Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
WE’RE INTO DAY three of counting in Election 2014.
Dublin’s seats have been decided, Ming is off to Europe and Brian Crowley and Liadh Ni Ríada are joining him.
The main stories today…
Morning!
Daragh Brophy here for Day three of our election liveblog…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or sensibly getting a good night’s sleep) you’ll know the main drama overnight has been in Dublin 4, where the count for capital went on until the early hours.
Our Political Editor Hugh O’Connell was there until, well, pretty recently, and has all the detail.
Eamon Ryan‘s due to meet the returning officer at lunchtime, and any decision on a recount will be announced at 2pm.
There’s nothing confirmed results-wise at the Ireland South and Midlands North West count centres in Nemo Rangers’ and Castlebar’s Royal Theatre. They’ll be back at the count tables at 9am.
So… Can the Green Party leader pull a rabbit out of the hat?
It’s Europe – the final countdown…
Could Sad Eamon Ryan be the new Sad Keanu?
Possibly…
Photocall’s Mark Stedman captured these images overnight at the RDS…
Meanwhile, the Greens have been touting their electoral success this morning, with 12 councillors elected around the country.
This, from a press release sent out at around 5am…
Eamon Ryan: “Voters have given us a fresh opportunity to work hard for them, and to make their voices heard at council level. From today, that work begins for all of us.”
This morning’s front pages all tell a similar story.
The Herald, perhaps, puts the scenario facing Labour in the starkest terms…
A wider cabinet reshuffle is now on the cards following Labour’s shellacking (as Joan Burton put it) and Fine Gael’s ‘wallop’ (to use a phrase Enda’s fond of).
The Taoiseach and the Tánaiste are set to meet later today to discuss the fallout from the weekend.
More here…
There’s less than 40 council seats yet to be filled around the country, as of right now.
Our Nicky Ryan has the lowdown on the situation this morning…
And don’t forget...
You can check who’s been elected to every single seat in every single constituency right here.
The latest on the Euros…
Paschal Sheehy‘s just been on to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland from Cork. He says we can still expect a first count at the Nemo Rangers’ count centre sometime between 11am and lunchtime, at which point its expected FF’s Brian Crowley will be elected.
The perennial poll-topper’s surplus of around 50,000 votes will then be distributed, with SF’s Liadh Ní Riada expected to claim the second seat.
He says it “could be a long time” before there’s a result for the third seat, expected to go to FG’s Sean Kelly.
Deirdre Clune and Simon Harris (also of FG) remain in the hunt for the fourth seat.
Of course, there’s also some other big news in Cork this morning, and Paschal’s all over that too…
Meanwhile, RTÉ’s Cian McCormack, in Midlands-North West, says the first count in Castlebar is still expected at some stage in the afternoon.
He says there’s likely to be a “right schamozzle” for the fourth seat in the 15 county constituency between independent Marian Harkin and the FF pair of Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher and Thomas Byrne.
It looks like Ming ‘Euroming’ Flanagan‘s on his way to Europe though…
[Pic: Orla Ryan]
A quick look at the councils…
There’s a recount under way in Mayo.
It was a long night in Donegal.
And they’re moving on in Carlow-Kilkenny.
Get the full lowdown on the locals here.
After a surge in electoral success here, Sinn Féin are also expected to top the poll in Northern Ireland.
Martina Anderson‘s expected to retain her seat.
Counting begins this morning in the three-seat constituency.
The DUP’s Diane Dodds and Ulster Unionist Jim Nicholson are also defending their seats.
More from the BBC.
Anderson’s been sending her congratulations to her Dublin colleague, Lynn Boylan, who was elected at the first count last night….
More criticism for Eamon Gilmore this morning, after another Labour Oireachtas member said yesterday that it was time for then entire front bench to go…
It follows the party’s drubbing in the local and Euro elections.
More here…
Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin saying this morning that his people are now “fairly sure” he’ll take a seat in Midlands-North West.
Counting’s due to get back under way in the massive 4-seater and in Ireland South around now.
“Anyone who wants the job will have to take out Eamon Gilmore.”
— RTÉ’s Political Correspondent Martina Fitzgerald, this morning.
Yikes.
And we’re back under way in MNW..
And in Limerick..
There are are a number of recounts under way today.
Spare a thought for Dublin’s news staff as you arrive in the office this morning.
It was sunrise by the time many of them finished at the RDS this morning.
And from the looks of it, dawn wasn’t even that impressive…
Get the full report from Hugh, here…
Jackie Healy Rae‘s been on to Radio Kerry from his hospital bed to congratulate his grandson Johnny on his Kerry County Council victory at the weekend.
Jackie’s son Danny (Johnny’s father) also retained his seat on the council at the weekend…
The family patriarch, who is recovering from knee replacement surgery, was given special dispensation to leave his bed and cast his vote on Friday.
[Pic: Daragh Brophy]
Some recount news from the locals, where there’s just 35 seats of the total 949 yet to be filled.
In Kilkenny..
In Mayo.
In Longford.
In Limerick.
And in Kerry.
Gerry Adams appears to have had at least eight hours sleep…
More than many journalists.
Will Ming send a replacement to Brussels?
There had been speculation he would.
Here’s what he said today.
I can categorically say that if I get elected to the European Parliament I will as promised go out there and represent people there.
However, he left the door open to a possible early return from the continent, saying it was his intention to serve the full five years “but it was also my intention to stay in Dáil Éireann for the full term”.
More…
Image: @AnastasiaQuiche
John Gormley, the former Greens’ leader, had something to say about Labour’s possible renegotiation of the Programme for Government at the weekend.
If anyone would know….
Another council result…
Not many seats left to fill now…
But they’ve moved on to any other business at other local authorities.
