Counting has been completed in Dublin and Fine Gael's Mary Banotti has topped the polls. Niall Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Patricia McKenna of the Green Party have also retained their seats, while Labour's Bernie Malone has lost her seat to party colleague Proinsias De Rossa. Avril Doyle of Fine Gael has been elected in Leinster, Fianna Fáil's Brian Crowley and Gerard Collins have both been re-elected in Munster.
Earlier, the Fine Gael candidate, Jim Mitchell, conceded defeat in the Dublin European elections. Mr Mitchell, who was in fifth place after the first count, said that he believed that the Labour Party candidate, Prionsias de Rossa, will take the fourth seat. He believed that the Fine Gael vote management could have been better, but congratulated his running mate Mary Banotti, who is the first MEP to get elected on the first count in Dublin since the European elections began.
The likely outcome of the vote in Dublin is as follows: Mary Banotti, Fine Gael, will take the first seat. Niall Andrews, Fianna Fail, will take the second seat. Patricia McKenna of the Green Party will get the third seat and Prionsias de Rossa of the Labour Party will take the final seat, replacing his party colleague Bernie Malone. In a statment Ms Malone said that she was very disappointed with her result in the European elections, but accepted the decision of the people of Ireland. Ms Malone also said that she had taken a definite view from the beginning of the campaign that there was only one Labour Party seat in Dublin, and regrettably she had been proven correct but added that she was delighted that the Labour Party would keep a voice in the European Parliament through Pronsias de Rossa.
In Cork, the Fianna Fail Munster MEP Brian Crowley has become the first candidate in the Republic to poll over 100,000 votes. Counting in the Neptune Sport's stadium is continuing, but it is predicted that his final total will now be in access of 150,000. Brian Crowley polled just over 84,000 in the last European parliament elections.
