LIVE BLOG: GE'24 - Waterford's team in Dáil Éireann Cullinane, Cummins, Butler and McGuinness
Your Waterford TDs in the 34th Dáil Éireann - David Cullinane, John Cummins, Mary Butler and Conor McGuinness
That's a wrap from the Waterford Constituency - here are your new TDs!
Thank you for staying with the Waterford News & Star for your live updates from the count centre at SETU's Cork Road Campus in Waterford city across the weekend.
Conor D. McGuinness has been elected on the 12th count in Waterford, taking the fourth and final seat in the Waterford Constituency. Outgoing Independent TD Matt Shanahan has lost his seat in Dáil Éireann.
Mary Roche's transfers have been distributed as follows:
Ronan Cleary's transfers have been distributed as follows:
Mary Roche's transfers will now be distributed.
John Cummins' surplus has been distributed as follows:
Ronan Cleary's transfers will now be distributed.
Sadhbh O'Neill's transfers have been distributed as follows:
John Cummins' surplus of 428 will now be distributed.
Sadhbh O'Neill's transfers have been distributed as follows:
There were 100 non-transferable votes. Green Party's Marc Ó Cathasaigh has been eliminated following the 8th count.
Frank Conway's transfers have been distributed as follows:
There were 231 non-transferable votes. Independent Sadhbh O'Neill, Labour, has been eliminated following the 7th count.
Have you missed any of the General Election counts? We've got you covered. Here's the entire election count so far. We are currently following the sixth count, which eliminated Independent candidate Frank Conway.
Wondering how the final seat will be decided? Check out the transfers columns, the darker the green the more transfers the candidate has received.
Killian Mangan's transfers have been distributed as follows:
There were 69 non-transferable votes. Frank Conway, Independent, has been eliminated following the 6th count.
Counting has recommenced at the Waterford count centre, with the results of count 6 expected mid-morning.
Patrick Curtin's transfers have been distributed as follows:
There were 40 non-transferable votes. Counting will resume at 9am on Sunday morning.
Vote counting will end today after the completion of the 5th count, following the transfer of eliminated People Before Profit - Solidarity candidate Patrick Curtin, the Returning Officer Michelle O'Connell is set to announce.
The fifth count is expected to end at around 11:30pm. Both Fine Gael candidate John Cummins and Fianna Fáil candidate Mary Butler are within three figures of the quota. Their campaign teams are unhappy that the counting will stretch on until tomorrow morning.
Voting will continue tomorrow, Sunday, December 1, at 9am.
John D Walsh's transfers have been distributed as follows:
Patrick Curtin has now been eliminated. His votes will now be distributed. There were 32 non-transferable votes.
Aaron Joyce and Mark O'Neill's transfers have been distributed as follows (there were 18 non-transferable votes):
John D Walsh has now been eliminated. His votes will now be distributed.
David Cullinane's surplus of 1,205 votes has been distributed as follows:
Aaron Joyce and Mark O'Neill have now been eliminated. Their votes are now being distributed.
Fact: Independent candidate Mark O'Neill's 56 votes amounts to the second worst General Election performance in Waterford ever, bettering only fellow Independent Francis Hennessy's result of 53 votes in 2007, 0.1% of the vote.
Aaron Joyce's 162 votes puts him in 9th place in the lowest vote table.
David Cullinane has been re-elected on the first count in Waterford, with 11,936 first preference votes.
Speaking to the Waterford News & Star immediately after election, Cullinane said he felt “humble and proud”, but that he was now looking towards getting running mate Cllr Conor McGuinness elected.