In Midlands-North West, the first count result could be between 2 and 4pm this afternoon.
By the way, it should be said — as with many predictions being made this weekend, those estimates for first count times come with health warnings.
In Dublin, of course, we’re still waiting for news on a possible recount.
Eamon Ryan‘s requesting a fresh look at the ballots after he finished just over 1,149 votes behind Brian Hayes in the early hours of the morning.
Here’s what (a slightly hoarse) Hayes had to say about the situation at the RDS earlier….
Our own Órla Ryan is back on duty at the MNW count centre in Castlebar…
It may be another long day for her…
Meanwhile, in Cork we’re still minutes away from a first Ireland South count.
Meanwhile, our Political Editor’s back on Dublin watch after a very late night (yes, he was working)…
Eamon Ó Cuív breaking with party line on the Mary Hanafin story on RTÉ just now…
While most FF TDs wheeled out to give reaction to the party’s decent showing in the council elections referred to Kate Feeney as ‘the official Fianna Fáil candidate’ in the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Blackrock ward, Ó Cuív said he regarded both women to be FF councillors.
He said the issue surrounding whether or now she should have filed those party electoral papers was “a small procedural issue that needs to be clarified”.
In some encouraging news for Micheál Martin he said he had no problem with the party leadership, and claimed (somewhat implausibly) not to have heard John McGuinness’s comments on the issue yesterday….
Still waiting in Cork…
*Places hands nonchalantly in pockets, whistles.*
Brian Crowley, the country’s longest serving MEP, has been elected for a fifth term in the European Parliament after the result was announced in Ireland South.
The Fianna Fáil politician’s victory had been widely anticipated — he’s topped every opinion poll of this year’s campaign by a huge margin.
The result was elected at the Cork count centre at Nemo Rangers’ within the last few seconds.
Crowley’s Brussels vote was, as expected, only massive.
The veteran Fianna Fáil MEP claimed 180,329 of first preferences out of a total valid poll of 657,498.
His surplus of 48,829 will now be distributed and counting will continue.
Interestingly, Simon Harris is ahead of his Fine Gael colleague Deirdre Clune following that count…
Also…
Phil Hogan‘s been giving his reaction to FG’s poor showing over the weekend…
The party’s Director of Elections said that after three years of tough decisions “you expect people not to be rewarding you for that”.
Outside of the top 5 in Ireland South, here’s how the candidates fared in the first count…
A better than expected showing from Diarmuid O’Flynn of Ballyhea Says No…
Diarmuid O’Flynn (non-party) 30,323
Phil Prendergast (Lab) 30,317
Kieran Hartley (FF) 29,987
Grace O’Sullivan (Green) 27,860
Teresa Heaney (Catholic Democrats) 13,569
Richard Cahill (non-party) 10,719
Jan Van De Ven (Direct Democracy Ireland) 9,255
Jillian Godsil (non-party) 9,179
Peter O’Loughlin (non-party) 6,561
Donal O’Riordan (Fís Nua) 1,634
Preparations for a recount under way in Dublin 4.
From our Political Editor…
I’ve just arrived at the RDS where staff are preparing for what looks certain to be a recount in Dublin with just 1,149 votes separating Eamon Ryan in fourth and Brian Hayes in third.
Ryan has said he just wants to be certain of the result given the late hour at which it Hayes and Nessa Childers were elected to the third and second seats in the capital.
Meanwhile in Castlebar…
There are no Labour councillors in Cork city as a result of Friday’s election.
The party’s lost all seven of its seats…
Just 30 local election seats still to be filled around the country…
Check out the full list (now with fancy graphs and such) here >
More trouble on the cards for Eamon Gilmore.
TheJournal.ie’s Paul Hosford has the story…
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore is to face two no-confidence motions in the coming weeks.
Motions will be tabled by both the party’s central council and parliamentary party.
The parliamentary party will meet this Wednesday, while the central council will meet in the coming weeks.
News from the RDS…
More news from the RDS..
Yes.
Meanwhile:
Oh, and that recount (or ‘bundle check’) is under way…
And Midlands-North West will be ready to announce shortly….
Afternoon all, it’s Christine Bohan here, taking over from the capable hands of my colleague Darragh Brophy.
Despite the many, many promises that a first count in Midlands North West would be due within minutes, we’re still waiting.
ANY. MINUTE. NOW.
In the meanwhile, here’s a rather cool thing on the website of newly-elected Green Party councillor Claire Byrne (no, not that Claire Byrne).
It shows an animation of every single election count in each local election area, with bar charts showing how it all played at.
Watch as the bars magically move! Guess who’s going to make the quota! Wonder at the proportional representation-single transferable vote system! Drum your fingers as we wait for news of Midlands North West!
BREAKING: Beleagured Labour leader Eamon Gilmore is to make a statement at the Department of Foreign Affairs at 4pm today, with reports suggesting that he is to resign as party leader.
Labour slumped to just 7 per cent in the local election results, significantly lower than opinion polls had indicated.
AND WE HAVE A FIRST COUNT AT MIDLANDS NORTH WEST! Here we go:
Total poll: 663,703
Invalid ballot papers: 17,258
Quota: 129,290
Luke Ming Flanagan (Ind) 124,063
Matt Carty (SF) 114,727
Mairead McGuinness (FG) 92,080
Marian Harkin (Ind) 68,986
Pat The Cope Gallagher (FF) 59,562
Thomas Byrne (FF): 55,383
Jim Higgins (FG) 39,908
Ronan Mullen (Ind) 36, 326
Lorraine Higgins (Lab) 31,951
Mark Dearey (Green) 9,520
Ben Gilroy (DDI) 7,683
Mark Fitzsimons (Ind) 2,424
TJ Fay (Ind) 2,002
Cordelia Nic Fhearraigh 1,829
Quick analysis: Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan, Matt Carty and Mairead McGuinness all look set to take the first three seats – unless Carty fails to pick up the transfers ,which has been a problem for other Sinn Féin candidates.
