Count begins in Seanad election panel involving Mayo councillor

Counting has begun to elect eleven members of the Labour vocational panel in the Seanad Election which involves a Mayo councillor.

Ballina-based Fine Gael councillor Mark Duffy is the only Mayo-based candidate running in this year's Seanad Elections and is standing for a seat on the Labour vocational panel. The Returning Officer, Martin Groves, Clerk of Seanad Éireann, announced at 6.30pm the commencement of the Labour vocational panel count.

Cllr Duffy, who ran for Fine Gael in November's General Election, is one of 19 candidates standing in the Labour panel where eleven seats are up for grabs.The race for the eleven seats is expected to be wide open with just five of the eleven sitting senators seeking reelection.

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There are five vocational panels where 43 of the 60 Seanad seats are elected with members of the incoming Dáil, members of the outgoing Seanad and members of county councils and city councils all eligible to vote in them. There are eleven seats each to be filled on the Agricultural and Labour Panels, nine on the Industrial and Commercial Panel, seven on the Administrative Panel and five on the Cultural and Education Panel.

The seats on the Cultural and Education Panel and the Agriculture Panel have been filled and now counting has begun on the Labour Panel.

The total electorate is made up of Dáil deputies, outgoing senators and city and county councillors and for counting purposes each vote is multiplied by 1,000. The quota in the Labour panel is expected to be around 95,000.