Donohoe wins first Dublin Central seat

Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe was elected to Dublin Central on the second count shortly before 9pm tonight.

Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe was elected to Dublin Central on the second count shortly before 9pm tonight.

It took until well after 8pm to get even a first count from the constituency of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Labour's Joe Costello has taken the second of four seats in Dublin Central. He was elected on the 7th count  and Fianna Fail TD Cyprian Brady was eliminated .

Maureen O'Sullivan, the incumbent Independent TD, took the third seat while Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald was elected without reaching the quota.

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Neither Mr Ahern, nor his erstwhile constituency colleague Cyprian Brady were present at the count centre in the RDS. Fianna Fail Councillor Mary Fitzpatrick, however, watched as votes were counted.

Mr Ahern sent a last-minute letter to constituents of Dublin Central on Thursday urging a vote for Mr Brady, who was elected to the Dáil for the first time in 2007. He famously received just 939 first preferences and was brought over the line by Mr Ahern's transfers.

Mr Ahern had sent a similar letter to constituents on that occasion urging a second preference for Mr Brady, with a subsequent preference for Ms Fitzpatrick. The strategy on this occasion backfired, with Ms Fitzpatrick receiving 3,504 first preference votes to Mr Brady's 1,637.