Former Sinn Féin councillor Cathal Ó Conchúir has failed to retake the seat he lost in 2019 and has been eliminated after seven counts in Galway City West.

The eight count is currently underway to distribute Ó Conchúir’s 409 votes, with sitting Fine Gael Cllr Clodagh Higgins almost certain to be elected at its conclusion – she’s currently 18 votes shy of the quota.

Cllr John Connolly (FF) isn’t far behind on 1,085 votes, and he is likely to pick up significant transfers from Ó Conchúir.

Caption: Boxes for Galway City West. Photo: Brian Harding.

Galway City West, 6 seats

Electorate: 18,770

Total poll: 8,864

Spoiled votes: 117

Total valid poll: 8,747

Quota: 1,250

7^th count

Distribution of AJ Cahill’s (TIP) votes:

Lyons, Donal (Ind) ELECTED

Higgins, Clodagh (FG) (+11) 1,232

Connolly, John (FF) (+42) 1,085

Curran, Alan (SD) (+11) 1,010

Keane, Peter (FF) (+14) 820

McNelis, Niall (Lab) (+17) 758

Murphy, Niall (GP) (+5) 657

Deery, Kenny (Ind) (+50) 476

Osayimwen, Esther (Ind) (+11) 462

Feeney, Jarlath (Ind) (+46) 434

Conchúir, Cathal Ó (SF) (+19) 409 ELIMINATED