The result of the first count was announced at the Butler Community Centre at 7.25pm.
Higgins 38.7%
Gallagher 31%
McGuinness 13.6%
Mitchell 5.9%
Norris 5.8%
Dana 2.9%
Davis 2.2%
1.00pm: Turnout in the Waterford constituency for the Presidential election was 54.8%. Presiding Officer Niall Rooney is expecting to announce the results of a first count by 3.30pm.
Latest tally figures in Waterford, which represent over a third of all votes, are as follows:
Michael D Higgins – 37.1%
Sean Gallagher – 32.5%
Martin McGuinness – 13.8%
Gay Mitchell -6.4%
David Norris – 5.2%
Dana – 2.8%
Mary Davis – 2.3%
12.30am: Almost all boxes have been opened at the Waterford count at this stage and Presiding Officer Niall Rooney is confident of a first count by 3.30pm.
Michael D Higgins stands a front-runner in the race for the Aras: latest tally figures are putting him at 36.5%, followed closely by Sean Gallagher on 33.2%. About two thirds of these would be rural votes, the remainder urban.
11.20am: Michelle Clancy, from the Count Centre in Butlerstown in Waterford City, reports the following tally which represents 24.4% of boxes tallied.
Michael D Higgins – 36.6%
Sean Gallagher – 33.6%
Martin McGuinness – 13.5%
Gay Mitchell – 6.7%
David Norris – 4.8%
Dana – 2.7%
Mary Davis – 2.1%
(Again, about 2/3 of the boxes tallied are rural and 1/3 urban.)
10.30am: Sorting of boxes got underway at the Butler Community Centre in John’s Park at 9am.
Michael D Higgins – 38.3%
Sean Gallagher – 31.2%
Martin McGuinness – 14%
David Norris – 4.8%
Gay Mitchell – 6.4%
Mary David – 2.5%
Dana – 2.7%
That’s with 13.7% of boxes open; about 4/5 of those boxes are from the county and tallymen have indicated that Michael D is polling especially well in the city so as further city boxes are opened we could expect to see a surge in his vote.
