Galway West looks set for the long haul

Even those political anoraks who ‘live and breathe’ general elections are dreading the prospect of a repeat of 2011 when Galway West turned into the longest count in the country.

Back then, the count finally concluded in the middle of the following week having started the previous Saturday.

And given that there are 20 candidates chasing five seats, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Galway West is set for another marathon.

After the tallies are completed, a first count is not expected until 4pm on Saturday at the earliest – so with 20 candidates in the race, it could go very well into the early days of next week.

Political analysts are realistically putting the five seats between seven candidates and it would not be surprising if one of those in contention orders a recount at some stage.

That happened on the last occasion, with a total recount requested by Senator Fidelma Healy Eames. It did not alter the outcome as she failed to win a seat. But during the course of the recount, the procedure was hit by another delay when the Oranmore-based candidate took legal advice amid suggestions of missing votes. This led to a cessation of activities at the count centre in Leisureland.

It proved a nightmare for party activists and the media who were all ‘punch drunk’ by the time the final count results was revealed that Sean Kyne of Fine Gael had been elected to join Eamon O Cuiv (FF), Derek Nolan (Lab), Noel Grealish (Ind) and Brian Walsh (FG).

On this occasion the count for Galway West takes place in the Baily Allen Hall in NUIG while the count in Galway East is traditionally held in the community centre in New Inn.

The count for Roscommon-Galway will take place in the Hyde Centre beside Hyde Park in Roscommon town.

With just ten candidates in both the Galway East and Roscommon-Galway constituencies, it is expected that these counts will be completed by Sunday evening.