There’s going to be a dog fight for the fourth seat, though. Marian Harkin, Pat The Cope Gallagher and Thomas Byrne could all do well on transfers
The five lowest candidates, who all got under 10,000 votes, have now been eliminated and their votes will be distributed.
Meanwhile, back at the RDS, Green Party leader and oh-so-close-to-being-an-MEP-but-not-quite Eamon Ryan says he doesn’t want a full recount of the hundreds of thousands of votes.
Instead, he wants bundles of ballots to be checked in case there were any mistakes made.
Ryan finished fourth in the 3-seat constituency in the early hours of this morning, just 1,149 votes behind Brian Hayes of Fine Gael.
He spoke to our political editor Hugh O’Connell a few minutes ago about the dramatic count:
Phew, it’s all go right now, isn’t it? Within the last two hours we’ve had Eamon Gilmore possibly about to resign, Ming topping the poll and Brian Crowley getting elected by a mile in Ireland South.
For a breather, here’s a terrible joke from a commenter.
As we enter what may be the final few minutes of Eamon Gilmore‘s tenure as leader of the Labour party, let’s remember happier times.
Gilmore final interview as leader was here with us, just last Tuesday. In the interview Gilmore said that he wasn't overly concerned with what position he holds in government, but was more concerned about what government does.
Eamon Gilmore hasn’t even resigned yet and already some people in Dáil Éireann are acting as if he’s gone.
Former Labour TD Colm Keaveney decided against using Latin, which he has used in the past for big announcements, and instead went for something slightly less formal.
That’s all, folks.
Eamon Gilmore announces that he is stepping down as Labour leader.
The Labour leader is flanked by Ministers Pat Rabbitte, Joe Costello and Alan Kelly, as well as chief whip Emmet Stagg as he makes the announcement. They applaud him as he finishes his statement.
Gilmore says he will remain involved in politics and wants to seek re-election in his constituency in Dún Laoghaire at the next general election.
His stepping down will be effective once a successor is appointed.
He tells the assembled media that he made the decision last night. He says he doesn’t believe his departure will destabilise the government, and says it was the responsible thing to do following Friday’s election results for Labour.
We’ll get back to the European and local counts shortly, promise, but here’s some snippets from Gilmore’s speech.
For starters:
At 10.30 am this morning, I informed the General Secretary of the Labour Party that I intend to stand down as Leader of the Party, with effect from the election of my successor.
He said the party had taken on the responsibility of Government in a difficult time but had tried to address the crisis as fairly as possible.
But it was a course which carried a high political risk, and Labour has paid the price for that in the local and European elections.
I deeply regret the loss of good public representatives and the defeat of outstanding Labour candidates last Friday.
He said the party needed to renew itself and look to the future before thanking everyone he had worked with over the past seven years.
It has been an honour to lead you, and I look forward to working with you for a long time to come.
With Eamon out the door, what does front-runner Joan Burton have to say? Not too much, as it turns out:
Getting back to the world of elections, Fine Gael MEP Jim Higgins isn’t too happy.
He has just conceded at the counting centre in Castlebar after coming 7th out of the 14 candidates in Midlands North West. He has been an MEP since 2004.
The finish line is very much in sight for the local elections, by the way. 97 per cent of all council seats have now been filled. Hurrah!
There are just 28 seats to go out of 949.
There’s some chatter on Twitter about the performance of Theresa Heaney, the Catholic Democrats candidate who ran in Ireland South. She scooped 13,500 votes, putting her 10th out of 15 candidates.
You can read our interview with her here where she talks about her views on women staying in the home, why a same-sex referendum will never happen in Ireland, and why the contraceptive pill is polluting the water.
With Eamon Gilmore out of the picture there’s a job vacancy at the head of the Labour party (predictably, some wag has already put it up on JobBridge).
Nominations for both leader AND deputy leader of the party open tomorrow and will close seven days later. If a ballot is required, anyone who is an ordinary member of the party will be allowed to vote, and will have almost one month to do so.
Expect to see the new leader of the party unveiled either next week (if there’s only one candidate) or else on 4 July, the deadline for returning postal ballots.
If you’re looking for a state of the nation (or its politicians, actually) on how people feel about Gilmore’s resignation, Michelle Hennessy has been gathering reaction here.
Nice pic, Michelle:
The best – but slightly less official – reactions on Twitter are over on DailyEdge.ie.
Such as:
Our reporter in the Midlands-Northwest count centre in Castlebar, has been speaking to Ming Flanagan, due to be elected as the first MEP there on the next count.
That count is due in around 20 minutes.
BREAKING:
Of course, with Ming’s election, that means there will be a byelection in the Roscommon-South Leitrim constituency.
There will be another byelection in Dublin Southwest because Brian Hayes is likely to keep his new MEP seat (subject to Eamon Ryan’s recount) in the Dublin constituency.
TWO MORE ELECTIONS. What fun.
Here is Ming Flanagan and supporters celebrating in Castlebar just now.
Sorry that this is on its side. It was pretty hectic down there:
Oh.
Well, he is still Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The second count has just happened in Ireland South.
Gav Reilly of Today FM and late of this parish has a tallycard here that shows why no-one has yet been elected to join Brian Crowley as MEP.
HOWEVER, Liadh Ní Riadh of SF is really close to the tally of 131,500. She’s now on 125,309.
