It was the talk of the town - in fact of the entire county. Brian Crowley, from a legendary Fianna Fail family in west Cork, had done it again.
When he swept to a convincing victory in the Euro elections of 1994, with a personal vote of almost 90,000 first preferences, many people took notice.
But on Friday night last, long before the Euro count on this occasion was revealed, his minders said he would break his old record and do so convincingly. In the event, he secured 154,195 first preferences, which put him safely past the post against all comers.
In his characteristic manner, Crowley said he was delighted with his personal showing and just as delighted that his Fianna Fail running mate, Limerick-based Mr Gerry Collins, had polled 83,000plus votes. The game plan, he added, had been to net Fianna Fail two seats and that was now on the cards.
One of the counters at the Neptune Stadium in Cork said there wasn't much point in counting Crowley's vote - it would be better to weigh it. And if you looked across the counting hall, you could see what he was talking about.
There was a mountain of Crowley votes and, by comparison, molehills for the rest.
Gerry Collins will be elected, and so will Pat Cox, the independent candidate, once a PD, who polled 63,954.
The count will continue today, and the question remaining is whether Fine Gael's John Cushnahan, the sitting MEP whose base is strongest outside of Cork, will be able to see off the challenge of his fellow party member, Mr Jim Corr, a former TD.
Cushnahan polled 46,100 first preferences, while Corr scored 33,363. The Sinn Fein candidate, Mr Martin Ferris, took 29,060 votes, and Ms Paula Desmond of Labour polled 28,270. The Green Party candidate, Mr Ben Nutty, polled a creditable 10,257 votes.
Mr Denis Riordan, an independent candidate, secured 1,007 votes and Mr Stewart Luck of the Natural Law Party polled 1,267 first preferences.
The total poll in Munster was 462,303; the spoiled votes were 13,724; the valid poll was 448,579 and the quota was 89,716.
In the excitement of the showing by Brian Crowley, it was almost forgotten that Sinn Fein's Don O'Leary took the fifth seat for his party in Cork North-west. This will be seen as a considerable boost to the party in Cork city and a mark of gratitude to a candidate who has worked tirelessly on the ground for the marginalised and the less well off.
One other feature of the local authority elections in Cork was that three former Labour Lord Mayors - Mr John Murray, Mr Joe O'Callaghan and Mr Frank Nash - failed to hold their seats.
But in the Euro election, by far the most riveting contest is the outcome today once Brian Crowley's votes have been distributed. The betting is that Gerry Collins will join him once again in Europe, that Pat Cox will be returned and that John Cush nahan will see off the challenge of Jim Corr.