This is the moment the media was waiting for. Sinn Fein President
Gerry Adams being lifted by his jubilant supporters after topping
the poll in Louth. It's the reason why Sky, BBC, UTV, the Sunday
Times and a host of other media outlets were in town. While
his election thrilled his vocal band of supporters, others
bit their lips, wondering what message it will send out to the
world about The Wee County.
The announcement that he, and Fine Gael candidate Fergus
O'Dowd were elected came at tea-time. The Proportional Representation
system of voting is incredibly slow and complicated. It makes covering the
count an unusual experience - long periods of boredom
punctuated by bursts of excitement as the tallies and results come in.
The count was adjourned at 2.30am on Sunday morning and resumed
again at 10.30am. Labour candidate Ged Nash and Fine Gael's
Peter Fitzpatrick were deemed elected today, with the count ending
just before 2pm.
The election marks a change in the political landscape in Ireland with
Fianna Fail, the dominant party for 69 years, suffering severe losses
and their coalition partners, the Greens, not winning a single seat.
What the future holds is anyone's guess.
The laptop on which I had written up interviews with several of the candidates
yesterday crashed so I have to write them up again tonight. Catch up with
everyone sometime.