Welby to romp home in Connemara North count

The Connemara North tally has now been completed and it looks as if sitting independent councillor Tom Welby from Oughterard will easily top the poll.

It comes as no great surprise that Welby emerged the strongest with more than 2,000 first preferences and will be elected on the first count and he will be followed by Fine Gael’s Eileen Mannion who stands on almost 1,400 votes.

The Fianna Fail pair of Gerry King from Errislannan and Oughterard’s Seamus Walsh are also set to be elected with Sinn Fein’s Tom Healy set to be one of the first casualties in this election.

Tom Healy was first elected to Galway County Council in 2014 but the Clegggan man’s term of office looks set to come to an end.

Meanwhile, the Gort-Kinvara boxes are currently being opened and Fianna Fail’s Martina Kinane is polling extremely well.

She was first elected in the Athenry-Oranmore area in 2014 but a change in the boundaries meant that she had to contest in a new electoral area from her Clarinbridge base.