10amDonegal is the first of the councils to meet to consider nominations, with a motion to back Dana Rosemary Scallon put before councillors in Lifford. The council votes to back the former MEP and Eurovision winner by 19-0. Dana is now just one nomination short of becoming an official presidential candidate.
David Norris arrives in Cork ahead of a special meeting of the county council to nominate him. He departs a short time later for Waterford, before the meeting begins.
10.30am
Cork county councillors vote not to support Norris’s bid for the Áras with 20 votes against, nine in favour and seven abstentions.
1pm
Norris secures his third nomination when Waterford City Council backs a motion supporting him with six votes in favour, three against and five abstentions.
2pm
Dana is en route to Mullingar ahead of Westmeath County Council’s special meeting when news emerges that Offaly County Council has voted 12 votes to six in favour of nominating her. This decision confirms Dana’s name on the ballot paper for next month’s election.
2.15pm
Arriving in Mullingar, Dana tells reporters she will be the “people’s president” if elected.
2.35pm
Despite the appearance of Dana, Westmeath County Council votes against nominating her by 10 votes to nine, with Fine Gael cathaoirleach Mark Cooney having the casting vote.
4pm
Longford County Council, the first county to nominate Dana in 1997, backs her nomination with eight votes in favour and 13 abstentions. Council chairman Frank Kilbride says he regrets the fact the council could not do anything to assist Norris’s nomination.
6.45pm
Dublin City meets and votes by a huge margin – 30 votes to six, with 11 abstentions – in favour of Norris’s nomination. The Senator finally secures his place in the presidential election.