Final outcome was rarely in doubt once first boxes told their tale

It was more like ‘The Short Day of the Kid Gloves’ than ‘The Night of Long Knives’ as the Galway East count in New Inn nodded off to its inevitable conclusion shortly before 8pm.

Once the first count figures were confirmed in the early afternoon, most of the fighting had been done and all the battles were internal ones.

For the last few weeks, the dogs in the street had predicted that Galway East was going to break down on 1,1,1, basis.

Independent Sean Canney had been ‘flying it’ in the canvass and nationally the gale was blowing at the backs of the non-party brigade.

On nearly 8,500 first preferences, Canney was topping the poll by a country mile and was already in the uncatchable category by the time the tallies were in full swing.

After that, there had to be a seat each for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – that’s where the real battles had to be fought.

When Returning Officer, Derry Buckley – who gets full marks for clarity and efficiency – read out the first count, the winners and losers knew their fate.

Anne Rabbitte, the Portumna woman with strong roots in Abbeyknockmoy, was within touching distance of 7,000 votes and nearly 1,500 ahead of Colm Keaveney.

Already that was game, set and match to the woman who just over 18 months ago wasn’t even a councillor.

On the Blueshirt side of the house, former leader of the PDs, Ciaran Cannon had delivered a sterling performance to pull in 7,123 first preferences, crucially 649 ahead of his running mate Paul Connaughton.

For Connaughton, now on the very border of the new East Galway constituency, there was just nowhere he could find the votes to make up that gap.

Through the midst of all that inevitability, there was another woman delivering a real battle performance.

Labour Senator Lorraine Higgins, who had ran a very intensive campaign, had brought in 4,531 first preferences of just over 10% of the first preference vote on a day when her party languished at just 6.6%.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.