LIVE UPDATES: Longford/Westmeath general election count

12.30

Counting has now halted as the count staff take their lunch break. Current tallies are showing the Fine Gael team of Peter Burke (4,365) and Míchael Carrigy (4,611) polling very well with 97 of the 177 boxes tallied. Troy (FF), Flaherty (FF), Boxer Moran (IND) and Clarke (SF) are all polling above 3,000 votes each with a long way still to go yet before the final picture becomes clearer.

12.25

Aontú's Laura O'Neill has just arrived at the count centre and is delighted with her 3.1% of the vote, pointing out that it is a not insignificant achievement for a fledgling party running in a Longford-Westmeath general election for the first time.

12.16

Word just in from our colleagues in County Meath: the final tallies for Meath West are in and SF's Johnny Quirke looks set to top the poll, with 23 per cent

12.09

A tale of one box...

The second St Joseph's box in Rochfortbridge gives us a sample of the emerging picture in Longford-Westmeath. Both Peter Burke and Robert Troy have increased their vote - Burke from 63 to 80, and Troy from 110 to 125. However, Sinn Féin's Sorca Clarke has picked up just 92 votes in this box, according to tallies, compared to 167 in 2020. Labour's vote hasn't changed, while FG's Micheál Carrigy, surprisingly, picked up an extra 12 votes in this 'Bridge box.

11.58

Now almost half way through overall tally - it shows FG's Peter Burke looking like the potential poll topper. Currently has 16.5 per cent on the running tally, with second place on the table being occupied by FG's Micheal Carrigy on14 per cent.

In third position is Boxer Moran (Ind) on 11.8 percent followed by SF's Sorca Clarke on 11.4

per cent

FF's Robert Troy, on 10 per cent and Joe Flaherty on 10.6 per cent are neck and neck; S

11.45

‘It will be a dogfight for the last two seats.’ Says former Athlone (Fianna Fáil) town council member John Butler.

11.36

Peter Burke outpolling Robert Troy 2 to 1 in many urban Mullingar boxes, according to the tallymen. Fianna Fail are almost (20%) on 2020 with nearly a third of the boxes opened. Sinn Féin down (6%). FG confident of winning two seats.

11.02

Tidbits from the floor: great uncertainty still about the final line-up. Micheál Carrigy polling better than Joe Flaherty in Longford, and Sorca Clarke not polling as well as expected in Mullingar, an area on which she will be greatly reliant. Clarke had a strong vote in Athlone in 2020, but Kevin 'Boxer' Moran is making big inroads into that. Paul Hogan is picking up votes from across the board but probably not enough to put him in the running for a seat.

Fine Gael are very pleased with Micheál Carrigy's performance in Longford, says former TD James Bannon.

10.45

WATCH: Ballot boxes are opened here in Athlone as counting is well underway.

10.34

Senator Micheál Carrigy and Deputy Joe Flaherty, who are expected to be in a two way fight for a seat for Longford have both arrived at the count.

10.31

Peter Burke and Robert Troy both polling in Multyfarnham, however Burke had a clear lead.

10.25

Ex TD and veteran political insider Donie Cassidy says that because the election happened so close to the local elections people have tended to vote local.

He said FF and FG are very transfer friendly and by 12 o'clock we will know a lot.

10.23

According to the tallies, with 14 boxes counted, seven in Westmeath, Peter Burke is polling well (15.1%), as is his party colleague Micheál Carrigy (14%), Joe Flaherty (13.4%) and 'Boxer' Moran (11.6%).

9:30

The boxes have been opened and counting is now in full swing. Tallies are currently being taken but it is far too early to have any clarity on who the front runners are yet.

9:10

The counting of votes has just got underway here in Athlone in this hotly contested constituency. The subplots are many: will Athlone secure a TD; how will Sinn Féin fare; where will the extra fifth seat go; and will the immigration issue have a significant impact in Athlone? Over the next few hours, the answers to these questions will become clearer but for now, you can read the analysis ahead of voters hitting the polls by following the link below.

Analysis: Race for Dáil gets interesting in Longford Westmeath

9:00

Good morning from the Longford/Westmeath count centre in the John McCormack hall at TUS Athlone. The votes have been cast across the constituency, and the first ballot boxes are currently being opened. We will provide live updates as they happen here on the Westmeath Examiner blog and will also have extensive digital coverage across our website and social media pages throughout the day. Stay tuned as we find out who the five TDs will be for the Longford/Westmeath constituency for the next five years.