Tipperary North is one of those constituencies that often sets the trend for the rest of the country, but it was not so in 2007 as Fianna Fáil lost one of its two seats, with Fine Gael regaining the seat it last held in 1997.
The holder of that seat was the now Independent TD Michael Lowry, who again confounded predictions to top the poll with 12,919 votes, up almost 20 per cent on his 2002 performance.
The most noticeable aspect of the first count was the poor performance of Labour Senator Kathleen O'Meara who saw her vote drop by more than 20 per cent on the last election. She conceded defeat early in the afternoon. Her transfers were crucial in deciding the last two seats, with Fine Gael's Noel Coonan and outgoing Fianna Fáil deputy Máire Hoctor - who, like O'Meara, is based in Nenagh - the beneficiaries.
The high-profile loser was Fianna Fáil's former minister Michael Smith, who came in second on the opening count with 7,800 first preference votes, but fell behind his party colleague Hoctor when transfers came into play. As well as benefiting from O'Meara's transfers, Hoctor did much better than Smith from the elimination of candidates such as Nenagh-based Tony Sheary (PD) and Séamus Morris (Sinn Féin).
It was not until the sixth and final count, following the elimination of O'Meara, that Coonan and Hoctor were elected, with Coonan leaping from fourth to second place and exceeding the quota. For the second election in a row, Hoctor was elected without reaching the quota.
The Tipperary North constituency can also take a bow, having recorded the highest turnout of any constituency in the election, with 78.45 per cent of those entitled to vote doing so on Thursday last.
Overall change: FF loss, FG gain
Outgoing TDs
Michael Smith FF
Maire Hoctor FF
Michael Lowry Ind