From Hugh O’Connell:
I’m back at the RDS where we are expecting the results of the ballot recheck within the next 90 minutes. Around 352,000 votes have been checked and now counters are doing random sampling of transfers from Mary Fitzpatrick and Paul Murphy.
“Incredibly minor discrepancies” have been uncovered according to staff here which means the overall outcome – the election of Brian Hayes and Nessa Childers – is unlikely to be affected.
Meanwhile, back in Castlebar, the fate of the three remaining MEP seats up for grabs after Flanagan’s win is intriguing.
Matt Carthy of Sinn Féin is likely to make the 129,290 quota in some near count because he’s currently on 117,670.
Next is Mairead McGuinness (FG) on 94,019; Marian Harkin (ind) on 72,045; Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher on 60,466 and then Thomas Byrne (FF) on 56,290. Jim Higgins (FG) is still in it at 40,462 but has already conceded that he won’t be in with a shout of a seat, and is in fact retiring from politics.
Ronan Mullen (ind) and Lorraine Higgins (Lab) have been eliminated.
There we have it.
Brian Hayes (FG) and Nessa Childers (ind) are confirmed the final two MEPs for Dublin.
They join Lynn Boylan of Sinn Féin.
Evening folks, Paul Hosford taking over from Susan Daly here.
It’s been a breathless couple of days, hasn’t it? What do you make of it all? Let us know in the comments or tweet @thejournal_ie or @PTHosford
This could be big news from Kerry.
Independent candidate and former Fianna Fáil senator Dan Kiely says he’s taking a legal challenge against the result in Listowel.
Kiely told Radio Kerry that he is seeking a full recount.
So, where are we at?
Well, Dublin has its three MEPs, Ming Flanagan is off to Europe, Brian Crowley is still massively popular and 931 council seats have been filled.
Oh, and the Tánaiste announced he is stepping down as Labour leader.
A result from Granard, County Longford.
Two seats were left to be filled and they have gone to Martin Mulleady of Fianna Fáil and his party-mate Luie McEntee.
That means that Granard’s six seats were split evenly by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil candidates, mirrroring what happened across Longford.
The two parties will hold 15 of 18 seats on Longford County Council.
Here’s how the political representation on Longford County Council looks:
In the massive Midlands-Northwest constituency, a third count is expected at around 9pm.
Here, from our reporter in Castlebar Orla Ryan, ‘s how it looked after a second count:
Who will be on the plane to Brussels with Ming? Matt Carthy looks like he’s almost there, and Mairead McGuinness must be feeling fairly secure, but that fourth seat is still very much in play, with two Fianna Fáil candidates, Thomas Byrne and Pat The Cope Gallagher fighting it out with independent Marian Harkin.
On the local side, there are just 16 seats to be filled: seven in the Fingal County Council ward of Swords, three in Ratoath in Meath and six in Ballybay-Clones in Monaghan.
The Monaghan seats won’t be decided for another week, however, due to the sad passing of councillor Owen Bannigan on Friday.
Want to know what gets the staff of TheJournal.ie through weekends like the last one?
It looks like this, but with more pizza:
Slowly, the Swords recount is taking shape, but there are still five seats to be decided.
Of course, it’s not all that simple. There are a few recounts due to take place around the country.
In Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, the Dun Laoghaire LEA will have a full recount on Wednesday, a recount in Castlebar is underway and the Tullamore recount is examining 15 misplaced ballots.
Expected recounts in Wicklow, Kilkenny and Ballina were cancelled earlier.
After three days of counting, I don’t think anyone is surprised those involved are tired in Swords.
Here’s how the third count in Ireland south went.
Eamon Gilmore will no longer be the leader of the Labour Party come 4 July.
However, just last week he sat mere feet from where I sit right now and told our political editor Hugh O’Connell that he planned to lead the party in 2016.
How a “shellacking” can change things.
So, Eamon Gilmore is gone, but who’s going to replace him?
Ronan Duffy ran the rule over the potential candidates for the job.
One feature of these European elections has been the rise of the far right.
In France, Francois Hollande was particularly stung by the rise of Marine Le Pen’s National Front.
Here’s where the right succeeded:
News from Castlebar, where Orla Ryan has been staked out since Saturday.
Counting will resume at 9am tomorrow.
There are still 16 unfilled council seats – but only 10 that will be decided tonight.
Swords and Ratoath, all eyes are on you.
BREAKING: Sinn Féin’s Liadh Ní Riada has been elected in Ireland South on the fourth count.
BREAKING: Rónán Mullen has been excluded after third count in Midlands-NorthWest – he was on 41,164 votes. The quota is 129,290.
Here’s the moment Liadh Ni Ríada joined Brian Crowley on the plane to Brussels:
Two counts came in pretty close together there, so let’s break down the results.
In Midlands-Northwest, Matt Carthy is now just over 8,000 votes away from being elected.
However, Carthy will have to go home and prepare to celebrate tomorrow, because they’re shutting down counting in Castlebar for the night.
So here’s the state of play as the candidates in Midlands-Northwest as candidates head home for the evening.
That Swords recount is still ongoing, by the way. Independent Michael Collins, who requested the recount, has been eliminated on the 14th count.
After a marathon recount, Fianna Fáil take four seats in Tullamore and Offaly County Council goes onto the list of completed councils and will get its own graph here.
While Ireland South looks like it may be a three-horse race for two seats between the Fine Gael candidates, independent Diarmuid O’Flynn remains in with a shout.
He sits on 34,840 votes, around 20,000 behind Fine Gael’s Simon Harris in fourth, but could attract a lot of transfers.
If that remains the case, it will be a massive upset.
The celebrations for Liadh Ni Ríada’s election included singing.
