The first count in the Midlands North-West shows Independent Luke 'Ming' Flanagan topping the poll, but short of a quota.

With the quota set at 11,325, Flanagan has 78,214, ahead of Barry Cowen of Fianna Fáil on 73,908; Fine Gael's Nina Carbery on 72,888; Fine Gael MEP Maria Walsh on 71,476; Independent Ireland party's Ciaran Mullooly on 57,297 and Sinn Féin's Michelle Gildernew on 45,807.

They are followed by Fianna Fáil's Lisa Chambers on 44,069, Aontú's Peadar Tóibín on 40,742, and Fianna Fáil's Niall Blaney on 30,387.

Sitting Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus is in danger of losing his seat as he received just 29,427 first preferences.

With just 20 first preference votes separating Barry Cowen and Nina Carbery, both look set to take seats.

The results put Fine Gael in a strong position to win two seats in the constituency.

However, of the three Fianna Fáil candidates, while Barry Cowen looks set to regain a seat in the constituency for the party, his two running mates, Lisa Chambers and Niall Blaney face an uphill struggle to take the final seat.

Seán Kelly has been re-elected to the European Parliament in the first count for the Ireland South constituency.

The former boss of the GAA from Kerry has been an MEP since 2009 and will return to Brussels for another five-year term from July.

The second count will continue tomorrow, and it’s expected Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher and Independent Michael McNamara will take the second and third seat.

The move happened after count 12, and it's possible he could overtake Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin and move into third by the end of the next count.

Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's Regina Doherty are both well out in front, but are still over 10,000 votes shy of the quota.

Sinn Féin’s leader has challenged the Taoiseach to “bring it on” and call an early general election.

She struck a defiant note following her party’s disappointing showing in the local election and rejected any suggestion Taoiseach Simon Harris would be doing her a favour if he stuck to his original plan to go to the polls in early 2025.

Mr.

Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have both moved to dampen speculation of an earlier-than-expected general election after their respective parties – Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – performed better than many pollsters had predicted in Friday’s local and European elections.

Counting in both those contests continued on Monday, while ballots began to be totted up in Limerick for Ireland’s first ever directly elected mayor.

It’s virtually certain the returning officer will announce Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly as the winner of the first seat.

Nobody will be elected as an MEP from the Dublin constituency until at least tomorrow.

Ten counts have taken place, with little change at the top of the order.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lead the way, while the Green Party, Independent Ireland and Labour are part of the chasing pack.

Social Democrats candidate Elisa O'Donovan has received the most transfers (77) from People Before Profit's Ruairi Fahy.

Helen O’Donnell, another independent, is just shy of 13,000 - while Dee Ryan of Fianna Fáil has over 11,800 votes.

We're into the ninth count in the Dublin constituency, with Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Regina Doherty of Fine Gael still leading the way.

Neither are close to a quota, while there is a battle for the last two seats behind them.

Niall Boylan is picking up plenty of transfers from lower down the ballot, and is putting pressure on Green Party MEP Ciarán Cuffe in the 4th spot.

Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan is third in the poll at the moment, and she says the campaign was a lot different on the ground compared to what was witnessed online.

Sinn Féin TD and MEP candidate has said that she is “very hopeful” she will be elected to the Ireland South constituency.

The roughly 715,000 EU election ballot papers at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork went through a lengthy “sub-sort” before the actual count began.

Ireland’s electoral system of proportional representation means that a candidate must reach a quota to be elected.

The announcement of first count result had been expected by lunchtime on Monday, but is now expected closer to 6pm.

Based on the size of ballot piles stacked in the sports club’s hall, Fine Gael’s Sean Kelly and Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher will be re-elected as MEPs.

But several rounds of further counting – after eliminated candidates’ votes are redistributed – will be needed before the final three seats become clear.

Along with Ms.

Funchion, in contention for those seats are Independent Clare TD Michael McNamara, who was vocal in his opposition to the two defeated March referenda; and outgoing MEP and ex-Co Wexford TD Mick Wallace.

Sinn Féin’s disappointing election results are down to people tiring of its failure to present credible alternative plans, the Minister for Housing has claimed.

Mr.

O’Brien, in turn, has been one of the main opposition party’s most vocal critics, leading to frequent fiery clashes in the Dáil.

The Fianna Fáil minister rounded on his rivals on Monday when asked to assess its failure to make major gains at the local elections.

An eighth count is said to be imminent at the RDS in Dublin for the European Parliament constituency.

Seven counts in, and it's as you were at the top of the poll here in the RDS.

Barry Andrews and Regina Doherty of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael respectively lead the way, both have over 61,000 votes but still well shy of the 75,000+ quota.

After that it's anyone's guess, with Sinn Féin's Lynn Boylan and outgoing MEP Ciarán Cuffe still occupying the final two seats at this moment.

Close is Niall Boylan of Independent Ireland.

Mr.

Boylan picking up more transfers than Labour's Aodhan Ó Ríordáin, but he was expected to benefit more from those down the ballot.

Vote-counting in a historic election in Ireland is underway – and “all is still to play for”, according to one of the running candidates.

It is the first time Irish citizens will elect their first local mayor, in what is seen as a test case for the rest of the state.

Dozens of staff are counting the votes at Limerick Racecourse, which is being used as a count centre.

The Fianna Fáil leader has insisted the leaders of the Coalition remain committed to serving a full term as he dismissed speculation over an early general election.

The Fianna Fáil leader said the Government would stay focused on delivery, citing the budget as its main priority, despite renewed focus on the prospect of an earlier-than-expected polling day.

Vote counting in the local and European elections resumed in Ireland on Monday.

In Limerick, a count for Ireland’s first-ever directly elected mayor began on Monday.

While it could still take days to finish counting every vote across the country, the political ramifications of the results so far have raised major questions for the leaders of the main parties.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said he believes a lack of solutions to the issues facing the public was the reason behind Sinn Féin's poor showing in the elections.

He added that while he is happy with his own party's results so far, there are areas Fianna Fáil must assess.

'We did well in many areas, but there are other areas where we didn't do as well, and there are aspects of the logistics of our campaign that we can improve upon,' Mr.

Martin said.

With 833 of the 949 council seats filled by lunchtime on Monday, Fianna Fáil is almost level with Fine Gael in terms of their share of first-preference votes, each taking around 23 percent.

After better than anticipated performances by the Coalition parties, speculation is rising over the chance of an early general election.

However, the Tánaiste poured cold water on the idea, insisting the three party leaders remain committed to serving a full term, which will see the election taking place next spring.

The constituency's counting, taking place at Nemo Rangers in Cork, is expected to return Fine Gael's Seán Kelly to the European Parliament in the first count, the results of which are expected to be announced around 4pm.

Fianna Fáil's Billy Kelleher appears to be running in second, while Independent candidate Michael McNamara seems in with a shout of taking the third seat.

In Midlands–North-West, counters say they're progressing on schedule, with the result of the first count expected this evening.

In the local elections, counting is continuing to fill the remaining seats in various councils across the country, with recounts taking place in parts of Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Donegal and Wexford, among others.

In the Dublin constituency for the European elections, a third count has failed to see a candidate elected.

Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews remains the frontrunner there, where Conor Murphy and Eamonn Murphy (both Independent) have been eliminated and their votes transferred.

Andy Heasman (Irish People) is expected to be the next to be eliminated, with his first-preference votes to be distributed in the fourth count.

The mammoth task of counting ballots in Midlands–North-West, where 27 candidates were on the ballot, is underway.

It is expected that the result of the first count in Castlebar could be announced in the early evening, with Luke ‘Ming’ Flan