Meath East byelection, Results, turnout, Helen McEntee TD, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour, Sinn Fein

Meath East byelection, Results, turnout, Helen McEntee, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, Labour, Sinn Fein

Fine Gael candidate Helen McEntee is over 6 per centage points ahead of Thomas Byrne after tallies of 86 per cent of boxes in the Meath East byelection.

The latest tallies show a poor result for Labour’s Eoin Holmes with just 4 per cent of the vote.

With 96 of 111 boxes open, cross-party tallymen put Ms McEntee at 39.34 per cent, Mr Byrne at 33.26 per cent , Sinn Fein candidate Darren O’Rourke at 12.48 per cent, Eoin Holmes of Labour 4.05 per cent and others ( including Ben Gilroy of Direct Democracy Ireland) at 10.62 per cent.

Minister for Communications and Labour TD Pat Rabbitte reacted to the Party’s very poor showing in the polls.

It seemed that Labour had “ taken the brunt of the negative reaction. Labour voters didn't come out. They are making a protest. We have to listen to what they're saying, but we inherited the biggest mess left to a government since 1922,” he told RTE radio.

Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty said he was “very satisfied” with the “substantial increase” in the vote for his Party.

“I wouldn't be surprised if we don't poll stronger when all boxes are opened,” he told RTE Radio

Vying for fourth place with Labour is Ben Gilroy of new party Direct Democracy Ireland, who is performing better than anticipated.

Mr Gilroy said it was an “extraordinary” result. “We are doing extremely well because most people never even heard of us...we are the dark horse,” he told RTE Radio.

Counting got underway at about 9am. Heavy snowfalls and unseasonally cold weather contributed to a low turnout for the Meath East byelection with fewer than 35 per cent of eligible constituents believed to have voted.

As polling stations closed at 9pm, some sources predicted the turnout would not be much more than 30 per cent. Fine Gael sources said the figure might be a little higher, closer to 40 per cent.

The last comparable election was the byelection held in the former constituency of Meath in 1995 where turnout was 41 per cent. That election was won by Shane McEntee, whose death last December created the vacancy in the three-seat constituency.

While voting levels for this byelection were not expected to be high, the overnight falls of snow which left some roads in the country in a hazardous condition led to exceptionally low turnout in the first two to three hours of polling. By mid-afternoon, the weather had brightened but polling stations were still reporting turnouts of 15 per cent cent or lower.

The low turnout means parties will be relying on their core vote. Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee, daughter of the late Mr McEntee, and Fianna Fáil’s Thomas Byrne are joint favourites with bookmakers. Sinn Féin’s Darren O’Rourke is also expected to increase his party’s share of the vote significantly.

Candidates:

Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Ben Gilroy (Direct Democracy Ireland)

Eoin Holmes (Labour)

Charlie Keddy (independent)

Mick Martin (Independent)

Séamus McDonagh (Workers Party);

Helen McEntee TD (Fine Gael)

Gearóid O’Brien (Independent);

Sean O Buachalla (Greens );

Darren O’Rourke (Sinn Fein)

Jim Tallon (Independent).

27/3/2013

Helen McEntee is expected to Top The Poll in the Meath East By-Election taking as much as a third of the vote with Fianna Fail following home in second place.

Voter turnout is low so far in the Meath East by-election. There are 11 candidates for the seat. Snow and weather conditions in general are impacting on early turnout, however, the evening is expected to see an overall turnout of approximately 45%. The fact that polls are closing two hours early is not expected to paly any significant role.

The general feeling talking to voters is that Helen McEntee has earned her stripes in the community and is an able politician. The poor taste of Fianna Fail being in power for 14 years remains and Byrne is not expected to surpass Helen McEntee.

One local said:

“Mc Entee is favourite 1/10 on and the rest have not left the stall”.

Some polling stations are reporting a turnout of just 3% with others reaching a high of close to 8%. The average seems to be around 5%.

In the southern half of the constituency turnout is lower than usual with the bad weather and later opening time for polling stations meaning many commuters did not vote before leaving for work.

It's expected there will be an increase in the number of voters through lunchtime and especially in the evening.

How big that rush actually is will depend on the weather and voter engagement in this by-election.

Polling stations remain open until 9pm with the counting of votes beginning 12 hours later.