THERE was every indication of a record turnout, defying wet weather, in the west of Ireland. The strong poll was attributed to constituency revisions in Mayo and Galway, and the virtual certainty of close finishes.
In Mayo, the six TDs of the last Dail are fighting for five seats in the new one, while Galway East has an extra seat on offer.
The nature of the competition in Mayo was reflected in Castlebar, where Paddy Power book-makers was taking only one bet on the race, offering odds of 2 to 1 that the Minister for Tourism and Trade, Mr Kenny, would lose his seat.
Many areas, particularly Westport, had a turnout in excess of 40 per cent by late afternoon, easily exceeding the 1992 equivalent. It was a similar story in Galway, where many rural areas exceeded 35 per cent by early evening.
The turnout in Galway city was slower, but also exceeded 1992. Voters at Scoil Rois in Taylor's Hill were greeted by figures of politicians in papier mache seeking "number ones".
The final Galway West turnout was expected to exceed the 64 per cent of 1992. Galway East was predicted to be higher than the 69 per cent turnout of 1992.
A particularly strong Connemara turnout was predicted to translate into votes for Mr Eamon O Cuiv (FF), who has forsaken his Dev Og tag. He's now called "the Hoover" by his handlers because of an ability to suck votes from every corner of the region.
Extended voting hours facilitated the bigger turnout, even if voters at one polling booth near Galway city had to queue till 8.15 a.m. before exercising their franchise.
