Election 2024: Day one of counting as it happened
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál mArtin was elected on the first count in Cork South Central. Picture: Larry Cummins
The exact identity of the 34th Dáil isn't known for certain after day one of counting in the General Election.
Going into Saturday, 174 TDs were set to be elected across 43 constituencies.
The Irish Examiner were all across those constituencies to watch the action unfold.
Our live blog for the overall results is still up and running - you can follow along here.
Here is how day one broke down.
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Taoiseach Simon Harris was elected with more than 5,000 votes over the quota of 11,415 in .
However, his colleague in Government, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly received just 3,553 first preference votes.
That left him fourth in a four seat constituency and in a real battle to retain his seat.
We got our first elected candidate in .
Long-time councillor for Fine Gael Willie Aird took the seat which was vacated by the retiring Charlie Flanagan.
He exceeded the quota on the fifth count.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín was re-elected in after reaching the quota on the fourth count.
9.10pm
Fine Gael’s Emer Currie was elected on the second count in , securing the constituency’s third seat.
Ms Currie received 788 transfers from Fianna Fáil’s Jack Chambers, bringing her total count to 7,579.
She joined Mr Chambers and Sinn Fein’s Paul Donnelly who were elected on the first count.
Michael Fitzmaurice was elected in .
The Independent Ireland candidate exceeded the quota of 10,283 on the first count with 12,002 votes.
The nightmare continued the Green Party.
Ossian Smyth was eliminated after the fifth count in .
The Minister of State picked up 886 transfers from the Labour Party's Martha Fanning, taking him to 5,320, but it wasn't enough to get him back ahead of Social Democrat candidate Hugo Mills.
8.30pm
Mary Lou McDonald was elected on the third count.
The Sinn Féin leader exceeded the 6,551 quota in the four-seater constituency of .
Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch sat in fourth with 3,295 votes behind Paschal Donohoe of Fine Gael and Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats.
He was more than 600 votes clear of Labour's Marie Sherlock in fifth place.
Neale Richmond of Fine Gael has held his seat in .
His 10,044 votes exceeded the quota.
The Green Party minister Catherine Martin was placed sixth in the four-seat constituency.
While some constituencies are yet to declare a first count, are on to their fifth - and we have an elected candidate.
Louise O'Reilly of Sinn Féin has exceeded the quote on count five.
On the third count in , Sinn Féín's Johnny Guirke has exceeded the quota.
It is the first of three seats in the constituency to be decided.
More than 40% of the eliminated candidate Ronan Moore's 2,542 transfers went to Mr Guirke, taking him over the line.
The second count is in in and no one has been elected.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald sits just 41 votes off the quota so will be elected on the third count.
Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe is second and Social Democrat candidate Gary Gannon seems comfortable in third.
However, Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch has extended his lead in fourth over Labour's Marie Sherlock.
Mr Hutch has 3,187 votes compared to Ms Sherlock's 2,505.
Ivana Bacik, arriving in the RDS, says that Labour has gotten a “strong result” across the country and that it follows momentum in the years since the party won a by-election in Dublin Bay South in 2021.
“It’s building on that momentum and certainly there’s an appetite for Labour’s message of constructive, positive change,” Ms Bacik said.
Asked if she expected to go into government, Ms Bacik said: “Certainly, I don’t think anyone would have any expectation of going into government. That’s a matter for the people.”
She reiterated that Labour would speak with both the Social Democrats and the Greens before any further government negotiations.
When asked if Labour should have a merger with the Greens, given their poor results, Ms Bacik said that nobody is talking about that currently.
The first of the major party leaders has been elected.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin topped the poll in Cork South Central and exceeded the quota by more than 4,000 votes.
You can read more in our live blog tracking the results across Cork.
We have our first significant casualty for the Green Party.
Minister of State Joe O’Brien has been eliminated in .
The Finance Minister has been elected in .
Fianna Fáil's Jack Chambers easily passed the quota of 7,373 to top the poll with over 9,000 first preference votes.
Sinn Féin’s Paul Donnelly received 7,731 votes to also exceed the quota.
They have both been elected.
Another big name has retained their seat.
Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin has topped the poll with 9,892 votes in and passed the quota to be elected.
first count has seen an election and it's Independent candidate Verona Murphy.
Her total of 11,340 was well past the quota of 10,502.