The newly-minted Liadh Ní Riada MEP says that her election to the European Parliament is a “victory for the ordinary people of Ireland”.
Speaking from the count centre at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, she said;
“Sinn Féin went to people of Ireland South with the very clear message that there is a better, fairer alternative to the politics of austerity and cuts.
“My election is a victory for ordinary people who have suffered so much under the regressive policies pushed by the European Commission and implemented with such relish by successive governments here at home.”
The next count in Ireland South is not expected for another 40 minutes. Settle in folks, this one is going to go on all night.
Spoke too soon!
The fifth count is in down south, but nobody has reached, or is close to reaching, the 131,500 quota.
It’s notable that Diarmuid O’Flynn, the Ballyhea Says No activist remains transfer-friendly.
So, what of the recounts in Swords and Ratoath? Still going, 73.4 hours after the polls closed.
Also, the recount in Castlebar won’t be announced until after midnight. Good news for insomniacs, I guess.
Movement!
The Castlebar recount is expected in the next few minutes. Note: expected.
In Swords, independent Joe Newman and Fianna Fáil’s Adrian Henchy join Philip Lynam of Sinn Féin and Darragh Butler of Fianna Fáil on Fingal County Council.
That is four of the nine seats there filled and it only took three days and 16 counts.
Remember that expected recount result in Castlebar? That’ll be another hour or so.
Quick update from Ratoath, where Fine Gael TD Regina Doherty is on site, it being her backyard and all.
This was shared earlier, but deserves to be again.
Watch the proportional representation system in action, thanks to Clare Byrne.
And just like that: it’s on.
Count six in Ireland South sees Catholic Democrat Theresa Heaney eliminated and Fianna Fáil’s Kieran Hartley and Diarmuid Flynn both benefit.
Hartley could make a play for the fourth seat here.
There are still three seats to fill in Ratoath, but only four candidates left.
Here’s how they stand:
Swords has finished its count and will make an announcement shortly.
Luckily, Fingal County Hall is in Swords, so the victorious candidates will be able to make the journey to the chamber fairly handily.
In the UK, Nigel Farage seems to be pretty pleased with himself, but if he thinks Ming Flanagan is going to be taking him out for Belgian waffles in Brussels, he’s got another thing coming.
And Swords has a result!
Labour’s Duncan Smith, AAA’s Eugene Coppinger and independents Paul Mulville, Anne Devitt and Justin Sinnott are all elected on the 17th count in a recount.
After the sixth count in Ireland South, nobody has reached the quota. Counting is underway in the seventh count, after which the count will resume at 9am.
So, what do does results from Swords mean for the representation of the people of Fingal? Here’s how it looks in handy doughtnut chart form:
The three remaining seats on Meath County Council in Ratoath will all go to Fine Gael candidates.
Gillian Toole, Maria Murphy and Gerry O’Connor will all take seats.
That result from Ratoath finishes the representation on Meath County Council and confirms that Labour will not have a seat in the Royal County from June’s council meeting on.
So, where are we now?
Well, we have six of our 11 MEPs elected – three in Dublin, one in Midlands-Northwest and two in Ireland South – and 943 of our 949 councillors.
The six unfilled council seats will be voted for in Ballybay-Clones on 7 June, following the sad death of outgoing councillor Owen Bannigan on election day.
There are also two recounts – one in Castlebar that is due to be announced tonight and one in Dun Laoghaire that will be carried out on Wednesday morning.
That Castlebar recount is becoming the Chinese Democracy of Irish LEA counts. It was due at various stages of the evening, but we’re still waiting.
Still with us? You must either be off work tomorrow or an insomniac. Either way, welcome!
The last counts of the evening- the Castlebar recount and the seventh count in Ireland South are due fairly soon.
I know Midlands-Northwest has packed up for the evening, but Matt Carthy and Matt Saracen from Friday Night Lights, separated at birth?
And that’s it for the night from Ireland South. On the seventh count, nobody is elected.
But, that’s not to say there’s not big news. Kieran Hartley is now just 2,000 votes behind Simon Harris in fourth.
Candidates will be back in the count centre in Nemo Rangers in Cork in a few hours, but many won’t sleep a wink. This is going to be tight.
Here’s how they stand:
The third day of counting in the local elections has drifted into the fourth and a recount of a ward with 15,000 valid votes has stalled.
The first indication was that Castlebar would deliver a recount verdict around 9pm, but five hours later, there is no result.
It has been 65 hours since counting began in Castlebar, but a result is now “imminent”.
And finally! A result from Castlebar!
It shows no change, so Michael Kilcoyne (Ind), Lisa Chambers (FF), Therese Ruane (SF), Cyril Burke (FG), Frank Durcan (Ind), Blackie Gavin (FF), Henry Kenny (FG), Al McDonnell (FF) are all elected.
And what does that do for Mayo County Council?
This:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Complain about the EU all you want, but I love when they pass common sense laws like this.
It’ll almost certainly be Micro USB. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the future though if a new standard is introduced or if a phone comes out with such a small form factor that Micro USB isn’t really small enough. Will they have to re-legislate?
Ah you don’t want cheap 5 euro universal chargers people….. You need the official iPhone 5 charger…. Only 50 euro… It’s white too….!
It’s common sense right now. It seems all positive, especially for borrowing chargers, reducing waste, etc. But what about in a few years time when some company designs a better charger with a higher data transfer rate or quicker charging? Or somebody invents surface-to-surface wireless charging capability and still has to include an EU charging slot in designs? Do you really expect national governments to keep the law up to scratch with innovations?
The opportunity cost of uniformity will be innovation.
Hi Jason,
Wouldnt it be great if the EU said no to apple and said if you want to sell your items in the EU you have to conform to the new law or you cannot trade here..
