Final seat filled in Callan-Thomastown as second woman elected at Kilkenny count
Sinn Fein may not be having the best local election, but it will have at least one representative on Kilkenny County Council
Sinn Fein's Stephanie Doheny has been elected to the sixth and final seat in the Callan-Thomastown electoral area. She is the second woman elected at the Kilkenny count, and also the second first-time candidate elected so far.
From Count 3 onwards, it was neck and neck between her and Fine Gael's Orla Kelly for the seat. They traded the lead, and when Green Party candidate Kristina Doyle was eliminated, Doheny (SF) took 108 to bring her to 1,068, while Kelly (FG) received 173, giving her 1,156 - a lead of fewer than 100 votes.
But it was the elimination of Sinn Fein candidate David Kennedy that would prove decisive. In the final count, the distribution of his votes, Doheny got 374, bringing her total to 1,442. Meanwhile, Kelly got 61, totalling 1,217.
Kennedy's earlier words - resigned to defeat, but hopeful that his second preference vote could help his running mate over the line - proved prophetic. As there were only two candidates and one seat left, Doheny was deemed elected without reaching the quota. The count will now pause until tomorrow morning. We'll be back here for all the news.