WITH the third seat in Limerick City almost a foregone conclusion in the hands of Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan, the attention turns to the fight for the fourth and final seat in the constituency.
After count 10, just one vote separates Labour’s Conor Sheehan and the Social Democrats’ Elisa O’Donovan.
Both councillors in Limerick City and County Council, Elisa O’Donovan is in the lead by the slimmest possible of margins – just one vote – with 4,152 votes to Conor Sheehan’s 4,151.
Speaking to the Limerick Post as the candidates were almost deadlocked, the Labour candidate said that he knew it would be a tight race.
“I’m still in the hunt, in the mix. It’s very tight, it’s impossible to call at this stage,” the Labour man said, adding that “I do feel that the seat will either go to myself or Elisa”.
“I can’t see anybody else, because I just think the transfers and everything, we are the ones that are consistently gaining ground,” Cllr Sheehan said.
Paying tribute to her Council mate, Elisa O’Donovan said she couldn’t think of a “better person” to be in the dogfight with.
“I’ve been in the Council with Conor for the last five years. I have a lot of respect for him, a lot of time. So this is a fantastic place to be, in the running for the last seat.
“It’s my first time running in a general election, and I think just even to still be there, I’m just so excited,” Cllr O’Donovan said.
She quipped that “I think every person in Limerick that I know has a candle lit for me right now”.
Not ruling out the possibility of a recount, Cllr O’Donovan said she hadn’t given the idea much thought at this stage of proceedings, despite a faux pas on Friday putting Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan and The Irish People’s Dean Quinn ahead of her in the legally mandated alphabetic run on the ballot paper.
“We just have to wait and see, because there’s still a lot of votes to be counted. We did know that it was going to come down to the wire, I was sure of that,” she said.
“I did think it was going to come down to the wire, and I always felt that. AndSo look, we are here and we just take it one step at a time.”
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin’s Maurice Quinlivan must wait a while longer before being confirmed as taking the third seat in Limerick City, sitting 85 votes adrift of the quota.
