The vote counting process for the Midlands-North-West constituency was ongoing in Castlebar, County Mayo, as of Sunday evening. The first count result is anticipated to be released on Monday. An overall tally from the constituency is unavailable hence, a concrete picture concerning the chase for the constituency’s five seats will not be discernible until the announcement of the first count. Early counts on Saturday from several counting centres in the region revealed independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan in a favourable position for re-election to Brussels for a subsequent term.
Flanagan, an MEP since 2014, mentioned his satisfaction with the counting results witnessed so far on Sunday. Talking to journalists at the counting centre, he communicated the possibility of a recount later in the week, further adding that if someone had mentioned to him the current counting results three or four weeks prior, he would have been satisfied at that juncture.
Castlebar local, Ms Chamber, voiced her confidence of her party securing at minimum one seat to reporters on Sunday. She also believed that she could potentially become a contender for the fifth and last EU seat for the constituency. She observed an unexpected decline in the Sinn Féin support, leading to a reported shake-up.
Castlebar Fine Gael vote counters, spurred by a stable performance in the local elections, were optimistic on Sunday that their party may clinch two out of the five seats within the constituency, particularly noting the rising popularity of former jockey Ms Carberry as a potential candidate for transfer vote.
Candidates competing for the 27 available seats in the Midlands-North-West constituency include Maria Walsh (Fine Gael), Barry Cowen (Fianna Fáil), Ciaran Mullooly (Independent Ireland), Nina Carberry (Fine Gael) and Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fáil), amongst others.
Initial predictions, however, cast doubt on Sinn Féin’s chances in the constituency, with Flanagan speculating that the party might find it challenging to secure a constituency seat – a surprising turn of events considering opinion polls from just over a year prior.
Ms Chambers associated the decline in favour for Sinn Féin with recent blunders in their communication on immigration and housing issues. “They’ve aimed to appeal to every person,” she put forward.
Pauline O’Reilly, a Green Party candidate for Midlands-North-West, reported her vote count in her native Galway West was quite robust, however, in other areas the outlook appeared bleaker.
“I have no notion of being a leading contender,” she stated.
Anticipations were aligned towards having 320 counting staff working diligently till late Sunday night on the European ballot papers at the TF Royal Hotel. The counting process in Castlebar is expected to extend at least until Wednesday. The Midlands-North-West constituency has 27 candidates vying for election.
In the 2019 election, Mairead McGuinness from Fine Gael significantly led the constituency with the highest number of votes. She was followed to Brussels by Mr Flanagan, Matt Carty and Maria Walsh from Sinn Féin.
When Ms McGuinness received the designation of a European commissioner, Colm Markey, who isn’t a candidate in the election, was ushered into her vacated seat. Similarly, Chris MacManus of Sinn Féin filled in Mr Carty’s position after the latter was elected to the Dáil.