Election 2024: What to expect as the count gets underway in Ennis

County Clare went to the polls with the rest of Ireland this Friday to vote for their candidates in the local and European elections.

Turnout was slow in the morning, with just 3% of voters having cast their ballots in the Banner County by 9.30am yesterday morning.

However RTÉ reported a steady increase throughout the day, with the average turnout hovering just below 30% by 5pm.

By 8pm, Killaloe showed a 60% turnout, with Lisdoonvarna and Ennistymon both showing that over 50% of voters had cast their ballot,

Ennis was showing the lowest turnout, with just 40% casting their ballots with two hours still left to go, while Shannon and Kilrush showed turnouts of 45% and 42%, respectively.

Eyes now turn to Treacy's West County Hotel in Ennis, where the ballot boxes will be opened at 9am this Saturday, June 8 and votes will be counted.

First however, they need sorting, and ballots for the European Parliament elections will need to be seperated from the local election ballots.

These will be sent to Cork, where counting is set to begin Sunday, June 9.

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Once the ballots are sorted, Clare election officials estimate that the actual local election count will begin some time on Saturday afternoon.

Speaking on Clare FM, Clare Local Returning Officer Pat Wallace said the first Local Electoral Areas (LEAs) to be counted would be "Ennis, Ennistymon and Killaloe".

"It's impossible to predict how long it will take," he said.

The count for the Kilrush and Shannon LEAs will begin as they finish with the others.

A first count is expected to be completed by 8pm.

There are a total of 59 candidates in the running for 28 seats on Clare County Council.

The council will also be hosting live coverage of the Clare Local Election Count on its YouTube channel, which will be available for the public to stream through their smartphones, computers and Smart TVs.

The broadcast will feature the latest tally and count information from political analysts and a media panel, comprising reporters from Scariff Bay Community Radio, The Clare Champion, The Clare Echo and Raidió Corca Baiscinn.

Clare County Council was the first local authority to provide live streaming coverage of a local election count in 2019.

Coverage begins at 12.30pm this Saturday and will continue until the last of the 28 seats on Clare County Council is filled.