By John O’Mahony, KillarneyToday.com
IT is, as predicted, the day of the Rae at the general election count centre in Killarney with Cllr Danny Healy-Rae poised to join brother, Michael, in Dáil Éireann following a remarkable vote hoovering performance across the constituency.
Michael will top the poll in emphatic fashion – a first count victory is a certainty – while Danny won’t be far behind, particularly with the massive transfer he is likely to receive from his younger brother. With 80 per cent of the boxes open, tally figures had Michael at 25 per cent of the first preference vote with Danny on 12 per cent.
Fianna Fail’s John Brassil also polled well and is running at an estimate 11 per cent with Sinn Fein Martin Ferris on 13 per cent after 80 boxes were tallied.
Fine Gael’s Jimmy Deenihan and Brendan Griffin are running side by side on 9.4 per cent and 10 per cent respectively but it was a disappointing election for Labour’s Arthur J Spring who is on an estimated seven per cent.
The only real certainty at this stage is that there will be two Raes in the Dáil but an official first count result is not expected until teatime, at the earliest.
