Fianna Fáil has once again taken almost half the seats on Údarás na Gaeltachta, following a recount in the largest Gaeltacht area of Galway yesterday.
Eight of the 17 seats open to election on the 20-strong Gaeltacht development authority's board were secured by Fianna Fáil candidates, with Fine Gael taking four, Independent candidates two, while Labour, Sinn Féin and the Progressive Democrats secured one seat each.
The remaining three seats, including that of chair, are at the discretion of the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and it is expected he may nominate one PD member in that group - as occurred after the last Údarás election in 1999.
Turnout across seven Gaeltacht constituencies ranged from 40 per cent in the largest Gaeltacht area of Galway to 70 per cent in the smaller Irish-speaking areas of Meath and Waterford.
The Galway recount, at Carraroe Community College, was called by Fine Gael when 10 votes separated one of its candidates, Seosamh Ó Laoi, from the Progressive Democrats (PD) candidate, Seán Creaven.
Mr Creaven, an outgoing board member as ministerial nominee, was awarded the sixth and final seat late on Sunday, with five seats going to Seán Ó Tuarisg (FF), Seosamh Ó Cuaig (Ind), Connie Ní Fhatharta (FF), Séamus Breathnach (FF) and former Galway city councillor Val Hanley.
Mr Ó Laoi said as a GAA and football player he did not intend to give up easily, and that the recount was also being held on behalf of the "fíor-Ghaeltacht" which, he claimed, had lost out in this year's Údarás na Gaeltachta election. The results in the Galway constituency had seen the balance of power shift from existing Irish-speaking areas in Connemara to the city, he said.
The offshore islands are also not represented in the new line-up.
After the recount by returning officer Tony Murphy was concluded, the margin between the PDs and Fine Gael remained the same, at 10 votes, and Mr Ó Laoi conceded defeat.
The shift in influence in Galway saw Val Hanley polling a high number of votes in non-Irish speaking city areas within the Gaeltacht.
Mr Hanley, a vintner who resigned as chair of the Western Health Board over a year ago due to his opposition to the smoking ban, lost his city council seat in last year's local elections.
Although admitting that his Irish would not be as fluent as some of the other candidates, Mr Hanley said that he was born in the Gaeltacht area of Claregalway and had run a pub in Lettermore for a number of years. He said that he been practising his "cúpla focal" over the past month and aimed to improve it further by reading and listening to other Irish speakers.
Mr Hanley topped the poll at the first count at Carraroe Community College with 1,208 votes and stayed ahead until the eighth count when FF's sitting candidate, Mr Ó Tuairisg, took the lead. He described the Údarás results as a badly needed vote of confidence for the Fianna Fáil party - although Fianna Fáil's resident board member, Pádraig Ó Biadha, lost his seat.
A plea by Fine Gael to the Galway electorate to secure the seat formerly held by the party's councillor, Pól Ó Foighil, who died last month, was not successful.
