With television reporting on an election for the first time, radio took a new approach to its coverage. From 3.00pm on the first day of the count, scheduled programmes were suspended.

The RTV Guide announced that "This re-scheduling of broadcasting is intended to provide listeners with a running story of the election count, with intervals for music when the flow slackens."

Coverage was a mixture of analysis, forecasting and live reporting from the count centres. This clip gives a sample of the type of fare offered by radio to the listeners during the election count.

Reporter John Ross in Galway observes the tic-tac men and notes that the only time there was quiet was during the Angelus.

Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Libraries and Archives.

If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us.

RTÉ Libraries and Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us.