The count is resuming in Ennistymon this morning, after none of the four seats in Clare were filled following five counts last night.
Sinn Féin’s Violet-Anne Wynne is the runaway success story of this election here and is on track to claim the first seat in this county, though Cathal Crowe of Fianna Fáil is hot on her heels.
We’re still quite a way off knowing who will be the team to represent Clare in the 33rd Dáil but early counts are giving us some idea of who will be elected.
Just over 91,000 people registered to vote in Clare and more than 60,000 votes cast, which means there was 66% turnout in this county for Election 2020, slightly down on the turnout in the 2016 vote.
Sinn Féin’s powerhouse performance nationally was echoed locally with Violet-Anne Wynne topping the poll in Clare with 8,987 first preference votes.
The top five was rounded off by Cathal Crowe and Timmy Dooley of Fianna Fáil, Independent candidate Michael McNamara and incumbent Fine Gael TD Joe Carey.
Violet-Anne Wynne says she’s taken aback with her showing in this election but is confident her party is sending out a strong message.
Although Fine Gael’s three candidates are lagging behind somewhat as of the most recent county, Senator Martin Conway, who is the lowest performing of the his party’s hopefuls in this race in Clare, is confident they will retain a seat with his transfers.
After five counts, Independents David Barrett and Trudy Leyden, Irish Freedom Party’s Michael Leahy, Theresa O’Donohoe of Solidarity-People Before Profit and finally Independent Joseph Woulfe have been eliminated.
