Counting underway to elect Ireland’s 9th President

Counting of votes to elect the ninth President of Ireland got underway at 9am but a result may not be known until tomorrow.
The ballot boxes were opened  in count centres representing all 43 constituencies.
Results of the two referendums won’t be known until tomorrow.
The Donegal South West count is taking place at the Finn Valley Centre while the count for the Donegal North East constituency is taking place at the Aura leisure centre.
Initially votes are counted locally, once a first count is completed the information is transferred to Dublin – only when all constituency’s have completed the first count will an official declaration then be made.
At this point a candidate may be eliminated and counting will resume locally, that process will continue until such time as the next president is elected, that is expected late tonight or early tomorrow.
Counting on the two referendums may begin in some areas after the first count of the presidential votes, but generally speaking results are not expected until tomorrow