Dublin Central election 2024 results: Gerry Hutch in contention for a Dáil seat after first count

There are four seats up for grabs in Dublin Central in what looks to be an intriguing race. Mary Lou McDonald and Paschal Donohoe are set to be re-elected but the other two seats are up for grabs, with Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch looking like he could take one, based off tallies.
A week before the election, Irish Times columnist Justine McCarthy spent a day in the Dublin Central constituency, where Gerry Hutch’s candidacy was a recurring topic of conversation. What happens here could tell us a lot about the country’s direction, she wrote.
Second count completed in Dublin Central and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is less than 50 votes short of the quota required and looks set to be elected on the third count.
Following the distribution of Aontú’s Ian Noel Smyth and the Centre Party’s Andrew Kelly votes, Gerard Hutch is at 3,187 votes, Labour’s Marie Sherlock at 2,505 and Fianna Fáil’s Mary Fitzpatrick at 2,427. The votes of Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan will be distributed next.
First count completed in Dublin Central, and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has topped the poll with 6,389 votes.
However, McDonald has just fallen short of the quota and did not get elected on the first count. She was followed by Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe with 5,493 votes, the Social Democrat’s Gary Gannon (4,353 votes), Independent Gerard Hutch (3,098 votes), Labour’s Marie Sherlock (2,465 votes), Fianna Fáil’s Mary Fitzpatrick (2,344 votes) and the Green Party’s Neasa Hourigan (1,952 votes).
Independent Malachy Steenson received 1,602 first preferences, followed by People Before Profit’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin at 1,471, Independent Clare Daly with 1,317 and Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan with 1,257.
Social Democrats outgoing TD Gary Gannon, who is looking good for the third seat in Dublin Central, has said the vote for Gerry Hutch is a reflection of how poorly working class communities have been treated for many years.
Speaking on RTE Radio he said that “when people are in a dark place they’ll search for very strange options and that’s what happened here. That’s a plague on all of our houses, it’s a reflection of politics as a whole.
“For those of us who actually went into the communities and did the work there’s a little bit of a vindication but I think we’ve all got a job to do.
Gannon pointed to the “huge level of media” Gerry Hutch received which he said was “disproportionate”.
“He had access to one of the most popular podcasts in the country over the course of three episodes, that makes a huge difference.”