It’s now pretty much a two-way battle between Hutch and Labour’s Marie Sherlock for the fourth seat in the constituency.

With all boxes now tallied in the Dublin Central constituency, Independent candidate Gerard Hutch looks likely to be in contention for a seat with around 9% of first preference votes.

SINN FÉIN LEADER Mary Lou McDonald has been re-elected in Dublin Central. She was elected on the third count at the RDS this evening with 7,388 votes. Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe (5,590) looks set to take the second seat with Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats (4,

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald will top the poll on around 20pc it appears, followed by Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe on around 17pc. Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats is polling in third place at 13pc followed by Hutch on 9pc.

People across Ireland went to the polls on Friday to vote in the 2024 General Election. A lot has changed since we last went to the polls nearly five years ago. We have survived a global pandemic, saw Donald Trump re-elected US President and watched as two wars broke out.

Irish voters are heading to the polls on Friday to elect a new Government, with the two centre parties which have run the country for more than a century and been in coalition together for the past 4 years – vying to stay in power.

Dublin Central is a constituency full of big players in the world of Irish politics. Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe calls the constituency his home as does Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

The convicted Dublin criminal, also known as The Monk, received the fourth-highest first preference vote in the four-seat constituency with almost 10 per cent of the vote

Local TD Gary Gannon said the gangland figure’s popularity is down to media attention and long-held hurt in the community.

Counting is underway across the country in the general election, and you can follow live updates here throughout the day