Ms Nuala Ahern of the Green Party caused a major surprise late last night when she took the second seat in Leinster, in the European elections.
A huge transfer from the Labour candidate, Mr Sean Butler, ensured that she overtook the two outgoing Fianna Fail MEPs Mr Jim Fitzsimons, who took the third seat and Mr Liam Hyland, who took the fourth seat.
Ms Ahern, Mr Fitzsimons and Mr Hyland were all elected without reaching the quota, on the third count, following the elimination of the outgoing Fine Gael MEP, Mr Alan Gillis. Senator Avril Doyle took Mr Gillis's seat when she exceeded the quota on the second count.
Up to the completion of the third count, the cross party consensus was that Ms Ahern, with 52,618 votes, and Mr Gillis with 50,040 votes, would battle it out for the fourth seat, with the odds favouring the Green MEP. When Mr Butler's vote of 40,849 was distributed, Ms Ahern received 14,190, with Mr Gillis getting 6,841. The extent of the Labour transfer surprised even Ms Ahern, who thought that she might take the third seat.
Asked to explain it, she said, "We are a left party, and Labour is a left party."
Fianna Fail retained its two seats through skilfull vote management. Fine Gael attempted a vote management exercise near the end of the campaign, when opinion polls made it clear that Ms Doyle was well ahead of Mr Gillis. Mr Gillis said early today that he would not comment on the handling of the Fine Gael campaign.
"Our vote did not fall right. It is not a matter of concern to me now because the people have made their decision."
Mr Gillis, who served one term in the parliament, said he looked forward to pursuing other interests.
There was a small attendance for most of yesterday at the count, a reflection of the apathy which was a hallmark of the campaign. Even the absence of a reliable tally, which added to the unpredictability of the result, failed to generate enthusiasm.
The candidates, with the exception of Mr Sean Butler, did not arrive until after lunch. Showing all the enthusiasm of a first-time candidate, Mr Butler was there from early morning, accompanied by members of Labour's head office staff.
An illustration of the cynicism of sections of the electorate was provided by the deliberately spoiled ballot papers.
