Counting in the Presidential Election is getting under way at 32 count centres, with ballot boxes opened at 9am.
Independent Catherine Connolly and Fine Gael's Heather Humphreys will have to wait hours before the official result is declared, but early tallies will tell a lot about the final result. Fianna Fáil's Jim Gavin withdrew from the election earlier this month, but his name remained on the ballot paper.
At 10pm last night, polling stations across all 43 constituencies closed and ballot boxes were moved to 32 count centres for secure storage overnight.
Ahead of the close of the poll a surge in voting was apparent, but whether it was enough to push national turnout above the 2018 figure of 43.8% we will not know until official figures become available.
Opening of ballot boxes
When the ballot boxes are open, votes will first be sorted on the basis of the first preference choice marked on them. It is expected that tally operators will monitor this process in many centres.
They should quickly be able to give unofficial estimates of which candidate looks to be ahead.
However, the quality of tally counts can vary widely so any findings come with a health warning.
Spoilt votes
The campaign to spoil the vote in protest at the candidate choice or the lack thereof has been very active on social media.
When votes are being initially sorted, the spoilt votes will be set aside.
Each one of these will have to be adjudicated on, a process that could add significant delays to the overall count.
In 2018, there were 18,400 spoilt votes, around 1.2% of the total.
A recent opinion poll indicated that 6% of voters would spoil the vote in this election.
If that happened, up to 70,000 votes would have to be examined by polling clerks and representatives of each of the candidates.
First count
The first official count for each constituency will not be available before late morning or the early afternoon.
As the result for each constituency is completed, it will be sent to the Presidential Returning Officer Barry Ryan in Dublin Castle.
Once Mr Ryan has returned from every constituency he will declare the national first count result.
That will likely be in the mid to late afternoon. The quota in this election is 50% of the valid poll plus one.
If any candidate exceeds the quota at that point or is so far ahead that eliminating the lowest candidate would not make a difference, the candidate will be declared elected.
Otherwise, a second count will take place for each constituency back in the in count centres.
In that scenario, the name of the next Uachtarán na hÉireann will not be known until late in the evening.
Inauguration
Whoever the winner, they will have plenty of time to rest after a draining campaign before they take over as the tenth President of Ireland.
The inauguration takes place on Tuesday 11 November.
Current President Michael D Higgins remains in office until midnight on 10 November.
Read more: Guide to results day: Loose horses, miraculous medals, spoilt votes and turnout
