FIANNA FÁIL last night faced an anxious wait to find out if it was going to lose its one European Parliament seat in Dublin. But the party was set to fend off a Fine Gael challenge in the East constituency, and to hold a seat in the North West constituency.
In Dublin, Eoin Ryan was at risk of being passed out by Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins after he received just 47 per cent of the 20,000 transfers available from his running mate Eibhlin Byrne. However, it was believed the race would be decided by the destination of preferences from the votes of Green Party candidate Deirdre de Búrca, and ex-Green Patricia McKenna. The loss of Mr Ryan would be a severe blow to Taoiseach Brian Cowen.
Outgoing Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell and Labour’s MEP Proinsias De Rossa were set to take the first two seats, leaving Mr Ryan fighting it out with Mr Higgins and Sinn Féin MEP Mary Lou McDonald. A declaration of the Dublin final result was delayed after Green Party candidate Déirdre de Búrca, who had 19,098 first preferences, demanded a recount. Under electoral spending laws, she can recoup some of her election spending if she attracts more than 6 per cent of the first preference total.
In East, Mairéad McGuinness of Fine Gael topped the poll and was elected on the first count with 110,300 votes. Labour’s Nessa Childers, on 78,338 votes, will be comfortably elected in second place when counting resumes later today. Outgoing Fianna Fáil MEP Liam Aylward, with 74,606 votes on the first count, will require transfers from running mate Thomas Byrne, who is on 41,122 votes.
In North West, Libertas leader Declan Ganley claimed he would win a seat, but later figures cast doubt upon this, with outgoing MEPs Marian Harkin and Fine Gael’s Jim Higgins likely to be re-elected. Fianna Fáil’s Pat “The Cope” Gallagher was predicted to be elected with transfers from running mate Paschal Mooney, who received approximately 45,000.
The count was suspended after a spokesman for Mr Ganley said he had asked the returning officer to “check out” a report that “a bin of Ganley votes” had been mistakenly allocated to another candidate. “We’re not asking for a recount at this stage, we’re simply investigating the possibility that human error may have occurred . . . ,” he said. At 11.35pm, returning officer Kieran McDermott announced a re-check of votes today “in the light of what Mr Ganley has said to us”.
In South, Fianna Fáil’s outgoing MEP Brian Crowley is just short of the 110,000 quota, while former GAA president Seán Kelly is also certain to be elected. Green Party candidate Senator Dan Boyle, who received less than 3 per cent of the vote, said the results made it “a horrendous weekend” for the party.