Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Féin conceded that her party was unlikely to secure an MEP for the Midlands-North-West region in the European elections, given the ongoing vote count in the five-seat constituency. After eight rounds of counting at the TF Royal Hotel ballot hub in Castlebar, Co Mayo, independent MEP Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan led with 80,484 votes. He was trailed by Nina Carberry (Fine Gael) with 74,955 votes, and Barry Cowen (Fianna Fáil) who secured 74,488 votes, followed by Maria Walsh (also of Fine Gael) with 72,174 votes and then Ciaran Mullooly of Independent Ireland with 58,802 votes.
Gildernew, who had accrued 46,826 votes by the eighth round, acknowledged the possibility of failing to surpass her nearest competitor, Mullooly, for the final position in the constituency. Her colleague, MEP Chris MacManus, trailed further with 30,212 votes. “At this point, it seems we will need to accept that the fifth seat is likely out of our reach,” Gildernew told journalists. She added, somewhat dejectedly, “Whilst we’re still in the game, I’m not incredibly hopeful of exceeding Mullooly. I suspect he’ll just clinch the last seat. Elections can be unforgiving, it’s just the way it is.”
On the heels of Niall Boylan’s dropout, other candidates that clinched their positions were Andrews, Doherty, Boylan, and Ó Riordáin.
Fianna Fáil’s Niall Blaney, however, was quite sceptical about his chances of winning after tallying 31,281 votes post the eighth count. He accepted the likelihood that his party could potentially have seen off two candidates successfully, had they participated in Midlands-North-West. Their third candidate, Lisa Chambers shared the ballot with Blaney and Cowen and garnered 44,753 votes after the same number of counts.
Whilst campaigning across Europe, a public disagreement occurred between Mr Blaney and his party chief, Tánaiste Micheál Martin, during a media briefing. Mr Blaney claimed he wasn’t given equivalent backing from his party as his electoral colleagues. Despite this, Mr Blaney commented on Tuesday that he didn’t harbour resentment, asserting he’s not a man who carries a grudge. “The situation is what it is… I express myself when necessary, and I’ve done so,” he affirmed.
Votes continue to be tallied in Castlebar, and the process is projected to persist until later in the week. By Tuesday night, after eight rounds of counting, nine out of 27 contenders were removed from the tallying process with their ballots reallocated to the remaining candidates.
In related affairs, Sinn Féin’s financial spokesperson and deputy in the Dáil, Pearse Doherty, remarked in Castlebar that in spite of disappointing outcomes in the local election, Mary Lou McDonald’s position as the party’s leader remained undisputed.