Eliminations Continue At Wicklow Count Centre

Seven candidates out of the twenty that ran here in Wicklow have been eliminated in the process to fill the four remaining seats in the constituency.

Since last night, William King Anthony Fitzgerald, John Larkin, Charlie Keddy, Eileen Gunning and Tom Dunne were excluded and their ballot papers redistributed for second choice preferences.

At the moment the ballot papers of Seamus Connor, who is latest candidate eliminated, are being transferred. So far there has been little change for the remaining contenders. Simon Harris is almost 3,000 off the quota, while his nearest rival, Jennifer Whitmore, who has closed the gap a little, needs almost 3,800 votes to get over the line and take a seat. The others in contention are the Green party’s Stephen Matthews, Fine Gael’s Andrew Doyle and Billy Timmins and Fianna Fail’s Stephen Donnelly and Pat Casey. But they are all between 5,200 and 7,100 off the required target. We’re in for an interesting afternoon of transfers, as one by one the lower candidates are eliminated

John SNELL (IND) talking to East Coast FM at the Count Centre