Local and European election results live: Counting to resume as Andrews set for Dublin seat
Welcome to day three of our live coverage of the election results. Here’s what we know so far. With more than 800 of the 949 local election seats filled, a better than expected performance for the Government parties - with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil neck and neck on about 23 per cent of the vote - in the local elections has led to pressure on Taoiseach Simon Harris to call an early general election. The current Government term ends in March 2025.
It was a terrible day for Sinn Féin, which saw its vote slump to under 12 per cent – slightly ahead of where the party was in the 2019 election but far behind its general election result in 2020 and only a fraction of its opinion poll ratings in recent years, which reached the mid-30s for a long period.
The big winners were the diverse ranks of the Independents who won 28 per cent of the vote. There was no big breakthrough for the far-right, though some outright anti-migrant candidates did win seats. The first count in the Dublin constituency was announced late last night and showed Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Regina Doherty of Fine Gael in a strong position to win the first two seats.
Conor Pope and then Harry McGee will keep you up-to-date with every twist and turn in our live coverage of the Local and European results, and in the counting in the Limerick mayoral election, which is due to get under way today.
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Local and European results best reads
- News report: Growing expectations of early general election
- Analysis: Moderate Ireland bucking trend to the extreme in Europe
- Miriam Lord: Mary Lou McDonald is the chief mourner at RDS
- Lighter moments: From a mouse in the ballot box to missing diamonds
- Podcast: Buoyant Harris joins podcast to dismiss calls for early election
- Europe: Macron calls snap election after far-right victory in EU vote
News in Ireland
- Irish traditional musician Charlie Lennon dies aged 85: President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to Irish traditional musician Charlie Lennon, who has died aged 85.
- Gardaí search for suspect following murder of man in Finglas: Gardaí are searching for a suspect after a man was fatally stabbed in Finglas, Dublin, on Sunday.
- ‘You’re not Irish. You’re not one of us’: Northern students on a year in the South: Belfast-born Toirealach Brolly remembers standing at the bar in Ryan’s on Camden Street in his early weeks as a first-year University College Dublin student when he began to wonder what people south of the Border think, or even know, about Northern Ireland.
- Some 97% of respondents to survey say buying home in Connemara is not affordable: The vast majority of respondents to a new survey have said it is not affordable to buy an average family home in Connemara, Co Galway.
- Weather in Ireland: A generally dry start to the week with a little scattered cloud on Monday but some rather good spells of sunshine too. One or two isolated showers will drift down over the country this afternoon in a cool northerly breeze but most areas will stay dry. Highest temperatures of 12 to 16 degrees. Tonight will see a mix of scattered cloud and a few lingering isolated showers across the north but generally dry and clear for southern and western counties. Rather cool overnight in a light northerly breeze with lowest temperatures of 3 to 6 degrees.
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Abroad
- Irish woman in Paris: When we bought our home, little did we know Olympians would be running past our window: “My 1830s house in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine is a stone’s throw from the Stade de France and Olympic swimming pool.”
Sports
- Ireland’s Ciara Mageean takes gold in 1,500m at European Athletics Championships: The decisive kick for the gold medal was suitably commanding and Ciara Mageean made absolutely sure she was the one to deliver it, ripping to the front down the homestretch to win the European Championship 1,500m final inside the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night.
- Limerick again the masters in Munster as wasteful Clare fall short: The destination remained the same. Limerick duly recorded a record sixth successive Munster hurling title at a chilly Semple Stadium but the journey was a little more comfortable than had been the case in the previous two years.
Opinion
Business
- Less than 12% of new buildings inspected in some counties: Less than 12 per cent of new buildings in some counties are being inspected to see if they comply with regulations, the head of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) has warned.
Life & Style
- Divorce in Ireland today: ‘He’s been hell bent on revenge’: Whether hostile or amicable, rapid or attritional, divorce in Ireland has become complicated by the financial realities of the housing crisis and a post-Covid world of changed expectations. It’s rarely, if ever, easy
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