Wicklow election 2024 results live: Simon Harris elected but Stephen Donnelly is in trouble

We will have live updates from the Wicklow count centre right through the weekend where there are four seats up for grabs.
It is of course the constituency of Taoiseach Simon Harris, who was first regain his seat comfortably. Fianna Fáil minister Stephen Donnelly is however in danger of losing his. The count continues on Sunday morning.
Counting has resumed in Wicklow where Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is battling to hold onto his seat.
A tight race is unfolding for the final spot in the four-seat constituency between Donnelly (3,553 votes), Independent candidate and former Fine Gael Cllr Shay Cullen (3,232) and Fine Gael’s Cllr Edward Timmins (3,050).
Bray-based Sinn Féin TD John Brady and Delgany-based Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore both look set to retain their seats.
A 5,000-plus surplus for Taoiseach Simon Harris – who was elected on the first count at 9.30pm on Saturday – is being counted this morning.
These transfers will play a key role in deciding where the final seat goes.
If party loyalty holds firm, Harris’s running mate Edward Timmins looks set to benefit most. Sample tallies indicate that as many as 40 per cent of his transfers will go to the west Wicklow based councillor.
Harris said on Saturday night he was “cautiously optimistic” that Timmins will get over the line.
However, tallies indicate that a smaller but significant proportion of Harris’s transfers – about 10 per cent – will go to Donnelly, who is also based in the Taoiseach’s hometown of Greystones.
Newtownmountkennedy-based Cllr Shay Cullen, meanwhile – formerly of Fine Gael – is expected to attract transfers from a range of candidates.
Party and regional loyalties will all have a role to play in determining where the final seat goes.
Most seasoned election observers, however, see Timmins as favourite to take a second seat for Fine Gael at the expense of Stephen Donnelly.
Vote counting in Wicklow has been adjourned until Sunday morning, when Simon Harris’s 5,000-plus surplus will be distributed among the remaining candidates.
Mr Harris’s transfers look set to play a key role in deciding where the final seat goes and whether Fine Gael can take a second seat at the expense of Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly.
Mr Harris said he is “cautiously optimistic” that his running mate Edward Timmins will take the final spot in the four-seat constituency.
While a strong transfer rate to the Taoiseach’s Fine Gael running mate in west Wicklow is expected, tallies indicate significant numbers will also go to Donnelly who is based in the Taoiseach’s hometown of Greystones.
Newtownmountkennedy-based Shay Cullen, meanwhile, may also benefit. He decided to stand as an independent after missing out on a place on the Fine Gael ticket.
Bray-based Sinn Féin TD John Brady is in second place (8,450 votes), followed by Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore (7,699). Both deputies look set to retain their seats.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has been elected on the first count in Wicklow while Fianna Fáil TD and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly is facing a battle to retain his seat.
Mr Harris topped the poll with 16,869 votes, exceeding the 11,415 quota by more than 5,000 votes. Bray-based Sinn Féin TD John Brady is in second place (8,450 votes), followed by Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore (7,699). Both deputies look set to retain their seats.
A tight race is unfolding for the final spot in the four-seat constituency between Stephen Donnelly (3,553), Independent candidate and former Fine Gael councillor Shay Cullen (3,232) and Fine Gael’s Edward Timmins (3,050).
Mr Harris’s transfers look set to play a key role in deciding where the final seat goes.
While a strong transfer rate to the Taoiseach’s Fine Gael running mate in west Wicklow is expected, tallies indicate significant numbers will also go to Donnelly who is based in the Taoiseach’s hometown of Greystones.
Newtownmountkennedy-based Shay Cullen decided to stand as an independent after missing out on a place on the Fine Gael ticket.
Independent Bray-based candidate Cllr Joe Behan is further behind in the contest (2,909) followed by sitting Green Party TD Steven Matthews (2,366) who looks set to lose his seat.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said he is “very confident” that Fine Gael will have a “very significant role” to play in government formation talks, writes Carl O’Brien.
Speaking at the count centre in his Wicklow constituency, he said that while it was difficult to say who will be the biggest party in the next Dail, he was “cautiously optimistic and excited about the weeks ahead.”
He said the Fine Gael parliamentary party which he will lead in the new Dail will be “massively different” with new TDs who will bring “new ideas and new perspective to Leinster House”.
Mr Harris said it was clear the party “will gain seats” and “top the poll in at least 10 constituencies” and add second seats across a number of constituencies.
“I think the people of Ireland have now spoken. We now have to work out exactly what they have said. That is going to take a little bit of time.” He said the electoral system meant the outcome of many final seats has yet to be decided.
“We need to be patient in relation to that. Of course, my party will act responsibly in the days ahead,” he said.
“I am really grateful to the Irish people for the mandate they have given me and my party.”
In his Wicklow constituency, Mr Harris said he was “cautiously optimistic” his party running mate Edwards Timmins will secure a second seat for the party. This would be at the expense of Fianna Fail TD and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.
In relation to Sinn Fein, he said there has been “so sign of a Sinn Fein surge” and claimed the party’s vote was likely to be down on the last election.
“The two larger parties are likely to receive significant support from the electorate. So, definitely politics in Ireland has gotten much more fragmented,” he said.
In relation to the performance of Gerry Hutch in the election, Mr Harris said the “people are sovereign” but said he believed he “wasn’t nailed on yet”.
Final tallies show Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly is facing a battle to retain his seat in Wicklow while Taoiseach Simon Harris is on course to top the poll.
Mr Harris is in first place (30 per cent), followed by Sinn Féin’s John Brady (15 per cent) and Social Democrats’ Jennifer Whitmore (14 per cent).
There is a tight race for the final spot in the four-seat constituency between Fianna Fáil’s Stephen Donnelly (6.3 per cent) and Fine Gael’s Edward Timmins (5.3 per cent).
Mr Harris’s transfers and others look set to be key in deciding where the final seat goes.
While traditionally there was a strong transfer rate between Fine Gael candidates, observers say large volumes of the Taoiseach’s second preferences are going to other candidates in his hometown of Greystones such as Mr Donnelly and the Social Democrats’ Jennifer Whitmore.
Independent Bray-based candidate Joe Behan is further behind (5.5 per cent), meanwhile, followed by Wicklow town-based independent Shay Cullen (4.3 per cent) and sitting Green Party TD Steven Matthews (4.2 per cent), who looks set to lose his seat.
Jennifer Whitmore looks set to be reelected with a larger personal vote in Wicklow and is set to take third seat in the four-seat Wicklow constituency, according to tallies.
The Social Democrats want to go into government if the party can secure commitments on key policy areas, Whitmore, the party’s childcare spokesperson, said.
The party, which hopes to secure at least 10 seats – up from six in the last election – may have a crucial role to play in government formation talks.
“We have been really clear from the get-go: we want to go into government, but we’re not going to go in just to make up the numbers,” Ms Whitmore said.
“If we go in, it is to make real change and achieve real change.”
The party has “five non-negotiables” which it would bring into any government formation talks.
They include 50,000 affordable homes; a public childcare system; the roll-out of Sláintecare; a minister for disabilities; delivering on climate change commitments.
“We want to make sure we can deliver,” she said.