Cullinane added that Sinn Féin are very much 'in the hunt' for a second seat,
More on this report available here
David Cullinane of Sinn Féin has been elected on the first count in Waterford
- Butler, Mary, Fianna Fáil 9,962
- Cleary, Ronan, Aontú 1,664
- Conway, Frank, Ind 715
- Cullinane, David, Sinn Féin 11,936
- Cummins, John, Fine Gael 10,376
- Curtin, Patrick, People Before Profit - Solidarity 643
- D. McGuinness, Conor, Sinn Féin 5,791
- Joyce, Aaron, Ind 162
- Mangan, Killian, Ind 620
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc, Green Party 1,671
- O'Neill, Mark, Ind 56
- O'Neill, Sadhbh, Labour 1,500
- Roche, Mary, Social Democrats 2,717
- Shanahan, Matt, Ind 5,355
- Walsh, John D, Irish People 482
David Cullinane's surplus of 1,205 votes will now be distributed
Fine Gael candidate John Cummins said the tallies in Waterford look “very strong” but refused to celebrate until he received an official count. The final tallies indicate that Senator Cummins has received 10,203 first preference votes, in touching distance of the expected quota of roughly 10,750 votes.
“Obviously we don’t have an official first count so I’ll be a lot happier when I see that, but the tallies look very strong. We look to be at about 19%, which is an increase from 16.5% in 2020. It would be quite a strong showing, and it’s a trend we see right across the entire country.
“I think that’s down to the hard work over the last five years, not just the last five weeks. In my offices in Dungarvan and Waterford City, Lauren, Branden and Jennifer work so hard to represent the people as they come into the offices, and our fantastic team of eight councillors across the entire county do too.”
The Senator said: “It was always the right strategy for this election” to refrain from running two candidates in Waterford as the party did in 2020.
“Certainly at this moment in time it looks like it was the correct strategy. While running two candidates will maximise the first preference votes, you then aren’t guaranteed the transfers between the candidates, that’s what happened in 2020,” the Senator explained.
“I am so thankful for all my team, everybody that has helped to canvass and campaign, whether it's dropping in posters, making phonecalls or sending text messages. Everything has come together for this, what appears to be a positive result for us.”
The full tally is now in for Waterford, with all boxes opened:
"It's going to be a fight between Matt Shanahan and Conor McGuinness for the last seat," says Mayor of Waterford and Fianna Fáil Councillor Jason Murphy. The battle between Independent candidate Matt Shanahan and Sinn Féin's Conor McGuinness is widely expected to be resolved on transfers.
"At the moment it's looking like Conor McGuinness is the slight favourite, Matt Shanahan is about a percentage point behind. So that is going to be interesting!"
David Cullinane, Sinn Féin, with tallies of 23.7%, Mary Butler of Fianna Fáil, at 18.1%, and Fine Gael's John Cummins at 19% are all expected to be elected.
Early signs of the turnout in Waterford point to the election quota being around 10,750.
Turnout is believed to be 54,012, with the number of spoilt ballots yet to be revealed. A four-seat constituency, this means the quota is likely to be around 10,750 but may drop slightly when spoiled ballots are counted,
The final tally numbers mean that David Cullinane, Sinn Féin TD, is expected to be elected on the first count with 11,835 votes.
70% of the total boxes have now been opened at the count centre at SETU.
Early indications show Sinn Féin with 34.43% of the tally, followed by Fine Gael at 18.96% and Fianna Fáil at 18.04%.
More on this report from Darragh Murphy here
Sinn Féin are confident of a good result in Waterford following strong early tally performance, says Sinn Féin candidate David Cullinane.
The party believe they are in contention for a two seat result.
Read more on this report from Hugh Dooley here
Tallies are coming in from across the country, a gold result for Deputy David Cullinane in Farronshoneen in the city, taking half of the first preference votes in one box. Fine Gael's John Cummins came in second with Matt Shanahan and Mary Butler tieing in third.
Mount Sion NS tallies have Cullinane flying ahead of the crowd, getting nearly half of one tally in what would be a scoop for Sinn Féin.
Shanahan has topped a number of tallies in Ballygunner, with Cullinane, Butler and Cummins performing strongly alongside him.
Tallies from Sacred Heart in Waterford City also reflect positively on Deputy Matt Shanahan, coming in second place, just behind Cullinane. Butler and Cummins are neck and neck in third place,
Early tallies suggest Sinn Féin are well in the lead in the Waterford constituency. At over 35% of the vote, they are currently leaps and bounds ahead of Fine Gael at 18%, followed by Fianna Fáil on 15%.
Social Democrats are doing the best of the smaller parties at over 6%, while Independent candidates make up a large portion at 14%,
With polling stations set to close in less than two hours, here are the latest turnout percentages from across the county.
