FOLLOWING SIX days of count and re-count, Fianna Fáil has managed to hold the last seat on Laois County Council. Catherine Fitzgerald beat Fine Gael’s Paddy Buggy by 11 votes on the 11th count following a recount and a fresh manual count of ballots from the Portlaoise Electoral Area.
Fine Gael called the recount on Sunday night when Fitzgerald, a sitting councillor, was deemed to be elected because she had more first preferences than Buggy. Both had a final total vote of 921.
On Wednesday afternoon, returning officer Declan Byrne announced he was calling a fresh count.
He said errors discovered during the recount had been “significant” and might influence the election result.
The results of that fresh count of each individual ballot paper were announced yesterday evening.
For Fine Gael the loss is significant as they miss the opportunity of having an overall majority on the council for the first time in over 50 years.
Following the recount, the make up of Laois County Council is 12 Fine Gael seats, eight Fianna Fáil seats, one Labour seat, one Sinn Féin seat and three Independent seats.