But that will never happen.
No, you don’t want those crap chargers. One of those cheap ones blew my iPhone up. About 15 more have broken in the first month. My Apple official cables and plugs are solid and have been the whole time I’ve had them. Not a single one broken. This is why I don’t like this idea. I think one single connector 1) limits the speed of data transfer… so lowest common denominator becomes king… bad. 2) means no one will be able to design a better connector and ever get anywhere near it being used. Because law will say “No, you have to use this crappy old spec cable that was created XX years back because it’s better for the consumer”. Screw that. Why is it a problem to use the cables that come with the devices? My Nexus 5 uses Micro USB. My iPhone 5 uses Lightning. I don’t see what the issue is … I have all the cables I need because they came with the devices. This is not an issue, and never was. It’s only a problem for people who like to create problems.
There is already wireless chargers. Nokia brought one out last year were you place your phone on a mat that is plugged in and it would charge it.
Such a shame, am I going to lose my lightning cable where I don’t need to care about what way I stick the connector in?
And this is progress? What an -ing load of bull.
The charger is already standard. Everybody uses USB charges now.
Calm down there cable Dave.. I think you need to get out more and get laid…!
….well seeing as iPod/Phone etc are all made in the land of the cheap charger I fail to see the issue: it’s all made in China anyway.
As for the lightning connector – well they’re on their own with that: I’m moving to Google Play and using Android as there’s no way I’m retrofitting my car kits etc from the 30-pin to some other oddball Apple standard only to have them dump that again.
Micro USB all the way.
Ah good to have the super-wise mandarins to fix what those darn markets can’t see. Mobile device chargers are the real important issue the EU lawmakers should tackle. Forget trivia such as sluggish economic growth, crippling government debts, demographic black holes in parts of EU and still non-functioning common currency.
Apparently not. Apparently it’s been worded in such a way that the charger (plug) has to be universal, not the connector (the actual cord that goes into the phone). So really nothing has changed. Tech guys 1, politicians 0
Apple don’t need to do a thing as they sell an adapter that makes their charger micro USB, apparently thats enough to dodge the law so no bothers for them there.
I thought that phone manufacturers are working towards this now anyway? I thought that contracts were the only thing holding this back.
hmm.. not so much, my HTC One started complaining when I plugged it into a USB charger intended for a tablet even though there shouldn’t have been a problem, but most phones only take 1amp, wheras tablet chargers produce 1.5Amps. The theory is using a tablet charger just charges a phone faster, but the behaviour of my phone suggests it doesn’t like the extra ampage & actually overheats the phone.
So if the legislation does come in to make all mobile devices take the same cable & charger it would make things far less complicated.
I really do wonder how much Apply pays to the EU for their “special” case ?
Great! I’ve an iPhone 4 with 3 years and I’ve had to buy 4 chargers since. The Apple chargers are totally useless and badly made.
I’ve gone through 4 Macbook chargers in 5 years.
Macbook chargers are €95 each. Designed to fail, pieces of s**t.
I don’t understand how people mess up their MacBook chargers… The only conclusion I can draw is that the users neglect them, a little care goes a long way.
MacBook chargers are €79 not €95 so you’re already spoutin’.; and if you look after them they last years. I’ve one floating about there that’s over 5 years old. 4 MacBook chargers in 5 years means that at least some of those would have died within 2 years of purchase, Apple cover that under EU law. Daft
Hi Andrew,
I would appreciate it if you would tone it down and go easy on the hostilities. These comment threads are designed for users to communicate their thoughts and opinions calmly and professionally. Many thanks.
Kind regards,
Gary
The Journal
System Administrator level 2
Dear Andrew,
There’s no need for those sort of comments at all. The Journal.ie allows users to discuss, debate and shape the news. It does NOT allow users to harass, intimidate and bully others. Please refer to the terms of use.
Thanking you,
Jamie.
Ah Gaz look what you’ve gone and done?! You’re dead tomorrow
€85.15 for a macbook charger including postage. gone down €10 in the last year.
“The Apple Battery Charger comes with the normal Apple One-Year Limited Warranty. ”
218 reviews on the apple site, 168 give 1 star out of 5.
The chargers are crap.
I wonder how many of those negative reviews ‘wrap’ their cable up safely (using the 2 plastic hooks provided), or just ‘chuck’ in their bag under books and that. There’s a magnet built in to the head of the chargers that pops out under any kind of stress (for example getting the cable caught in your leg).
I can’t understand how you can damage those chargers if you take a little bit of care of them.
Hi Andrew,
I must insist that you behave according to our terms of use or I will be forced to take action and flag your account for immediate termination. We here at The Journal strive to deliver a great user platform in which people can browse an environment free of threat and ridicule. Negative behaviour towards our community and/or staff will *not* be tolerated. Special thanks to Jamie for the support. I am considering this matter closed.
Kind regards,
Gary
Hi Gary,
Despite your best efforts to develop an environment free from ridicule and promote free speech, I must ask you to desist posing as a Journal.ie employee.
Due to your ongoing cheeky pupness, your administrator level at your *actual* place of work has now descended to level 1.
Please see the cleaner on Monday morning to gain access to the main office; I have placed your One Direction tapes which you recorded from the radio and your Celine Dion Croke Park 2007 t-shirt in a cardboard box for you.
Kind regards,
A xxx
Anybody got the loan of a fat Nokia charger?
Not sure if this is the right way to go about it in case the cable isn’t up to scratch/futureproof…You’d want a cable that can handle charging, data transfer, video transfer etc. I suppose for Android users we nearly have it already with micro USB though!
Which was down to EU laws anyway.
