Contest brewing over fifth seat in Midlands-North-West

Fianna Fail is “in the mix” for two seats in Midlands-North-West, a party candidate has said.

Counting of ballots in Ireland’s European Parliament elections got under way on Sunday after votes were cast on Friday.

The first results are not expected until Monday, but unofficial and incomplete tallies have provided some insight into the likely outcome.

In Midlands-North-West, there are 27 candidates fighting for five seats in the massive electoral region which spans 15 counties.

The 73cm-long ballot paper was described as “like a toilet roll” by a local politician on Sunday.

Because of a rising population in Ireland, the constituency’s boundaries have been expanded and its voters will elect one more MEP compared with 2019.

The current four MEPs are independent Luke “Ming” Flanagan, Fine Gael’s Colm Markey and Maria Walsh, and Sinn Fein’s Chris MacManus.

Mr Markey was withdrawn and Fine Gael has selected Irish Grand National-winning jockey Nina Carberry in his stead – a move seen as a celebrity candidature.

She will compete among the 27 total runners and riders in the contest, including unsuccessful presidential election candidate and entrepreneur Peter Casey as well as former RTE correspondent Ciaran Mullooly.

Sinn Fein is also fielding its former MP Michelle Gildernew, who is among the candidates saying they will be a voice for Northern Ireland in a post-Brexit European Parliament.

Elsewhere, the Fianna Fail campaign has been marred by infighting, as border region hopeful Niall Blaney accused the party leadership of throwing him and Mayo representative Lisa Chambers “overboard” in favour of Barry Cowen, who brings strong name recognition to the table.

The main contenders appeared to be Mr Flanagan, Ms Walsh, and Mr Cowen, with Ms Carberry, Ms Chambers, Mr MacManus, Peadar Toibin and Mr Mullooly also in the running.

Speaking to reporters at the count centre in Castlebar on Sunday, Mr Flanagan said he expects the count to last a number of days.

He said: “There’s quite a lot of candidates here who are going to get a significant amount of votes and I think it’s nearly odds on that we’re going to have some sort of a recount – and potentially a recount at the end because I think it’s going to be close.

“So I predict – all I know is we booked a place to stay for the next week in Castlebar.”

Mr Flanagan predicted that Mr MacManus may be in difficulty to regain his seat with Sinn Fein.

Mr Flanagan said: “They’re going to struggle to take a seat in this constituency, which is extraordinary when you look at some of the opinion polls from just over a year ago.”

He said he would “not rule out” Fine Gael securing two seats in the constituency.

Asked if this was evidence that picking celebrities as candidates is a successful strategy, Mr Flanagan said: “Apparently it does.

“And not only that, hiding a candidate during a campaign works if Nina Carberry gets elected – because I have never, ever in my life met Nina Carberry.”

However, it was observed during that count that Ms Carberry’s transfers were regularly going to Fianna Fail candidates rather than Ms Walsh.

Mayo TD for Fine Gael Michael Ring said he was “very hopeful” the party could secure two seats.

Asked about anecdotal evidence that transfers were not always staying within Fine Gael, Mr Ring said there was no question that some voters were “thinking local”.

Mr Ring also criticised the length of the ballot paper, saying: “It was like a toilet roll, so it was. It was a disgrace.”

Ms Chambers said she was confident that Mr Cowen will “comfortably” take a seat for Fianna Fail, adding she herself was also “in the mix” for the fifth and final spot against Sinn Fein candidates and Ms Carberry.

Asked about her concerns about the public row between the Fianna Fail candidates, she added: “I’m not really concerned because what’s done is done.”

She added: “I’ll be honest, I thought two candidates was the right strategy.”

However, she said she had to trust the decision of the party strategists.