Murray puts in strong showing in Swinford but unlikely to take a seat 

SINN Féin’s Gerry Murray looks set to top the poll in Swinford but still looks unlikely to take a seat. 

Cllr Murray has tallied over 2,300 votes out of 8,379 tallied in the Swinford Local Electoral Area (28 percent), where he was comfortably re-elected on the first count during the June local elections. The Charlestown-based councillor is the only candidate based in the Swinford area running in the general election and has tallied 5 percent of the vote in Mayo with 83 percent of the boxes tallied. 

Dara Calleary (15 percent) has also put in a strong showing in the Swinford LEA, tallying over 1,200 with 95 percent of the boxes open. The Ballina-based Minister of State is currently in line to top the poll in the Ballina area and should retain his seat. 

Ballina-based Fine Gael councillor Mark Duffy (11 percent), who has emerged as an early contender for one of the five seats, tallied an impressive figure of 938 in the Swinford LEA.

Not far behind him is party colleague Alan Dillon, who tallied 931 votes in the Swinford LEA.

Minister Dillon looks set to top the poll in Mayo with some Fine Gael sources speculating that Cllr Duffy and Westport-based Keira Keogh could take two of the other four remaining seats. 

Cllr Paul Lawless, who is running in his second general election, secured over 700 first preferences in the Swinford LEA to take 9 percent of the tally. 

View all the latest updates from the count centre at the TF Royal Hotel & Theatre in Castlebar on our live blog.