Limerick Decides: Turnout continues to rise as weekend voter patterns emerge

TURNOUT figures in Limerick have risen above the 50% level in some areas – but it remains unclear as to whether there will be a late voter surge.

With it being the first weekend election in almost a century, the behaviour of voters has been markedly different to other elections and referenda which have almost always taken place on weekdays.

There was no real morning surge, with turnout picking up around lunchtime, before taking a dip during the afternoon, while people enjoyed Ireland’s Six Nations victory against Wales.

What will happen in the final few hours of polling is anyone’s guess, with Storm Ciara set to hit Limerick, bringing with it storms and heavy winds.

What is clear is neither the weather nor the rugby has had a negative impact on turnout, with some polling stations recording a higher turnout than at the 2016 general election.

Latest figures show that turnout at Scoil Mathair De, in the South Circular Road, had risen as high as 58% in one box.

At St Paul’s National School in Dooradoyle, one box was showing a turnout of 52%. At St Nessan’s National School, the figures were up at 50%.

In the County Library, which caters for residents of the Dooradoyle Road, turnout was at 50% by 7pm.

But turnout was lower elsewhere in the city.

At a box in Garryowen, turnout was at just 46% at teatime, while in St John’s National School, it was as low as 38%.

A box in Gaelscoil Seoirse Clancy had a turnout of 39%, but the one in two people eligible to vote i in one box at the neighbouring Le Cheile National School in the Roxboro Road had done so.

In the city centre, St Michael’s School in Barrington Street had an average turnout of 50% in one booth – up from just 18% in the morning.

At the Model School in O’Connell Avenue, turnout was at 55% – up from 25% this morning.

North of the Shannon, in John F  Kennedy National School, an area often seen as an indicator of city turnouts, almost six in every ten people eligible to vote in one box had done so.

In the nine boxes at the Ennis Road school, turnout ranged from between 46% and 59.6%.

And in Castletroy, turnout at Milford National School was at 46%/.

In county Limerick, a box in Ballybrown was shown a turnout of 50%, as was one at Knockea National School. Cloverfield had a turnout of around 55% at 5pm.

Castleconnell turnout at 7pm had risen as high as 55%, after a very slow start this morning.

In the west, the turnout in one box at Newcastle West had risen from 25% this morning to 60.4% now.

Polling stations close at 10pm tonight, at which time an exit poll carried out by Ipsos/MRBI on behalf of RTE, the Irish Times, TG4 and UCD will be released. Based on the responses of 5,000 people around the country, it will give the first indication of how Ireland has voted in general election 2020.

The Limerick Leader will be providing extensive coverage online from tomorrow morning, including a dedicated live blog on our web site, www.limerickleader.ie