There are four seats in the constituency.
Count one for is in.
Fianna Fáil's Willie O'Dea is in pole position with 8,214 votes, just 221 off the quota.
Maurice Quinlavan's 5,936 votes puts him in second place for Sinn Féin.
Sinn Féin are off the mark in the election - David Cullinane has been elected in .
He passed the quota of 10,731 on the first count with 11,396 votes.
Fine Gael's John Cummins is poised to join him after gaining 10,376 votes.
The constituency returns four seats.
Some constituencies are yet to return a first count, but have returned their second!
Just five of the 12 candidates remain with the Social Democrats Ronan Moore being eliminated in the second count, despite picking up the most transfers (702).
Sinn Féin TD Johnny Guirke remains out in front with 23pc of the vote and just 500 votes short of the quota. Moore’s transfer’s may well put him over the line in the next count.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín is following closely with 20pc of the vote. He has arrived at the count centre in Trim and is upbeat. He thinks Aontú might bring home three seats.
Fianna Fáil councillor Aisling Dempsey (17pc) and Fine Gael councillor Linda Nelson Murray (16pc) are in a battle for the final seat.
Former Fine Gael turned independent councillor Noel French is in fifth on 11pc and looks to be out of the running.
Just under 58pc of eligible voters cast a ballot. There were 230 spoiled votes
The first count is in.
Mary Lou McDonald, unsurprisingly, topped the poll with 6,389 votes.
She was short of the quota of 6,551.
Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe is second with 5,493 votes.
The race for the other two seats is very, very tight with the Social Democrats' Gary Gannon on 4,353 and Independent Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch sitting on 3,098.
Labour's Marie Sherlock is on 2,465.
To , where the first count has been completed, Carol Nolan has topped the poll with 8,282.
She is still short of the quota of 9,347.
No candidate has reached that tally as of yet.
In , no candidate has reached the 9,560 quota there either.
Fine Gael's Brian Brennan tops the poll, with Fianna Fáil's Malcom Byrne also looking set to win one of the three seats available.
The first count in has now been completed too.
The four-seated constituency had a quota of 7,957.
James Geoghegan has topped the poll with 6,060 votes with Labour leader Ivana Bacik in second with 5,684.
Jim O'Callaghan of Fianna Fáil is third with 5,536 and Sinn Féin's Chris Andrews is fourth in 4,875.
The first count in has been completed.
No candidate has reached the quota.
Willie Aird has topped the poll with 9,269 votes.
In , Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien has topped the poll but is yet to reach the quota.
His total of 8,906 is short of the 9,475 quota with Ann Graves of Sinn Féin in second and Labour's Duncan Smith in third in the three-seater constituency
The first count in is in and we have a second TD elected.
The Higher Education Minister Patrick O'Donovan of Fine Gael has held his seat.
He earned 11,563 votes from the first count, over the quote of 11,385.
Richard O'Donoghue of Independent Ireland is in second at 10,540 votes.
Niall Collins of Fianna Fáil is also in the hunt with 9,284.
Mary Lou McDonald has arrived to the RDS count centre.
Political editor Elaine Loughlin was there as the Sinn Féin leader predicted a “battle royale” for the last seat which Gerard ‘the Monk’ Hutch is in contention for.
Arriving at the RDS, Ms McDonald said it is clear now that there is a strong appetite for change, and she will be speaking to others on the left after the votes are counted.
She added that she is going to “knuckle down now” and do everything she can to "to bring about change”.
Asked about the fact that the Monk is expected to be in fourth position in the four-seat constituency when first preference votes are counted, she said: “The last seat is in the balance.”
She added: “It’s going to be a battle royale.”
Tallies put the Monk on 9%, with Labour’s Marie Sherlock behind on 7%.
Ms McDonald is expected to top the poll, with tallies putting Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe in second position when first preferences are counted.
Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats is expected to have the third highest share of first preferences.
We have our first elected TD!
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill of Fine Gael topped the poll in with 11,685 votes - above the quota of 11,134.
She first won her seat in 2020 and has served as a junior minister at the Department of Finance.
Things are starting to pick up pace as another first count is in.
This time it's , where Johnny Guirke of Sinn Féin has topped the poll.
His 8,604 votes put him ahead of Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín in second place at 7,563.
