Irish Election are pleased to announce our collection of Irish 
Carlow Kilkenny
Read more about: Carlow-Kilkenny, Irish Election, Irish Politics
Carlow-Kilkernny: Elected, John McGuinness FF & BObby Aylward FF on the 1at Count.
MJ Nolan FF (Carlow) and Phil Hogan FG.
Dogfight for the fifth seat in progress with the elimination of Senator Fergal Browne FG (Carlow).
Senator John Paul Phelan should beat Mary White (Green) on the inter-FG transfers. Mary White to lose out on 5th and final seat here.
Elected:
John McGuinness FF, Bobby Aylward FF, MJ NOlan FF, Phil Hogam FG - and John Paul Phelan FG expected, count continues at 12.30 a.m. ……….
Townsend’s votes now being distributed. Carlow based, so expect most of his transfers to go to White. It will be close…but Mary White might just pip John Paul Phelan.
So the Greens return with six TDs.
It’s lookin likely. John Paul had a great campaign and Mary White’s been pluggin away for years. It was always going to be close.
Had to dash away from the count on personal business when the announcement of the transfer of Jim Townsend’s votes was announced. They stayed in Carlow - as I remarked to the Bishop (Laurence Forristal) after Piltown Confirmation yesterday, Carlow will not vote for a Kilkenny candidate though Kilkenny has, and does vote for Carlow candidates, and Carlow people proved this again. Jokingly Bishop Forristal agreed to lodge an official protest on behalf of Kilkenny with his Carlow counterpart Bishop Jim Moriarty !
All’s well that ends well - McGuinness FF, Aylward FF, Nolan FF, Hogan FG and White (Greens) all elected - as Spokesman had been forecasting on the couple of days leading up to polling.
Right now the scene is that Bertie is bluffing the Greens by pretending that he will negotiate with the Independents - that wouldn’t last until Christmas !
And Gormless Gormley is ready to sell his grandmother, his mother and his wife for a ministry (any ministry). Trevor Sargent is not that opporunistic - he is prepared to sell the grandmother only.
Meanwhile Generalissimo Enda Kenny is preparing to sit down with Sinn Fein - the mortal enemy of the Blueshirts - in his attempt to form a 1948 - style Inter-Party government, which would last 5 years (more if SF had their way !), as they all need at least 5 years to rebuild after the severe mauling they received at the hands of the Electorate.
Forecast - Bertie will win, will ditch and divert the 3 km stretch of the M3 motorway past Tara to please the Greens, give them a couple of ministries, along with Mary Harney back in Health. FF-PD-Green Party government.
Michael McGrath
I wonder what chance there is of Harney rejoining Fianna Fail?