It’s fine though my Note 3 has a micro USB 3.0 charging port, but it’s backwards compatible with current the current standard.
It will be interesting to see what happens when a company releases a better cable for a tablet/phone and realises they can’t actually use it because of EU regulations. That’s one thing that concerns me really. Many tablets need something more powerful than the likes of Micro USB due to the extra power consumption.
Having said that, if it means no more shelling out for expensive proprietary chargers, that’s definitely a plus. Just hope with the regulation they leave open space for progress in the future (remember, USB only properly kicked off around 10 years ago, it has gone through many revisions, could easily be something entirely different in the next 10 years)
I can see Apple adding an adapter for this if pushed as they can’t stop using the lightening connector. Particularly with the launch of CarPlay who’s function won’t be possible over general USB. Lightening does a lot more than basic charging and simple data pushing.
Actually a lightening to micro-USB adapter is already available for purchase, just not included with the devices
I don’t think an adaptor will cover the law. Devices will have to be able to use the universal charger without an adaptor – that’s the whole point of the law.
Then the EU are dictating manufacturing and engineering. That’s not going to happen. That’s like telling car makers they can only use one specific type of tyre
The EU and other countries dictate manufacturing standards all the time.
You mean like telling car manufacturers that they have to have seat-belts and airbags? Or that aircraft have to meet certain standards before they can operate in the EU? Yeah you’re right Peter, the EU dictating manufacturing and engineering is never going to happen.
Jason, nice catch because standard safety practices are directly synonymous with the type of I/O a device has. Let me use a simpler analogy, it’s like the EU dictating that only one type of display technology can be uses in PCs. Realistically this is being implemented because of waste but invariably people with are embedded in the Apple ecosystem stay there. Also these cables are standard across iPhones, iPads and iPods. These cables will stay in circulation
Peter’s right — hell will freeze over before Apple ditch lightening for micro USB. Lightening is an incredibly advanced, flexible I/O port that USB just can’t match. Apple will include an adaptor, but it’ll stop there. Apple will not destroy the design of their phones for the EU, and EU consumers will not be happy if their beloved Apple devices are not available. This law is stupid.
It makes sense. years ago the big computer manufacturers got together and standardised parts across the board. Made it a hell of a lot easier for the rest of us.
This law isn’t simply stupid, it is ass-backwards.
The complex. bulky, wasteful part is the actual power block bit, the charger, and we all use USB now anyway.
Lightning cables are superior to plain USB, can’t say the same for the 30-pin yokes, though.
@James, can you give me an example of something that the lightening connector can do that usb can’t match, other than be reversible. I ask because I’ve heard that thrown around by Apple, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard an actual example.
AV out is the main one John
John — analog audio and hdmi output are two that spring to mind. The pins of the lightening connector can be dynamically reassigned based on the connected device.
John, let me google that for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_(connector)#Lightning_vs_Micro-USB
Thanks for the answer, can’t say I’d be too pushed by analogue audio output though, much rather have a device that has the space to have a decent dac in it use the one built into a phone. I’m sure the iPhone could handle either way, I’d just consider the analogue one a little pointless. As for hdmi, while the mhl stuff isn’t officially part of the usb spec, it can still be integrated into the same connector without violating the spec.
It’s a nice connector and all, but I just don’t understand why people prefer it over having a single standard.
Well, I think the analog audio requirement was mainly to offer backwards compatibility on all the 30 pin docks, car kits, etc.
I think the power brick is the biggest waste — we are pretty much already standardized on the USB charger. Carrying a cable is no big deal.
Look its simple…the law will be they will have to be able to be charged by a universal port.
there will be nothing stopping apple/any other phone maker having 2 charging ports! the universal one and their one
I think it’s more akin to telling car manufacturer’s that they can only use a particular type of filler pipe assembly, which I’m pretty sure they do. Can you imagine the madness on forecourts if manufacturers used proprietary petrol pumps!
Nonsense. These kind of laws always take years to implement, and therefore result in stifling innovation.
Table makers? That’s some hi tech furniture!
Ah tablet! That makes sense.
I want Tayto now after seeing your picture.
Thanks for that. I’m on commission!
This could be mini thunderbolt. Charging a phone is only one purpose of a cable or socket, syncing data and connecting to peripherals are others.
I hope this doesn’t end up in restricting better design, but I suspect it will.
EU politicians are not engineers.
Yep, my thoughts exactly
It won’t hinder design, as long as an adapter is available they’ll be fine. They may just have to include it with the devices. Although it’s so tiny it’s be lost in 5 mins unless permanently attached to something. Apple MFi programme is worth too much to them for them to go through with adding a different I/O to the devices. Peripherals are key, especially upcoming MFi game controllers.
“Charging a phone is only one purpose of a cable or socket, syncing data and connecting to peripherals are others.”
All of which Micro USB can do.
Two words: iPod Out (probably has a newer nomenclature with lightening) but it allows extended functionality to other devices, hence CarPlay and iPod docks. You would need 2 different I/Os to accomplish this if using micro-USB as the spec just doesn’t cater for it. And yes I know MHL does the same thing but it’s not a standard spec yet
MicroUSB is only designed to handle 9W, most tablets need at least 10-12 to charge at any decent rate. It also only has 5 pins, as opposed to the 8 pins in the lightning connector which allows for a lot more functionality. Not to mention that MicroUSB is notoriously fragile and is known to have a limited lifespan.
The problem is not the charging cables but the charging adapter and battery:
(cables break easily and should be easily replaced: don’t have them hard wired into adapter)
* the charging adapter should have a USB port
* have a changeable plug for UK/EU/US sockets (also work over the different input voltage ranges)
but the bigger problem is output, more than likely 5V but which Amp-age 500mA, 700mA, 1A, 1.6A, 1.8A, 2.1A or 3A which all depends on the battery mainly.
