Mick Barry concedes in Cork North Central leaving Labour's Eoghan Kenny to take the final seat

Cork North Central has elected the youngest TD to the 34th Dáil, with the Labour Party’s Eoghan Kenny, who is 24, taking the fifth and final seat after People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry withdrew his request for a recount.

Mr Barry had requested a recount early on Monday morning after Mr Kenny was deemed to be elected on the seventeenth count with 7,461 votes, just 35 more than the veteran socialist.

An initial check of approximately 25% of the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates began just after 10am on Monday and 29 discrepancies were found, with Mr Barry then calling for a full recount of all of the constituency’s 59,071 valid ballots.

However, just after 4pm, Mr Barry and his supporters received a briefing from returning officer Martin Harvey and were told that the full recount, which at that point had seen just over 60% of first preferences checked, had actually widened the gap between the two candidates by a further four votes, to 39.

Mr Barry then withdrew his request for a recount, at which point Mr Harvey declared Thomas Gould (SF), Pádraig O’Sullivan (FF), Colm Burke (FG), Ken O’Flynn (II), and Eoghan Kenny (Lab) to be elected in Cork North Central.

A native of Mallow, Mr Kenny teaches business and religion in Mayfield Community School.

A long-time Labour Party activist, he has worked closely with former Cork East Labour TD Sean Sherlock, who retired at this election after his Mallow base was brought into Cork North Central.

Mr Kenny was co-opted earlier this year onto Cork County Council to replace James Kennedy in the Mallow electoral area and held the seat in the June local elections.

He has spoken about life with epilepsy, and suffered an episode during the election campaign as he was about to go on a constituency debate on RTÉ’s Drive Time.

Speaking to reporters after he was elected, Mr Kenny said he hoped he and his fellow Labour TDs would “set the world alight” in the new Dáil.

He said the party was “alive and kicking across this country” and would provide “the necessary change that this country needs”.

He said the northside of Cork city had always been a stronghold of the Labour Party, and with Mallow becoming part of Cork North Central it was very important that the constituency have a Labour TD.

Mr Kenny was asked by The Echo about unhappiness in the Labour Party in the city about the two-party strategy which saw Mr Kenny elected on the seventeenth count but also saw his fellow Labour candidate Cork city councillor John Maher eliminated on the eighth count at lunchtime on Sunday with 3,325 votes.

Mr Maher had posted on his X account that his opponent had been the Labour Party itself, adding: “Well done @labour – great strategy”.

Mr Kenny said it was the first he had heard of it.

“You’re giving me news there, because I think there’s real happiness across the party, there’s a sense that the party is alive and kicking across this country and particularly in Cork,” he said.

“We’ve maintained a TD in Cork, Seán Sherlock has hung up his political boots here and we’ve maintained that presence,” he said.

Mr Barry spoke with The Echo after he conceded defeat, saying he felt okay, but was tired, having been in the count centre until after 1am on Monday morning.

Asked if he intended to run for political office again, he said it was too soon to comment.

“It’s not wise to make decisions on the spur of the moment or in an emotional moment like this,” Mr Barry said.

“I’ll have a think about the situation and discuss with Patricia, my wife, I’ll discuss with my party colleagues, and reflect over the Christmas, we’ll see what the plans are going into the New Year.

Mr Barry was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2016, taking a seat from the Labour Party’s Kathleen Lynch when that party was punished for its time in government with Fine Gael from 2011.

Mr Barry said he wanted to give “a simple message of thanks” to the people of his now former constituency.

“It’s been an honour to serve the people of Cork North Central in the Dáil for the last nearly nine years,” he said.

“I want to thank all of the people I had discussions with in the streets and on the doorsteps in the course of General Election 2024, and I’d also like to thank my team of 124 activists, socialists, trade unionists, Queer activists, disability justice campaigners, Palestine campaigners, feminists, who joined forces to build the biggest election campaign that I’ve ever been involved in.

“These are people who will be making their mark in Cork politics and in campaigns in the city for a long time to come,” Mr Barry said.

The Labour Party’s Eoghan Kenny has been elected to the fifth and final seat in Cork North Central after People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry withdrew his request for a recount.

Mr Barry and his supporters had received a briefing from returning officer Martin Harvey just after 4pm and was told that the recount, which at that point had seen just over 60% of first preferences checked, had widened the gap between the two candidates by a further four votes, to 39.

Mr Barry then withdrew his request for a recount, at which point Mr Harvey declared Thomas Gould, Pádraig O’Sullivan, Colm Burke, Ken O’Flynn, and Eoghan Kenny elected in Cork North Central.

Recount:

A full recount of all 59,071 valid Cork North Central votes is now underway in Nemo Rangers after 29 discrepancies were found in a sample of 25% of papers during an initial check of ballot bundles.

The returning officer, Martin Harvey, said he would guesstimate that the full recount, which is currently the only recount in the country after Friday’s general election, could be finished by Tuesday evening.

In the early hours of this morning, Labour Party candidate Eoghan Kenny had been deemed elected to the fifth and final seat on the seventeenth count with 7,461 votes, but with just 35 votes between them, outgoing People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry immediately sought and was granted a recount.

Checking

Around 9.30am today, Mr Barry said he was happy that count staff would begin checking if there had been a bundle error with the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates.

A sample of 25% of those ballot papers found 29 discrepancies, with Mr Barry saying he was now calling for a full recount.

“Now, they broke towards us, but only by the most marginal amount, but 29 discrepancies in 25%, that’s quite a number of discrepancies, that would be 116 discrepancies over-all if that trend were to continue, in the context of a difference of 35 [votes],” Mr Barry said.

