Live: Cobh local election result stands after dramatic recount

4.32pm

WHEN the recount for the Cobh electoral area commenced at around 10.30am on Monday, the Fianna Fáil candidate Dominic Finn was seven votes ahead of Clíona O’Halloran of the Green Party who had sought the re-examination of the ballot papers at the end of the eleventh count.

As the counting continued of all the votes, in the same order in which they had been counted on Saturday and Sunday, that gap narrowed and widened as errors were identified and corrected or vote allocations were challenged and that challenge over-ruled. The pattern became clear, the result would stand. While the figure wasn’t given out, the gap between the two candidates had in fact widened by the end of proceedings.

Deputy Returning Officer Karina Cremin made the obligatory declaration of the successful candidates in the Cobh Electoral Area and those who had been deemed elected previously were now officially councillors.

The last man standing, Dominic Finn, was understandably elated to finally get over the line after three days of counting and recounting. “Exhausted, absolutely exhausted, the legs have gone, the voice has gone but it’s great to get over the line,” he said. 

“The people have spoken, they’ve seen democracy at work so I’m absolutely delighted to be representing the people of Cobh.

The problem with a recount is that it can lead to another recount if, for instance, the result is reversed and the losing party challenges. So without doubting an iota of integrity of the original count, the recount was carried out with meticulous care so it lasted a full six hours.

The conduct of a recount is altogether a much quieter affair than the original count due to the lack of onlookers from uninvolved parties and other areas and as the day went on, TDs such as James O’Connor and Pádraig O’Sullivan of Fianna Fáil came to County Hall along with councillors such as Frank O’Flynn, Sheila O’Callaghan and Gearóid Murphy. 

On the Green Party side, Alan O’Connor, still a councillor, along with Dan Boyle, freshly re-elected to Cork City Council, and Colette Finn, who wasn’t as fortunate.

After the declaration good wishes were exchanged – commiserations and congratulations - and shortly afterwards the room was cleared.

11.07am

WHILE the counting is concluded in seven out of County Cork’s eight electoral areas, a recount is now underway on the 16th floor of County Hall where the ballot papers in the Cobh Electoral District are being counted after the Green Party candidate lost out by just seven votes after the final count earlier on Monday morning.

The eleventh count in the electoral area had resulted in a final tally for Fianna Fáil Dominic Finn of 1376 votes, seven ahead of Clíona Halloran of the Green Party.

A full recount of the Cobh electoral area votes has begun in County Hall and care is being taken to count all the votes again in the order in which they were first counted. Under the supervision of County Cork Returning Officer, Maurice Manning, counting officials are now tagging the various bundles to be counted to ensure they are counted in the correct order.

Delegations from both parties are watching on from behind crowd control barriers – a redundant precaution, it appears, as the crowds which attended the counts over successive days in County Hall, Mallow and Clonakilty are back in their normal lives.

The necessary tasks of democracy, meanwhile, are being completed in full view of the public and with meticulous care in County Hall.