Sure as hell battery technology will change over the coming years.
A lot of mobile phones are sold without adapter and just come with a cable nowadays, manufacturers are cutting their costs this way.
I think most of us have a drawer or box of countless chargers in our homes that attests to the necessity. I have at least 40 chargers from over the last 10 years I’d say. I don’t know what most of them are for but I’m afraid to throw them out.
In all fairness its a good idea.
Before I got let go in my work I had an iphone (work) ipad mini (work) and a Samsung (personal) thats 3 different chargers, an all for one charger is needed.
One charger would do, what you need is 3 cables.
Same difference. .. all three had different connections, a universal connection is whats needed then only one plug and one cable
What place does the EU have in telling private businesses what charger they can or can’t use in their products. If everyone is forced to use micro usbs, which is the most likely outcome, then it will stifle innovation. What if Apple, Samsung or Sony invent a new charger that can send more data, can charge quicker and can act as AV out but it doesn’t conform to these standards and agreement can’t be reached to adopt it. Who loses out then? The consumer, the very people this supposedly protects.
They already have. Lightening is this. Particularly AV out.
Considering the fact that it is EU recycling centers and landfills that are being filled up due to discarded chargers, I’d say they have every right to tell private companies what they can and can’t do. In the end of the day, if the state tells companies they can no longer legally do something then it is the problem of those private companies. They are not superior to the state.
Then teach people to recycle the stuff.
Given that we have become almost completely dependent on our mobile phones for communication (when was the last time you saw a functioning phone box?) I would say that the is completely within the remit of the EU to regulate this. With internal batteries and proprietary charging ports now the norm – and with smartphone battery life so poor – isn’t it in everybody’s interest to have an agreed standard for this?
This is going to be a innovation killer. Micro USB is already outdated technology. I/O changes all the time.
This was suggested by the European big wigs months ago -
It was law September last year
First it’s suggested, then it’s discussed, then a draft is made which is discussed and refined before this is put to the parliament for a vote. That’s generally what happens and it can be reported on separately over the course of a few months to scrape a few articles out of one story.
A universal battery charger?.. I see positive and negative aspects.
Wireless charging will be the out come in the end
**** apple and their rubbish cables
If they also brought out a law that dictated that ALL computer parts be replaceable such as non integrated processors in motherboards & non integrated graphics cards- if you could simply remove an older processor & replace it would make computers last far longer & be upgradeable into the future with motherboards having a longer potential life!!
There are two answers to this issue, if your an Apple fanboi you want a lightning charger, everyone else will want a common charger, micro USB as it is for the moment.
This means nothing – the new law means all manufacturers will have to supply a universal charger that will work with all phones. That means a transformer ( the plug part ) with a USB outlet into which you plug the ( brand specific ) charging lead. So yes, you can use any charger, but you will need the lead that came with your phone. So all apple devices are already compliant, and most other brands have been for a long time too :-)
I spoke to some guys from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2009 who were trying to push this into law.
5 years later and it looks like some common sense will prevail.
Well done lads.
Not what people think, the chargers will become standardised, not the connectors so all the talk of micro USB vs lightning etc is moot, they’re not going anywhere
This is such common sense! now there is only really 3 types of chargers, micro usb, 30pin and lightning. If it is all switched to micro usb then that would be such a relief, and as for future chargers and ports just make them backwards compatible for instance a new laptop has usb3.0 you can still use usb2.0 devices, im sure the same would be applied to this new standard port and therefore transfer speeds wouldn’t be affected
Excellent news, however need same for laptops
The charger is the plug device, while the pin connection (attached to the cable) to the device is another thing. This law only covers the plug. It will have little impact
No, that’s not right. Re-read the article.
It’s only the plug end that goes into the electrical socket that is being standardised, not the phone connector.
The one cable to rule them all: http://www.focalprice.com/IP3352W/4in1_Data_Charging_Cable_for_iPhone_5_iPod_Touch_5_iPod_Nano_7.html
Who cares if their phone has a different charger than their electric razor. Stupid waste of time and money trying to bring this in! Most mobile devices charge from a USB 5v charger already, laptops require a little more power, it’s no big deal!
i read this story three years ago and still not happening.
Actually the current Micro USB Connector is in the process of been replaced by an apple lightning type connector.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57614456-76/with-new-usb-connector-no-more-wrong-way-up-cables/
Time at last !! 18 iPod touch 5th gen chargers in 1 year..that’s €500 spent on these things !
There will be massive challenges in court…. Every single ‘device’ from my Sonicare tooth brush up to my Nissan leaf all HAVE to run off one charger. Good luck making that work.
You can’t even charge an iPad and iPhone effectively from one charger, the current/voltage are different, it takes forever to charge an iPad from an iPhone charger and damages the life of the battery.
Glad to see companies take this into consideration already. All of my devices are micro USB despite different manufacturers and types…except for my iPad. I like Apple products but I can see them finding a loophole in this which is a pain for all
I thought this law was passed about 2 years ago and that’s why most devices now have micro usb or maybe it was in anticipation of the change. For those saying it will limit transfer speeds etc there is nothing stopping companies from having a second option for connections you could have a micro usb for charging and data transfer and an option to use another port on the device.
The loophole is that when the refer to the charger they are only referring to the part that goes into the wall, the ‘connecter cable’ is not affected….., so you will still need your lightning connection or usb ect…, so you will still need different cables for your samsung and your apple phone according to this article http://www.independent.ie/business/technology/onecharger-law-wont-hit-smartphone-makers-30091690.html
They were supposed to do this a couple of years ago
have your say