“So, the next step, this is a total recount, some people have asked is it partial or total, this is a total recount, but the next step in the total recount is to count all of the ballot papers, and that will commence almost immediately.” Mr Barry said his understanding was that he could withdraw from a recount at any time, but he said he was not considering a withdrawal.

Asked how he was feeling, he said he was feeling a little tired, having received only a little more than four hours’ sleep, “but apart from that, I feel cool as a breeze”.

Asked by The Echo if he knew the nature of the discrepancies found, he said he did not.

Returning officer Martin Harvey said he now had a full complement of 60 count staff in Nemo and believed that the recount might be over as early as Tuesday lunchtime.

“I would maybe guesstimate maybe lunchtime tomorrow or even tomorrow evening, Tuesday evening,” he said.

Earlier:

With bundles of ballots from Cork North Central currently being checked by count staff, returning officer Martin Harvey has said a full recount could last up to three days.

Labour Party candidate Eoghan Kenny was deemed elected to the fifth and final seat with 7,461 votes on the seventeenth count just before 1am this morning, but with just 35 votes between them, outgoing People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry sought and was granted a recount.

This morning, Mr Barry said he was seeking a full recount, but was happy that count staff would begin by checking if there had been a bundle error with the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates.

Agreed

Mr Harvey told The Echo that he and his staff had met with Mr Barry and with Mr Kenny’s agents this morning and an initial check of bundles had been agreed.

“You have a bundle of 1,000 votes, so that’s 20 bundles of 50, first of all we check that that’s correct. Secondly we check the top vote on it is assigned to the correct candidate, and we’re going to do that first with all of Mick’s votes and then with Eoghan’s votes and the other votes,” Mr Harvey said.

“Mick has said that after that process, he will take stock and consider the position, and at that stage, while he is saying he still wants a full recount, and we fully respect that, he will then decide whether he is to continue, or whatever he wants to do at that stage.” 

The initial checking of bundles is likely to be completed before lunchtime, he added.

There are already about 30 count staff in the centre, and Mr Harvey said that if there is to be a full recount of all the valid 59,071 votes, he would then get a further 20 to 30 staff in, and that recount could take two to three days.

Cumbersome

“It’s a long, drawn-out and cumbersome type of process, but we will keep going, but we won’t keep going into the night, because it’s likely to be a two to three-day event and it’s better to get it done properly than to get it done quickly,” he said.

Mr Harvey said each day of the recount would likely finish around 10pm and not extend into the night.

“The only time we would keep going through the night is if there is an end in sight for 2am or 3am in the morning.” 

Mr Harvey said a full recount would mean that all five candidates, while deemed elected, would not be declared elected until the recount was complete.

He said there would not be a blow-by-blow commentary of the recount given by staff, and full details of would only be given at the very end of the process.

“When the recount is finished, there is one announcement, and that’s advising the results of the recount and making a declaration as to who is elected,” Mr Harvey said.

Earlier:

A full recount of Cork North Central ballots was getting under way in the Nemo Rangers count centre just after 10am, with count staff initially checking to see if there has been an error in the counting of bundles of votes.

The recount comes after outgoing People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry called, in the early hours of this morning, for a recount after Labour Party county councillor Eoghan Kenny was deemed elected to the fifth and final seat.

Mr Kenny was deemed elected with 7,461 votes on the seventeenth count at around 00.40am, but with only 35 votes between them, Mr Mick Barry sought and was granted a recount.

Immediately after the count, Mr Barry told The Echo that he intended to make a decision before 10am, when a recount would have to begin, as to whether he was seeking a full or partial recount.

Full recount

Just after 9.30am, he said he was seeking a full recount, but was happy that count staff would begin by checking if there had been a bundle error with the 14,887 ballots between the two candidates.

With only 20 count staff currently in the Nemo Rangers count centre, that check will focus on bundles of ballots, which are organised into units of 1,000, consisting of 20 bundles of 50 ballots each.

That should take staff up to approximately lunchtime, when Mr Barry said another conversation would then be had.

“We have asked for a full recount, and [returning officer] Martin Harvey has made it very clear if that’s our request, that’s what we’ll get,” Mr Barry said.

“However, what we’re going to do is we’re going to start out with a check on the bundles. If we’re going to overhaul 35 votes, it’s more likely to be on the basis of a bundle error rather than one here, one there.

“We’ll keep our options open on that, but we’re going to do the bundles first,” he said.

Lunchtime

With the count team currently short-staffed, it is understood that the bundle check is unlikely to be completed before lunchtime.

If a full recount of all of the 59,071 valid votes is sought, then that could go on for three days.

Earlier on Sunday, Sinn Féin’s Thomas Gould topped the poll, becoming the first candidate to be elected in the constituency following the tenth count, and Fianna Fáil's Pádraig O'Sullivan was elected on the twelfth count.

Last night, just after 10pm, outgoing Fine Gael TD Colm Burke and Independent Ireland city councillor Ken O’Flynn were deemed elected to the third and fourth seats on the fourteenth count, and the process of deciding the fifth seat then began.

Following the distribution of Colm Burke’s surplus on the fifteenth count, Mr Barry received 254 votes, putting him on 7,251, while Mr Kenny received 567 votes, putting him on 7,250, meaning there was only a single vote between the candidates.

Pádraig O’Sullivan’s surplus was then distributed, and on the sixteenth count Mr Barry received an additional 58 votes, putting him on 7,309 and Mr Kenny received 143, putting him on 7,393.

The distribution of Ken O’Flynn’s surplus then saw Mr Barry gain 117 votes on the seventeenth count, putting him on 7,426, and Mr Kenny gaining 68, putting him on 7,461.

Although Mr Kenny was deemed elected, the returning officer, Martin Harvey, then announced that Mr Barry had requested a recount, and he had acceded to that request.

More to follow.......