Race intensifies in Cork South Central

Counting has resumed in Cork South Central as the race for one of the most hotly contested seats in the country continues.

The fight for the last seat in this five-seater constituency intensified as Kathy Sinnott, the Independent candidate fighting for the rights of the disabled polled just ahead of Fianna Fáil’s John Dennehy and was declared with a margin of only three votes.

It is understood all 18,000 votes cast for the candidates are being re-examined and Fianna Fáil have taken legal advice as to how to proceed.

Fianna Fáil’s Batt O'Keeffe and Micheál Martin were elected along with the Green Party’s Dan Boyle and Fine Gael’s Simon Coveney. No-one is calling the result at this stage.