Moment of reported drama at RDS proves not to count

JOHN GORMLEY was listening to his radio yesterday morning when Pat Kenny reported the news that 30 PD votes had been uncovered in the Dublin South East recheck.

The announcement punched a hole in the ozone layer of confidence that has surrounded the Green TD elect all week. It quickly proved to be a hoax, but when he turned up at the count centre later in the evening, the affable Mr Gormley still looked like a man who'd been exposed to a dose of harmful radiation.

He needn't have worried. The recheck has long passed the stage where anything sudden could happen. Even as the misinformation was broadcast, the vote adjudication team was beavering away quietly in the RDS hall, less prone to drama than a committee of Belgian ticket inspectors.

The absolute highlight of the day was the call late in the afternoon for a magnifying glass. This followed a dispute over whether a ballot was properly perforated. A small glass was produced, then a larger one, and the vote was finally deemed valid.

After we all caught our breaths again, we reflected that the recheck is a great education in the democratic process. And one of the lessons learned is that voters can be too conscientious.

Pity the poor democrat who changed his mind and initialled his correction on the ballot paper as one would do on a cheque, unaware that identifying marks could render the vote invalid. The source of this example could not say if it was a Green or PD vote, but the suspicion is that PDs write more cheques.

On the other hand, the voters who gave number ones to the Greens and added the messages "less fumes for cyclists" and "close Sellafield" have also joined the bundle destined for further consideration.

One PD worker suggested that left wing voters are more given to such gestures, but this could be wishful thinking. A Green spokeswoman put it succinctly: "I don't think we have any more lunatics than they have."

Most of yesterday, the people at the adjudicating table outnumbered the rest of the attendance in the now ghostly count hall. John Gormley's appearance was a brief one; and if the political ghost of Michael McDowell was present, his physical manifestation again failed to show.

The catering company - whose slogan is "Serving the Action World" - did poor business.

It seemed like a comment on the general proceedings when, at 6 p.m., it stopped serving.