Clare

The strategy to run four candidates for the first time was criticised within the party in Clare, but the approach resulted in Fine Gael increasing its percentage share of the vote by 10 points to 35 per cent on its 2002 result.

The party took the final seat shortly after 2am on Saturday when Cllr Joe Carey had 456 votes to spare over outgoing Independent TD James Breen, with the help of transfers from his Fine Gael running mates Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn and Cllr Tony Mulcahy.

Fine Gael took advantage of the collapse in Breen's vote, which dropped from 19 per cent in 2002 to 9 per cent on this occasion. The win by the 31-year old Carey regains the seat lost by his father and former minister of state Donal Carey in 2002. Outgoing Fine Gael TD Pat Breen was elected on the eighth count to retain the seat he first won in 2002.

However, Fianna Fáil senator Timmy Dooley secured 19 per cent of the vote in his first bid to secure a Dáil seat. Topping the poll and elected on the fourth count, the Mountshannon man takes the seat vacated by Síle de Valera and his win gives east Clare its first TD in over quarter of a century. However, Fianna Fáil's vote share dropped by one point to 44 per cent on its 2002 performance and party strategists will be now questioning the vote-management strategy of dividing the county.

It had come under fire from Tony Killeen who was elected on the seventh count after receiving more than 4,000 votes in transfers from the eliminated Sen Brendan Daly.

Overall change: Independent loss, FG gain