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Live BlogLAST UPDATE | 14 mins ago
WE’RE WELL UNDER way at the Galway West and Dublin Central byelection count centres.
Two new TDs will be chosen this weekend to fill the seats left vacant by President Catherine Connolly and former finance minister Paschal Donohoe.
Turnout was estimated at 45% in Galway West and around 40% in Dublin Central.
- Updates from Daragh Brophy and Sophie Finn, with Emma van Oosterhout in Salthill and Jane Matthews in the RDS
Here’s Emma’s take on how things are looking at Salthill, just over an hour in:
“Cubbard and the Labour candidate, Ogbu, appear to be claiming most of the city votes with both transferring to each other.
“Fine Gael’s Kyne is seriously holding strong in the west of the city and outside of it. Thomas, of Independent Ireland, is racking up plenty of few first preferences too, with one tally taker running out of space for Thomas’s tally in the Carna area of Connemara.”
Cubbard, the current mayor of Galway, is not part of the ‘vote left’ pact in the constituency – however, on the campaign trail, he said he aligned himself with old Labour values and described himself as ‘leaning left’.
Quite a spread in the boxes being opened at the Dublin Central count – here’s the latest from Jane:
“From looking at some of the boxes being opened from around East Wall and Sheriff Street, Gerry Hutch and Malachy Steenson are both doing well, while SF’s Janice Boylan looks to be trailing them by some distance in third.
“Looking at the transfers, though, Hutch and Steenson aren’t being very transfer friendly – most ballots for ‘The Monk’ are just one vote for Hutch or a 1,2 with the number 2 going to Steenson. The few with transfers are going to Sinn Féin.”
Hutch, you’ll recall, was the surprise story of the 2024 general election and was in the running for the fourth seat in the constituency, which eventually went to Labour’s Marie Sherlock.
He wasn’t particularly transfer friendly in that vote either, save for preferences from Steenson.
So how are byelection votes counted?
It can be a long process, and count staff will be preparing to work long into the evening; there’s even a chance they could be back in the morning if we don’t have a winner declared by late tonight.
At the start of the process, the votes are mixed then divided into piles according to first preferences. Suspected spoiled votes are set aside, and checks are made with the candidates’ teams to make sure there’s agreement on the invalid ballots.
The quota, the minimum number of valid votes each candidate must get to be elected, is then calculated.
As rounds of counting continue throughout the day, candidates with the lowest support are gradually eliminated and their votes redistributed across the other piles.
As these are byelections and there’s only one seat available in each constituency, whoever passes the quota first is deemed elected.
1 box here from Stoneybatter in Dublin Central - Daniel Ennis (Social Democrats) out on top here. pic.twitter.com/9Y5wkqlrSs
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) May 23, 2026
From Emma in Salthill (again, health warning etc):
“Seems to be a lot of city boxes open, I can see a lot of ‘transfer lefts’. There’s plenty of number ones for Labour’s Helen Ogbu and Sinn Féin’s Mark Lohan.
“Mayor of Galway Mike Cubbard and Noel Thomas of Independent Ireland also getting plenty of first preferences.”
From Jane at the RDS:
“A lot of inner city boxes being opened so far and from a very early impression it looks like Sinn Féin have done a good job getting the vote out.”
Now that’s a very early take indeed, and comes with a health warning the size of the RDS showjumping arena.
As you’d only expect, we’ll be staffing this liveblog till the death tonight – or until we have new TDs elected, whichever comes first.
You can also keep track of all the action at the count centres via our dedicated politics account on X, where Jane (at the RDS) and Emma (in Salthill) are posting updates.
And we are off! pic.twitter.com/frROTNFsFA
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) May 23, 2026
The ballot boxes have been opened in Galway Lawn Tennis Club, Salthill for the Galway West byelection count.
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) May 23, 2026
Stick with us throughout the day for all from here and the RDS in Dublin. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/zYg3YUMbtZ
Turnout in Dublin yesterday was at 39%, while in Galway it was around 45%.
Here’s a rundown of the candidates, in case you need one handy:
Hedging his bets, Cork-based businessman John O’Leary is running as an Independent in both Dublin and Galway.
Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of the two byelection counts.
Boxes are due to be opened any minute now.
In the meantime, why not catch up with this piece from our Political Correspondent Jane Matthews on how we expect the day to play out.
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