The final Irish seats for the European Parliament have been filled, with the conclusion of the count in the Midlands-North-West constituency in the early hours of this morning.
Five candidates were elected following a five-day marathon count, which concluded at 3.30 am in the TF Royal in Castlebar.
The election of Independent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan on the 20th count last night was followed by that of Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen, just after 1.30am.
Fine Gael’s Nina Carberry and Maria Walsh, along with Independent Ireland’s Ciaran Mullooly were subsequently all deemed elected in the early hours. Sinn Fein’s Michelle Gildernew lost out by just over 5,000 votes.
Ciaran Mullooly, a former RTE news reporter, says it was a relief to finally get over the line………….