- Holy Cross (Tramore): 55.3%
- Sacred Heart: 59%
- St Paul's (Lisduggan) Mount Sion (City): 42.2%
- St Martin's Special School:57.2%
- St Mary's Farranshoneen: 49.5%
- Faithlegg:36%
- Butlerstown: 50.5%
- Passage East: 49.5%
- Scoil Lorcáin: 46.6%
- Réalt Na Mara (Dunmore East): 53%
- Killea: 50.5%
- St Paul's Lisduggan: 58%
More to follow...
Here are the latest turnout percentages from polling stations across Waterford, with turnout high in parts of Waterford city
- Holy Cross (Tramore): 36%
- Sacred Heart (City): 52%
- St Paul's Lisduggan: 47%
- Mount Sion (City): 28.3%
- Ballybeg: 34-35%
- St Martin's Special School (City): 40.8%
- Dungarvan: 38.5%
Voting continues until 10pm tonight at polling stations across Waterford city and county.
More to follow...
Some of the costs facing General Election candidates have soared this year as some General Election candidates have reported a nearly 60% rise in the cost of election posters. Election candidate Killian Mangan spoke to Waterford News & Star about how this was affecting his campaign and revealed the details of his campaign finances, reports Hugh Dooley.
Find out the full details and what major party candidates are spending on this election campaign here!
Some initial turnout numbers are available for polling stations in Waterford.
Percentages are as of 3pm and stand as follows:
- St Mary's in Ballygunner: 26.6%
- Farranshoneen the youth centre: 23.3%
- Faithlegg: 20.6%
- Dunmore East: 21.1%
- Butlerstown: 24%
- Passage East: 20.6%
More to follow...
Social Democrat leader Holly Cairns has given birth to a baby girl, on none other than polling day.
Waterford General Election candidate, Cllr Mary Roche, has congratulated Ms Cairns, saying:
“Holly DELIVERS ON ELECTION DAY. Congratulations to yourself and Barry and welcome to your beautiful daughter",
General Election hopeful Sadhbh O’Neill has been pictured on her way to vote today.
The Labour candidate commented on social media: “Finally! Voting day is here - we are lucky to be able to vote freely and fairly for our public representatives. Please vote Sadhbh O Neill no.1 Labour Party in Waterford",
General Election candidate Cllr Conor McGuinness has cast his vote in his native An Rinn.
Commenting on social media, Cllr McGuinness said: "Mó vóta caite agam in Ionad Pobail na Rinne moch maidin inniu in éineacht le mo Réailtín agus mo Mheadhbh!!",
In a post on social media, he said:
"Thank you to everyone who has already voted, canvassed, and supported me throughout this election. Your dedication and belief in our cause for #Waterford means the world. Together, I hope we can continue to push for a brighter future and make positive changes for all in #Waterford and the #SouthEast. Please #Vote1 for Matt Shanahan #WaterfordFirst #GE24"
Fine Gael Senator and General Election candidate John Cummins was spotted casting his vote in his old classroom at St Stephen's De La Salle school.
Senator Cummins said it was "a unique enough experience to be casting a vote for yourself in your former 6th class classroom!"
"Little did I think when I was sitting in this room as a 12-year-old lad that I’d be back there 25 years later casting a vote for myself in a General Election," he said, "I don’t know where the time has gone."
The Fine Gael candidate said he was "very grateful for the support I’ve received throughout the campaign and I’m hopeful that the work I’ve done over the past 15 years as a politician will show in the results tomorrow. If you haven’t cast your vote yet, I would be grateful if you could consider me for your number 1 vote or next highest preference,"
7am: Friday November 29th
Voting has opened in the General Election at polling stations across Waterford city and county. Polling stations will remain open until 10pm tonight.
Don't forget to bring valid ID, such as a driver's licence or passport, to cast your vote.
If you are registered to vote but don't have your polling card, you can still vote with valid ID as long as you are on the register at the relevant polling station.
Counting will commence at the Cork Road campus of South East Technological University at 9am tomorrow morning, Saturday, November 30.
Waterford
National results
