Four things we know (so far) in Longford Westmeath
Great election for Fine Gael
Fine Gael emphatically won the popular vote in Longford Westmeath with 29.8% of voters giving the party their first preference. Peter Burke topped the poll with 10,864 first preference votes and was elected on the first count last night with a surplus of 549, while Senator Micheál Carrigy, who got 7,090 votes, is expected to win the “Longford seat” ahead of Fianna Fáil's Joe Flaherty.
Fine Gael's share of the popular vote in the constituency is up by 15.5% on 2020.
Minister Burke is also the first Fine Gael candidate to top the poll in Longford Westmeath since Paddy Cooney in 1973.
Not so great for Fianna Fáil
While Fine Gael will be delighted with its performance in Longford Westmeath looking likely to gain a seat and Peter Burke topping the poll, Fianna Fáil will be disappointed.
Robert Troy is set to be re-elected, albeit with a smaller first preference vote, but Longford's Joe Flaherty failed to retain his seat.
In addition to losing a seat, the party's overall share of the popular vote dropped from 30.14% in 2020 to 22.4% this time around.
The bookies rarely get it wrong
It the days leading up to the election Peter Burke was the overwhelming favourite with bookmakers to top the poll.
Paddy Power and Boyle Sports also predicted that sitting TDs Robert Troy (FF) and Sorca Clarke (SF) would retain their seats, while Joe Flaherty (FF) would lose out to Micheál Flaherty (FG).
While four seats are still up for grabs, it looks highly likely that their pre-election predictions will come to pass.
They don't always get it right but they seldom get it wrong.
Boxer's back
Kevin 'Boxer' Moran looks like he is about to complete the mother of all political comebacks. A few months after he recorded the biggest share of the popular vote in the country at the local elections, the Athlone native is odds on to regain the Dáil seat he lost in 2020.
He said that he felt 'let down' by the people of Athlone when he lost his seat. Fast forward four years and the former government minister got a resounding thumbs up from his community receiving a first preference vote of 8,056, putting him in third place behind Peter Burke and Robert Troy.
It's anticipated that 'Boxer' will be elected this evening.