The three sitting TDs in the sprawling Cork South-West constituency that stretches from Kinsale in the east to the Beara Peninsula in the west have been re-elected.

Counting was completed at the Mallow GAA complex in north Cork after 4am on Sunday for the three-seat constituency with the re-election of Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan.

O’Sullivan said: “I’m overjoyed really, I’m so happy with a first-preference vote of over 9,000 votes. I just have an amazing team of supporters. Everything was stacked against us, a huge constituency, two party leaders and it’s been a long time since a first-time Fianna Fáil TD has been re-elected here.”

He will join Independent Ireland party leader Michael Collins and Social Democrats party leader Holly Cairns in the next Dáil. Collins, who was the bookies favourite, topped the poll with 11,002 first-preference votes but Cairns also made a strong showing with a first count total of 9,421.

Fine Gael ran two candidates, Tim Lombard from the east of the constituency and Noel O’Donovan from the Rosscarbery area, and had hoped to retake a seat in west Cork. O’Sullivan’s strong first-count haul of 9,115, however, meant the final result was never really in doubt.