Aisling Dempsey of Fianna Fáíl, Linday Murray Nelson of Fine Gael and Noel French are all in contention for the third seat.
Half the field were eliminated on the first count and their second preferences will now be distributed.
They include Seamus McMenamin (Green Party), Ben Gilroy (Liberty Republic) and Sandy Gallagher (Labour).
The first of the first counts have been declared and its in .
No one has reached the quota of 7,350, but Sinn Féin TD Louise O'Reilly is top of the poll with 6,965.
Labour's Rob O'Donoghue is in second on 5,044 and Fine Gael's Grace Boland is third on 4,583.
The newly-created three seat constituency has previously been part of Dublin Fingal.
4.15pm
In Donegal, it appears that that Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty will romp home, with 19,213 first votes with a quota of 12, 959.
The country is still waiting for the first counts to come in. While we've been waiting, political editor Elaine Loughlin joined Mick Clifford on The Mick Clifford Podcast to look at the key takeaways from the first few hours of the election.
Listen to the podcast in full here.
Some more final tallies.
In Michael Lowry has topped the poll with an estimated 27.6% of the vote, followed in second place by Labour’s Alan Kelly. In third place is Fianna Fail’s Ryan O’Meara, who has a lead of around 2% on his party colleague Michael Smith.
The complete tally for the four-seat constituency has Senator Timmy Dooley of Fianna Fáil comfortably topping the poll with 18.29% of the vote. His running mate Cathal Crowe has 13.69%. Joe Cooney looks set to secure a seat for Fine Gael while Donna McGettigan of Sinn Féin is favourite to secure the fourth seat.
Fine Gael’s Martin Heydon looks set to top the poll in the competitive four-seat
constituency, according to a tally of first preference votes. Kildare South candidates are effectively battling for three seats, by virtue of Ceann Comhairle Sean Ó Fearghaíl’s automatic re-election.
The outcome of the general election remains too close to call in what will be a tough day for the Green Party and some big names.
With 80% of votes tallied, Fianna Fáil has around 20.8% of the vote, with Fine Gael on 20% and Sinn Féin on 18.2%. However, in individual constituencies, the fate of late seats will decide the final breakdown of the next Dáil.
One of the stories of the day is set to be Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch in Dublin Central. There is growing belief among other parties that Mr Hutch will be elected in the constituency on the back of transfers from anti-migrant campaigner Malachy Steenson.
However, the Labour Party retains hope that its candidate Marie Sherlock will benefit from the transfers of outgoing Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan to take the fourth seat alongside Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald, Fine Gael's Paschal Donohoe and Social Democrat Gary Gannon.
For the Greens, the mood has darkened somewhat, with one senior source saying today has been "a disaster".
The party looks set to be in with a fight to keep even one seat, with Dublin Rathdown's Catherine Martin and party leader Roderic O'Gorman in Dublin West as well as Malcolm Noonan in Carlow-Kilkenny their remaining hopes.
Former leader and outgoing Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that the "tide has gone out" on Green politics across Europe, but that he is proud of the work his party has done.
"I think we'll look back and think how can we get greater public support and really do that in a humbler way, and kind of assess why we didn't do better?
"But there's a pride in the process that we've done. We did a really good job in government. We set out our promises and we delivered them."
Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is set to top the poll and be elected on the first count later in Cork South Central. The final tallies have been counted there and Sinn Féin's Donnchadha Ó Laoighaire and Fianna Fáil councillor Seamus McGrath are also set to get a seat.
Follow the results from the count centres in Cork here.
An interesting update from the RDS. Film director Jim Sheridan has arrived at the count centre where he has been filming Gerry Hutch. Mr Sheridan is filming a documentary about the election featuring Mr Hutch.
The filmmaker told gathered reporters that he was “totally surprised” at how well Mr Hutch has done in the election. It is expected that Mr Hutch will make an appearance at the RDS count centre in the coming hours.
“I never thought he’d get in or have a chance. I don’t know if he will still, but I think he has a chance,” Mr Sheridan said.
Asked what he thought Mr Hutch’s appeal was to voters in inner city Dublin, Mr Sheridan said: “I just think it’s anger at their position. Years and years of drugs and nothing happening in that community.
“Like some people are trying to help, but there’s never been since Tony Gregory, a cohesive attitude towards it or a focused attitude.”
Meanwhile, Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said that they were “in the hunt for a number of seats in constituencies around the country”.
