First count not expected for another hour in Carlow/Kilkenny
Aine Gladney
The first count in the Carlow/Kilkenny constituency is not expected until later this evening as 20 candidates await their fate in this election.
The final tally has three Fianna Fáil candidates in the lead with John McGuinness, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor and Peter Chap Cleere while Fine Gael’s Catherine Callaghan and Sinn Féin’s Áine Gladney Knox were fourth and fifth.
The count centre for this election is in Loreta College, Kilkenny and, as yet, Áine Gladney Knox is the only candidate from County Carlow who’s here at this early stage.
She’s feeling optimistic about securing the Sinn Féin seat that was vacated by Kathleen Funchion who was elected to the European parliament during the summer. The tally predicted that Ms Gladney Knox will received 6,008 first preference votes.
“It’s still very much all to play for at this early stage. We put in a hugely positive campaign. We’ve held our own after being handed the baton from Kathleen,” said Áine.
