ELECTED: Billy Kelleher re-elected to Ireland South on 18th count
Fianna Fáil MEP retains seat and is second to be elected in Ireland South constituency
Billy Kelleher has been elected as the second MEP for the Ireland South constituency in the European Parliament elections.
The Fianna Fail MEP has been re-elected on the 18th count at Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, passing the 114,761 quota with 120,105 votes.
The 18th count saw the distribution of votes from Fine Gael's John Mullins, with Mr Kelleher received 28.1% of his 43,601 ballots.
His surplus of 5,344 votes will now be distributed on the 19th count.
Independents4Change MEP Mick Wallace now leads the pack for the final seat in Ireland South with 73,714 votes, just over 1,000 votes ahead of Fianna Fáil's Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.
Clare's Michael McNamara and Kathleen Funchion remain on course for the third and fourth seats with 73,714 votes and 72,523 votes respectively.
Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan is bottom of the table of the five remaining candidates, on 68,441 votes.
Speaking on Wednesday evening, Ms O’Sullivan admitted that her chances of being re-elected were “slipping away”.
With a “swansong” message, she said it was not just the Green Party’s responsibility to push climate change policies to the fore, but also that of their coalition parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
The former Greenpeace activist said she had not been as “extraordinarily” transfer friendly in this vote as she was in the 2019 European election, and said it “feels that momentum has gone” from the Green Party.