“We’re hoping to be transfer friendly and a lot of the contests we’re in are going to be for final seats,” Mr O’Callaghan said.
“We hope to get transfers from all directions.” He said that the Social Democrats will speak to all parties after the votes are counted, but that “where those discussions go remains to be seen”
Final tallies are coming thick and fast as people await the first counts.
All boxes have been tallied in and a very clear picture is emerging in the results so far. Independent Verona Murphy is topping the poll with 21% of the vote while Fianna Fail’s James Browne is on 16%.
Johnny Mythen from Sinn Féin is on 14%, and Labour’s George Lawlor is at 13% in the four-seater. Fine Gael’s Cathal Byrne is on 9.5%, while Aontú's Jim Codd is at 7%.
In , Independent Ireland's Michael Fitzmaurice appears almost certain to top the poll. He's followed by Sinn Féin's Claire Kerrane Dr Martin Daly of Fianna Fáíl on 7,252.
The Social Democrats are set to top the poll in based on the tally estimate of 15% of the vote for their housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan.
Sinn Féin TD Denise Mitchell is in a comfortable second place with 14%, down from her whopping 29.8% in 2020. Fianna Fáil’s Tom Brabazon is on 10% of the tally. Fine Gael’s Naoise Ó Muirí is in fourth place on 9% followed jointly by Fianna Fáil’s Deirdre Heney and Fine Gael’s Aoibhinn Tormey, both on 8%.
In, the likely outcome in the three-seater is Willie Aird (Fine Gael), Minister of State Seán Fleming (Fianna Fáil) and Brian Stanley (Independent). Mr Stanley has held on to his strong vote despite his departure from Sinn Féin amid controversy in October and looks set to be returned to the Dáil.
The Green Party is facing massive losses as tallies are completed up and down the country.
Party leader Roderic O’Gorman looks set for the fight of his political career in Dublin West, with 97% of boxes open and the Integration Minister on just 6.5% of the vote. He is being outpolled by former People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger, who is taking 8.6% of the vote.
Mr O’Gorman is placed fifth in a five-seater, with transfers due to play a key role in the hours to come for the Green Party leader. He admitted that his party is likely to lose three-quarters of their seats.
Other Green Party members in trouble include Catherine Martin, Ossian Smyth, Marc O Cathasigh and Nessa Hourigan.
Meanwhile, it’s looking much better for both the Social Democrats and Labour, with the centre-left parties strongly tipped to pick up seats across the country.
One Labour strategist said they are hopeful to pick up 10 seats, up four on their current Dáil representation.
However, Shane Folan looks unlikely to get over the line in Dublin Bay North, with Social Democrats' Cian O’Callaghan leading alongside Sinn Féin’s Denise Mitchell.
Marie Sherlock in Dublin Central is in decent stead, coming in fifth place at present. She could be pushed forward by the elimination of the Green’s Neasa Hourigan, putting her in a battle with Gerry Hutch for the fourth seat.
The Social Democrats are feeling positive about a number of races across the country, including in Limerick City where Elisa O’Donovan is in the running for the fourth seat.
One party official also spoke positively about Sinead Gibney’s chances in Dublin Rathdown, which could unseat Arts Minister Catherine Martin of the Greens.
In the Cork South West constituency, where tallies have been completed, Social Democrats' leader Holly Cairns has polled strongly at 20% only behind Independent Michael Collins.
Our team at the Cork count centre in Nemo had this lunchtime update on the lay of the land.
Some more final tallies, this time from Galway East. Looking nailed on for seats are Fianna Fáil's Albert Dolan on 19% and Independent Seán Canney on 18.4%. Neither looks set to be elected on the first count, with a quota of around 10,400 votes required.
The battle for the two remaining seats in the constituency is difficult to call. Sinn Féin's Louis O’Hara is on 13.7% but may struggle for transfers down the line. Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fáil) has not polled as well as expected at 7.5% but could recover through transfers after her fellow party member’s impressive, poll-topping performance.
The final tallies are also in for the new three-seat constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, and the three main parties seem set to take a spot each. South Wicklow looks to have lost out, as the frontrunners are all based in Gorey, Co Wexford.
Fine Gael’s Brian Brennan, a hotelier, appears to have edged ahead to take 23% of first preference tallies. Fianna Fáil senator Malcolm Byrne is not far behind, with 22% of first preferences, while Sinn Féin councillor Fionntán Ó Síulleabháin has tallied at about 20%.
