Mayo count to resume tomorrow

MUCH TO MULL Enda Kenny and Michael Ring at the Mayo count centre in Castlebar tonight.

Taoiseach only candidate elected so far as counters break for the night
 
Edwin McGreal
Castlebar

 
The count for the Mayo constituency will not conclude tonight and is instead set to resume tomorrow morning (Sunday).
As of now, only one candidate has been elected in Mayo – An Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
The distribution of his surplus and the elimination of nine candidates has not yet hugely affected matters for the other three seats.
Michael Ring remains in second place and Dara Calleary in third.
Lisa Chambers was in fourth after the first count and remains there. However, outgoing TD Michelle Mulherin has closed the gap somewhat, benefiting from Kenny’s surplus and cutting the margin between them to 172 votes, from an initial margin of 390 votes.
Thus far the following candidates have been eliminated, in the following order: SeΡn Forkin (Ind), Gerry O’Boyle (Ind), Kamal Uddin (Ind), Stephen Manning (Ind), Peter Jordan (Ind), George O’Malley (Ind), Tom Moran (People Before Profit), Margaret Sheehan (Green) and Michael Farrington (Renua).
Returning Officer Fintan Murphy has just declared the elimination of Moran, Sheehan and Farrington after the seventh count. Their votes will be distributed in the morning.
With Taoiseach Enda Kenny already elected, there are six candidates still in the running for the last three seats.
The order in which they stand is as follows: Michael Ring (FG, 11,613), Dara Calleary (FF, 9,495), Lisa Chambers (FF, 8,354), Michelle Mulherin (8,182), Rose Conway-Walsh (SF, 6,548) and Jerry Cowley (Ind, 3,668).
Currently Fianna FΡil are bullish about their prospects of taking two seats, while Fine Gael are refusing to rule Michelle Mulherin out of the running for a third seat for the party.
Currently, it looks like Jerry Cowley and Rose Conway-Walsh will be the next to be eliminated.
The quota is 12,730, and Michael Ring looks like the only remaining candidate who will make it, meaning the last two candidates elected will do so without reaching the quota. The question remains as to who those two will be.
The count continues tomorrow morning at 10am.
Stay tuned to www.mayonews.ie all day tomorrow for more video and article updates as the destination of the final three seats in Mayo is determined. There will also be continuous updates on twitter.com/themayonews (@themayonews) and facebook.com/themayonews.