Fine Gael's Jim Daly looks likely to top the poll in Cork South West, surging ahead of his two Fine Gael running mates with over 9,000 votes and 20 per cent of the poll.
Tallies place FG's Noel Harrington ahead of running mate Kevin Murphy, with 7,024 votes to Mr Murphy's 6,430, with one percentage point between them.
Labour's Michael McCarthy is placed third with tallies of 6,561, giving him 14 per cent of the vote, he will be a strong contender for a third seat.
Outgoing Fianna Fail TD Christy O'Sullivan is polling 4,799 first preference votes as of 3pm today, according to tallies, down sharply on the 10,333 votes that won him a seat in 2007, a 24.31 per cent share of the vote.
His Fianna Fáil running mate Denis O'Donovan is polling at 6,060 first preferences, over 1,500 less than the 7,760 votes he garnered in 2007, which failed to win him a seat.
With 13 per cent of tallied votes, Mr O'Donovan was still polling strongly enough to battle it out for the third seat in this constituency. He will be up against Labour's Michael McCarthy and possibly the third Fine Gael candidate, depending on transfers.
Tallymen are reporting a strong transfer rate between Fine Gael and Labour.
The full tally for Cork South West placed Fine Gael at 49 per cent, Fianna Fáil at 24 per cent and Labour at 14 per cent.
Sinn Féin is recording its highest ever vote in the Cork South West Constituency at 7 per cent, up from 1 per cent in 2007.
There are five Independent candidates contesting and they hold 4 per cent of the final tally, with Kevin McCaughey for the Green Party polling at 2 per cent.