In Wicklow — where Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is in trouble — Taoiseach Simon Harris is on course to top the poll.
With two-thirds of boxes tallied, Mr Harris is in first place (31%), followed by Sinn Féin’s John Brady (15%) and Social Democrats’ Jennifer Whitmore (14%).
There is a tight race for the final seat in what is now a four-seater constituency between Fianna Fáil's Mr Donnelly (6.4%) and Fine Gael’s Edward Timmins (5.7%). Mr Harris’s transfers, and others, look set to be key in deciding where the final seat goes.
12.50pm
Tallies have been completed in Limerick County with Fine Gael's Richard O'Donovan, Independent Ireland's Richard O'Donoghue and Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins leading the way.
The surprise performer in the three-seat constituency has been Sinn Féin's first-time candidiate Joanne Collins who is the best of the remaining 11 candidates on 12%.
A third of the way through the tallies in Kerry, Michael Healy-Rae is the clear leader. He has over 23% of first-preference votes so far. After that, the candidates are bunched.
Sinn Féin's Pa Daly is at 14%; Education Minister Norma Foley at just under 13% and Danny Healy-Rae is at 12.2%. The real interest is an emerging battle between Fine Gael candidate and former footballer Billy O’Shea and Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Cahill — they are on par at 10.8% and 10.2% respectively.
In Dublin North West, all boxes have been tallied and Sinn Féin’s Dessie Ellis looks certain to again top the poll. Unlike last time out he is potentially on track to bring in a running mate with former Dublin city councillor Cathleen Carney Boud on 14%.
If two seats go to Sinn Féin in this three-seater, that seems to leave the scrap for the last seat between Fianna Fáil’s sitting TD Paul McAuliffe and newcomer Social Democrats Rory Hearn — both are on 14%. Former Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, who lost his seat here in 2020 is on 12%.
12.10pm
Fianna Fáil is on track to lose some big names, writes political reporter Tadgh McNally. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is in trouble in Wicklow, with the outgoing TD facing a battle to retain his seat.
With 41% of boxes open, Mr Donnelly has secured just 6.4% of the vote and is trailing Taoiseach Simon Harris, Sinn Féin's John Brady and Social Democrats candidate Jennifer Whitmore.
Early indications are showing that Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue could be in danger in Donegal. In Galway East, junior minister Anne Rabbitte is in trouble. She took just 7% of the vote, with two-thirds of boxes open.
However, the party won't lose out on a seat here as her running mate, Albert Dolan, has taken 15% of first preferences.
In Cavan-Monaghan, longstanding TD Brendan Smith is facing difficulties retaining his seat. He is currently being outpolled by both of his running mates, Niamh Smyth and Robbie Gallagher.
However, the party is in line to pick up seats in Dublin, with Fianna Fáil's Shane Moynihan a possible pickup in Dublin Mid West.
It is neck and neck in Dublin Fingal West, where Lorraine Clifford Lee could beat Fine Gael's Grace Boland to a seat.
With all boxes opened in Meath West, the final tally shows Sinn Féin TD Johnny Guirke and Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín are set to retain their seats. Fianna Fáil councillor Aisling Dempsey, daughter of former minister Noel Dempsey, and Fine Gael councillor Linda Nelson Murray will likely battle it out for the final seat in the three-seater constituency.
Outgoing Justice Minister Helen McEntee is topping the polls in the Meath East constituency, according to early tallies.
Minister of State Ossian Smyth is facing a battle to retain his seat in Dun Laoghaire with the Green Party candidate on just over 7.5%.
In Waterford, more than a third of the boxes are open and it is clear that five candidates are in a battle for four seats. Sinn Féin's David Cullinane is topping the poll with Green Party TD Marc O Cathasigh unlikely to retain his seat.
It's more bad news for the Green Party in Fingal West where the tally is complete. Minister of State Joe O’Brien will struggle to retain his seat. Louise O’Reilly of Sinn Féin seems set to top the poll in the new three-seat constituency.
Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin looks set to retain his seat in Cork South Central. Follow the results from the count centres in Cork here.
In the hotly contested Dublin Central constituency, all of the boxes are now open.
