Andrew Carey at the Limerick Count Centre
[email protected]
SINN Fein’s Maurice Quinlivan has taken the second Dail seat in the Limerick City constituency after receiving almost 3,500 transfer votes from the eliminated AAA candidate Cian Prendiville who was knocked out of the race on the fourth count.
In a hotly contested constituency that has gone to the wire for the remaining two seats, Maurice Quinlivan praised the work of his team and thanked his supporters who are looking for a “progressive next government” after taking a total of 10,517 votes from the 46,761 valid ballot papers.
In doing so, the newly elected TD had a surplus of 1,164 votes having reached the 9,353 quota on the fifth count.
Three exiting TDs now remain in the hunt for the last two seats as Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan and Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell battle for the Dail.
With Michael Noonan now sitting on a total of 9,018, the Fine Gael stalwart is likely to take the third seat ahead of his party colleague Deputy O’Donnell with Jan O’Sullivan likely to retain her seat as she leads by 210 votes following the fifth count.
Kieran O’Donnell is facing an election exit, but as the margin is so close, a nail-bitting finish is awaited.
