - 379
Timothy Adejumo (Ind) - 363
Donal Kelly (Fianna Fáil) - 331
Pauline Madigan (Fianna Fáil) - 326
Tom Duffy (Ind) - 154
Noel O'Rourke (Renua Ireland) - 135
John Gormley (Sinn Féin) - 131
Judith Preston-Grace (Ind) - 125