Tally figures have Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald at 20%, Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe at 17%, Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats at 13%, Independent Gerard Hutch at 9%, Labour’s Marie Sherlock at 7%, Fianna Fail’s Mary Fitzpatrick at 7%, Green Party’s Neasa Hourigan at 6% and Independent Malachy Steenson at 5%. Janice Boylan (Sinn Féín) and Clare Daly (Independent) and Eoghan O Ceannabhain (People Before Profit) are all at 4%.
In Tipperary South, Mattie McGrath is topping the poll with 26.4% of the votes tallied so far. He is followed Fine Gael’s Michael Murphy and Independent Seamus Healy.
Meanwhile, in Clare, early tallies show Fianna Fáil senator Timmy Dooley is set to top the poll, which would see him return to the Dáil after losing his seat in 2020. At the other end of the scale, Independent and former Sinn Féin TD Violet Anne Wynne is set to lose her seat with tallies showing she has less than 1% of the vote.
In the capital, Fianna Fáil’s Jack Chambers and Sinn Féin’s Paul Donnelly were leading the charge in Dublin West with 58% of boxes open.
Speaking about the error on the Limerick City ballot, where the names of candidates were not listed in alphabetical order, incoming EU commissioner for democracy and justice Michael McGrath said Ireland has enough checks and balances to deal with the controversy.
“I was very surprised at the reports,” he said. “I think it is a matter now for the returning officer to complete the work at the count centre there and then of course the candidates have certain rights as well.”
He stated: “We have the institutional arrangements in place with independent oversight and let’s allow that now to take its course.”
With three quarters of the boxes open in Dublin Central, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald leads the pack at 21%, followed by Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe at 13%, Independent Gerard Hutch and Social Democrats Gary Gannon, follow behind, both at 12%.
25% of ballot boxes have been opened in Limerick County, with the race closely resembling 2020's election race, as the three outgoing TDs run well ahead of the rest.
Independent Ireland's Richard O'Donoghue is the front runner on 26% of the vote, followed by Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins at 24% and Fine Gael's Patrick O'Donovan at 21%. Many are surprised by first time candidate for Sinn Féin, Joanne Collins who is in fourth place in this three seater on 12%.
Former co-leader of the Social Democrats Catherine Murphy is confident of her party making gains in this general election, she said.
25% of ballot boxes have been opened in Limerick County, with the race closely resembling 2020's election race, as the three outgoing TDs run well ahead of the rest.
Independent Ireland's Richard O'Donoghue is the front runner on 26% of the vote, followed by Fianna Fáil's Niall Collins at 24% and Fine Gael's Patrick O'Donovan at 21%. Many are surprised by first time candidate for Sinn Féin, Joanne Collins who is in fourth place in this three seater on 12%.
The retiring Kildare North TD noted that the RTÉ/Irish Times/TG4/TCD exit poll showed support for the Social Democrats was almost double that of its support for the 2020 general election.
“We’re contesting 25 of the 43 constituencies, so the very fact that we’re not contesting all of them shows that the vote is more concentrated, and a more concentrated vote is more likely to give you seats,” she said.
“I’m very happy with what I’m hearing, but it’s very early days.” Holly Cairns, leader of the Social Democrats, is doing “great” after giving birth to a baby girl on election day, Ms Murphy added.
As predicted, Michael Lowry is topping the poll in Tipperary North, according to early tallies based on around 1% of the votes counted so far.
Fianna Fail’s Ryan O' Meara is also polling well in Nenagh, while his party colleague Michael Smith is doing well in Roscrea Templemore, where he is well ahead of his nearest rival, Deputy Lowry.
Labour’s Alan Kelly is neck and neck with Fine Gael’s Phyll Bulger.
With 10% of votes tallied in Kerry, brothers Michael and Danny Healy Rae have netted 40% of the first preference votes.
Sinn Fein's Pa Daly bags 13.6% of first preference votes, followed by Minister Norma Foley with 12%.
In Dun Laoghaoire, the electorate is thought to have dropped by about 4,000 since 2020, but the quota projection is also down by more than 2,000 to 10,369 based on the projected 54.31% turnout.
In Fingal East, informed sources are saying Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour are happy with what they are seeing in early tallies.
Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien of Fianna Fáil, Alan Farrell of Fine Gael and Duncan Smith of Labour are incumbents.
There are three seats in the new constituency.
