Just 11 of 20 councillors elected in Westmeath as day three begins

As the count enters its final day in Westmeath, just 11 of 20 seats have been filled.

There was late drama in the Mullingar area last night when a recount was called to begin at 10am this morning after just five votes separated Sinn Féin’s Julie McCourt (1,053) and Fine Gael’s Gerard Heery (1,048) for the last seat.

Aoife Davitt, Bill Collentine and Andrew Duncan are almost certainly safe and will be elected once the recount is complete.

Kinnegad had it’s first councillor elected late last night, Denis Leonard of the Labour party, where there is a particularly long ballot paper after three councillors retired their seats in the area after the end of the last term.

The big shock so far has been the level of support for former minister of state Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran who received 3,725 first preference votes in Athlone and has confirmed his intention to run in the Dáil.

It’s been a good showing for Fianna Fáil who look likely to retain their nine seats on Westmeath County Council, while Fine Gael could lose one of their five seats.

The Green Party are facing wipeout, with Cllr Hazel Smyth becoming the first casualty of the incumbents yesterday after she was eliminated in Mullingar; she looks likely to be followed shortly by her Athlone colleague Louise Heavin.

Sinn Féin have had no councillor in Westmeath since 2019 but that looks almost certain to change with David Jones expected to be elected in Kinnegad today.

They could also gain a seat in Mullingar depending on how the recount goes and have one candidate still in strong contention for the final seat in Athlone.

All four incumbents in the Moate returned their seats yesterday, one of two electoral areas in the country not to field a female candidate.