The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, best summed up the feeling on the ground at the Cork South Central recount yesterday by admitting that he had learned more about the electoral process in the last two days than he had in the previous 10 years.
In order to determine whether an Independent, Ms Kathy Sinnott, or the outgoing Fianna Fáil TD, Mr John Dennehy, would take the fifth and final seat in the constituency, a recount was taking place and ballot papers were being examined carefully in Cork City Hall last night.
Ms Sinnott, the prominent disability rights campaigner, said she was confident she would take the seat, having been declared elected early on Sunday morning by a margin of just three votes.
Ms Sinnott compared the waiting game to feeling "jetlagged" but said that as a mother of nine with a special needs son, she was used to surviving on very little sleep.
Meanwhile, legal experts continued to examine every ballot paper in a bid to find crucial extra votes for their candidates.
Ms Sinnott said she was fascinated with the technicalities of the recount system and the manner in which votes could be deemed spoiled.
"Everybody is counting dots and perforations and checking if votes were franked. The experts are all there and you'd be in awe of it all. The actual tallying process is a fine art. We feel there are more votes out there for me. So it is just waiting at this stage."
Ms Sinnott said she would continue to fight for disability issues whether or not she took a seat in the constituency.
Mr Dennehy decided to stay at home yesterday afternoon as anticipation continued to mount within both camps. Twice chairman of the Southern Health Board, he lost his seat in the Dáil in 1992 but regained it in the 1997 election.
Mr Martin topped the poll with 14,764 votes - the highest number obtained by any candidate in the General Election. Mr Simon Coveney of Fine Gael, Mr Batt O'Keeffe of Fianna Fáil, and Mr Dan Boyle of the Green Party took the next three seats, leaving the final seat between Ms Sinnott and Mr Dennehy.