A health warning that it is very early days, but with 12% of boxes open at Dublin West, Fianna Fáil's Jack Chambers and Sinn Féin's Paul Donnelly are steaming ahead.
Chambers is at 22% and Donnelly at 21%, while Fine Gael Senator Emer Currie stands at 12%.
Meanwhile, People before Profit- Solidarty's Ruth Coppinger is at 9% and Independent candidate Tania Doyle is coming in fifth position at 7%. Leader of the Green Party Roderic O'Gorman is tailing in eighth position with 4%.
Tallies in Dublin Bay South are predicting that Fine Gael's James Geoghegan will top the poll, with Labour's Ivana Bacik in second.
Jim O'Callaghan of Fianna Fáil is on track for third with transfers of Social Democrats Councillor Eoin Hayes determining the fourth seat.
He is transferring to Ms Bacik and the Green's Councillor Hazel Chu. Labour tallyman Kevin Humphreys predicts a tight contest between Sinn Féin's Chris Andrews and Ms Chu but that Sinn Féin should hold on.
In Meath East, the first miraculous medal of the day has been recovered in a ballot box hailing from Ashbourne.
Ballot boxes have been opened since 9.30am in Killarney count centre. The combined tallies from Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil show a huge sweep for Independent candidate Michael Healy-Rae and a strong showing for Michael Cahill, while supports for Danny Healy-Rae is weaker than expected so far.
Tallies show Fianna Fáil's Michael Cahill at 13%, Sinn Féin's Pa Daly at 12.7%, Norma Foley at 11.5%, Gordon Kelleher at 3.9% Danny Healy Rae at 9.5% and Michael Healy-Rae at 29%.
Additionally, Fine Gael’s Billy O’Shea is at 9.6% so far.
Counting got underway here in Roscommon Galway at just after 9am this morning at the Dr Hyde Count Centre. Initially tallies are starting to come in.
There are three seats up for grabs in the massive predominately rural constituency, with two seating TDs, Independent Ireland's Michael Fitzmaurice and Sinn Féin's Claire Kerrane, looking to retain their seats.
There are 11 candidates in total, including high profile Fianna Fáil candidate Dr Martin Daly. A former president of the Irish Medical Organisation and first time general election candidate, Dr Daly is widely tipped to be in the running for a seat. However, his former party colleague and now independent candidate, Senator Eugene Murphy may also be in the mix.
After Fianna Fáil declined to add him to the ticket, Senator Murphy, who won a seat for the party in 2020, decided to break his lifelong association with the party.
Vote counting in the Limerick constituency has started as normal this morning, despite controversy over an error on the ballot paper on Friday.
Members of the public casting their votes in the four-seat constituency have been given a ballot paper, which does not feature all candidates in alphabetical order.
Electoral law dictates that candidates must be listed in alphabetical order based on surnames.
However, speaking at the Limerick Count Centre, Limerick City, Deputy Returning Officer Vincent Murray says the counting of votes is going ahead and has already began this morning.
Michael Lowry is expected to be among the first TDs elected to one of Tipperary’s two new constituencies.
The predicted Tipperary North poll topper, whose Dail career started in 1987, is one of the longest-serving candidates in the race among the 26 candidates for one of the six seats up for grabs.
Labour’s Alan Kelly is also expected to be elected to the constituency, with the help of Mr Lowry’s surpluses.
Fianna Fáil's Michael Smith is expected to take the third seat, although his chances might be affected by his party fielding two candidates across both constituencies.
In Tipperary South, both Independent TD Mattie McGrath and Fine Gael’s Michael Murphy are expected to win seats, with the latter hoping to become the county's first FG TD in a while in what was once a stronghold for the party.
The battle for the third seat is expected to be between Independent John O'Heney and Fianna Fail’s Imelda Goldsboro.
While early tallies are expected around 11am, the first election result is expected around 2pm.
It will be a while yet before we see TDs elected today, but there will be strong indications of where things are going through a system of tallies, operated by tallymen and tallywomen in counts across the country.
These tallypeople are election observers from political parties, watching as boxes filled with votes are opened and distributed and looking at where the first preference votes are going.
Depending where in the country you are, these observers could be working by party or in a larger co-operative tally with all other parties.
In Dublin, for example, a major cross party tally operation has been ongoing for elections over the last decade, giving precise results on where the votes are going.
