A dramatic night saw the renaissance of one political career as another was brought to a halt – by a margin of ten votes on the seventh and final count.
Long-time Cllr Tom McHugh was just ten votes behind his Fine Gael running mate Andrew Reddington – but that was just enough to give the new arrival the last of seven seats.
Colm Keaveney’s return to the political stage was confirmed in that same count – but in reality the dye was cast two counts earlier with the distribution of Shaun Cunniffe’s vote on his elimination.
That propelled Keaveney – and to an even more dramatic extent, Karey McHugh – up the leader board at expense of the FG hopefuls McHugh and Reddington.
That, in effect left them battling for the final seat – with the sitting Councillor edged out by the narrowest of margins.
Tuam
Number of seats: 7
Electorate: 25,125
Total poll: 15,067
Spoiled votes: 213
Total valid poll: 14,854
Quota: 1,857
First count
Pete Roche (FG) 2,430
Joe Sheridan (FF) 1,544
Donagh Killilea (FF) 1,521
Mary Hoade (FF) 1,455
Andrew Reddington (FG) 1,389
Tom McHugh (FG) 1,258
Colm Keaveney (FF) 1,219
Billy Connelly (Ind) 1,118
Karey McHugh (Ind) 929
Shaun Cunniffe (Ind) 862
Martin Ward (Aontu) 467
Stiofan O Dalaigh (SF) 403
Thomas Niland (Ind) 241
Dermot Ryan (Ind) 18
Roche elected
Second count
(Distribution of Roche’s surplus)
Donagh Killilea (FF) (+86) 1,607
Joe Sheridan (FF) (+44) 1,588
Mary Hoade (FF) (+32) 1,487
Andrew Reddington (FG) (+60) 1,449
Tom McHugh (FG) (+118) 1,376
Colm Keaveney (FF) (+52) 1,271
Billy Connelly (Ind) (+34) 1,152
Karey McHugh (Ind) (+91) 1,020
Shaun Cunniffe (Ind) (+24) 886
Martin Ward (Aontu) (+10) 477
Stiofan O Dalaigh (SF) (+11) 414
Thomas Niland (Ind) (+10) 251
Dermot Ryan (Ind) (+1) 19
Ryan and Niland eliminated.
Third count
(Distribution of Ryan’s and Niland’s votes)
Donagh Killilea (FF) (+29) 1,636
Joe Sheridan (FF) (+14) 1602
Mary Hoade (FF) (+4) 1,492
Andrew Reddington (FG) (+5) 1,454
Tom McHugh (FG) (+18) 1,394
Colm Keaveney (FF) (+26) 1,297
Billy Connelly (Ind) (+13) 1,165
Karey McHugh (Ind) (+47) 1,067
Shaun Cunniffe (Ind) (+49) 935
Martin Ward (Aontu) (+14) 491
Stiofan O Dalaigh (SF) (+24) 438
O Dalaigh and Ward eliminated
Fourth count
Donagh Killilea (FF) (+62) 1,698
Joe Sheridan (FF) (+47) 1,649
Mary Hoade (FF) (+37) 1,529
Andrew Reddington (FG) (+58) 1,512
Colm Keaveney (FF) (+161) 1,458
Tom McHugh (FG) (+48) 1,442
Billy Connelly (Ind) (+88) 1,253
Karey McHugh (Ind) (+175) 1,242
Shaun Cunniffe (Ind) (+101) 1,036
Cunniffe eliminated
Fifth count
(Distribution of Cunniffe’s vote)
Donagh Killilea (FF) (+195) 1,893
Joe Sheridan (FF) (+77) 1,726
Colm Keaveney (FF) (+172) 1,630
Karey McHugh (Ind) (+329) 1,571
Mary Hoade (FF) (+24) 1,553
Andrew Reddington (FG) (+21) 1,533
Tom McHugh (FG) (+67) 1,509
Billy Connelly (Ind) (+45) 1,298
Killilea elected; Connelly eliminated)
Sixth count
(Distribution of Connelly’s vote)
Joe Sheridan (FF) (+115) 1,841
Mary Hoade (FF) (+287) 1,840
Karey McHugh (+235) 1,806
Colm Keaveney (FF) (+124) 1,754
Andrew Reddington (FG) (156) 1,689
Tom McHugh (FG) (+167) 1,676
Seventh count
(Distribution of Killilea’s surplus)
Joe Sheridan (FF) (+5) 1,846
Mary Hoade (FF) (+1) 1,841
Karey McHugh (Ind) (+18) 1,824
Colm Keaveney (FF) (+7) 1,761
Andrew Reddington (FG) (+1) 1,690
Tom McHugh (FG) (+4) 1,680
Sheridan elected; Hoade, McHugh K, Keaveney and Reddington elected without reaching the quota
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