Ballyleague/Lanesboro man Ciaran Mullooly has extended his lead over Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew by over 1,200 votes after the 12th count in the European elections. He benefitted from transfers from Castlerea’s John Waters in the race for five seats in the Midlands Northwest constituency. No one has been elected after the 12th count here, with even leader Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan remaining almost 30,000 votes below the quota of over 113,000. That suggests it will be a while yet before he is elected.
He has almost 85,000 votes – followed by Fine Gael’s Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh, and Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowan, all of whom have been 75,000 and 78,000. They all look on course for seats, perhaps without reaching the quota. The fifth seat is where the battle lies, with Independent Ireland’s Ciaran Mullooly and Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew leading the charge.
Waters was eliminated after the 11th count and almost 1,500 of his transfers went to Mullooly, compared to 241 for Gildernew. That leaves Mullooly on almost 62,000 – almost 14,000 ahead of Gildernew. But with her running mate Chris McManus yet to be eliminated, the fifth seat remains up for grabs.
