Main PointsDaniel Ennis of the Social Democrats has topped the poll with 4,903 first preference votes in the Dublin Central byelectionSinn Féin’s Janice Boylan was second with 4,348 first preference votesEnnis is seen as more transfer friendly than Boylan and the early lead puts him in a strong position Results are expected by this eveningFianna Fáil may face one of their worst election performances as their candidate John Stephens secured just 1,049 first preferences Dublin Central count: Full byelection results dataClick for live coverage of the Galway West byelection countKey ReadsWhat are voters’ five big issues in Dublin Central and Galway West byelections?In the News podcast: Who will win the Dublin Central and Galway West byelections?Polymarket betting on Dublin Central byelection to be examined by officialsOpinion: We finally know how much money shapes Irish electionsAll Irish Times polling coverage and data, including the most pressing issues for voters, can be accessed hereGlen Murphy - 4 minutes agoLabour’s Ruth O’Dea has been eliminated on the third count in Dublin Central.Glen Murphy - 16 minutes agoTánaiste praises Fine Gael candidatesFine Gael fielded two grounded and experienced candidates in the Dublin Central and Galway West byelections, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.The party leader described both Ray McAdam in Dublin and Seán Kyne in Galway as “excellent candidates” who were “grounded in their communities and whose experienced mattered to voters“.The Tánaiste’s statement comes as Kyne remains in the running for taking the seat left vacant in Galway West by Catherine Connolly after she was elected President.Tallies earlier on Saturday showed him trailing very closely behind Independent Ireland’s Noel Thomas but a first count has yet to be concluded in Salthill.The party’s Dublin Central contender, and the capital’s Lord Mayor, Ray McAdam, is currently in fifth place after the second count concluded in the RDS.McAdam is trailing well behind front-runner, Social Democrat councillor Daniel Ennis.Glen Murphy - 33 minutes agoFianna Fáil candidate Cllr John Stephens was running in ninth position after the first count, when the Aontú candidate and four Independents were eliminated.Marie O’Halloran writes: Independent Malachy Steenson received the largest number of transfers with 200, followed by Stephens with 71. Lagging far behind the leading candidates his exclusion was inevitable, but came at a very early stage in the counting.Glen Murphy - 36 minutes agoFianna Fáil candidate John Stephens has been eliminated on the second count in the RDS with 1,120 votes.Glen Murphy - 52 minutes agoOf the now eliminated bottom five from the first count, just one candidate, independent John O’Leary, scored in the single digits. He received seven first preference votes.Glen Murphy - 1 hour agoFive candidates eliminated so farNo candidate reached the quota of 12,435 on the first count.After McAdam, the next highest polling candidate was anti-immigrant independent councillor Malachy Steenson on 2,342 votes, a much stronger result than his last campaign at the 2024 general election.Next up is People Before Profit-Solidarity’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin on 1,681, Labour’s Ruth O’Dea on 1,454 and Fianna Fáil’s John Stephens on 1,049. All other candidates received fewer than 1,000 votes.Independents Mannix Flynn, Tony Corrigan, Colm Joseph Flood and John O’Leary, as well as Aontú Ian Noel Smyth were eliminated on the first count.Glen Murphy - 1 hour agoEnnis tops first count in Dublin CentralSocial Democrat candidate Daniel Ennis has topped the poll on the first count in Dublin Central. Ennis took 4,903 first preference votes, followed by Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan on 4,348. Green candidate Janet Horner secured 2,907 votes, followed closely by independent Gerry Hutch on 2,817.Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam secured 2,659.Dublin Central full results here.Glen Murphy - 1 hour agoDublin Central: As it standsDaniel Ennis with his fiance Chloe (both centre) in the RDS on Saturday. Photograph: Alan Betson