6 hours agoDublin Central at a glancePolitical Correspondent Jack Horgan-Jones reports from the RDS, where, according to tallies, Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats looks set to top the poll in the Dublin Central byelection. Video: Enda O’DowdJack Horgan-Jones reports from the RDS where according to tallies Daniel Ennis looks set to top the poll in the Dublin Central byelection. Video: Enda O'Dowd 6 hours agoEnnis emerging as victor in battleground areasThe tally data has been crunched by the folks over at Ireland Votes. From the Jack Horgan-Jones: Looking at the ward-level data, there’s a really clear picture emerging of Ennis prevailing anywhere that might have been a battleground, with Hutch storming the northeast inner city, where Steenson also polled well. In the areas around the Rotunda and Temple Street Hospitals, taking in the stretch east of O’Connell Street and down to the Liffey, Hutch beat Boylan at a canter, taking in more than 40 per cent of the first-preference vote tallied in North Dock C, for example, where he and Steenson shared almost 65 per cent of ballots tallied. It was a similar story in Mountjoy A, where the Sean McDermott Street flats are – they took more than 70 per cent combined here. Sinn Féin are only prevailing in the tallies in the western part of the inner city, coming out on top in Inns Quay C and Aran Quay C, which take in Smithfield and the areas around it. But in the rapidly gentrifying inner suburbs around Oxmantown, Grangegorman and Stoneybatter, it all swung towards Ennis – with Boylan prevailing only in Arran Quay D, which is home to O’Devaney Gardens, where she originally comes from.Boylan also took all of Cabra West, and a slice of Cabra East which neighbours Mary Lou McDonald’s constituency office – but apart from that the map turns almost completely purple: Cabra East A, which takes in large swathes of Phibsborough and the housing estates to the west of Glasnevin cemetery, swung heavily for Ennis, the Greens’ Janet Horner and Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam. And as you continue around that arc of the more middle-class areas of Glasnevin and Drumcondra, it is Ennis all the way. In the tally data, he’s also prevailing in Ballybough and East Wall. A pocket of the inner suburbs is given over to Janet Horner, who eclipsed Ennis in the tally in Inns Quay A – which takes in the areas around the Mater hospital, edging up towards Phibsborough.5 hours agoSteenson doubles share of vote from 2024Cllr Malachy Steenson has arrived at the Dublin Central count centre in the RDS.The anti-immigrant Independent expressed frustrations around the media and the coverage of fellow candidate Gerry Hutch.Earlier this afternoon, Steenson’s share of the vote had almost doubled since 2024. He was sitting on 9.5 per cent in the tally, up from 4.89 per cent two years ago.Independent Councillor Malachy Steenson doubled his vote in Dublin Central but expressed his frustrations around the media and the coverage of Gerard Hutch. 5 hours agoCounting continues in the RDS on Saturday. Photograph: Alan Betson Dublin Central counting second preference votesTally counters are looking at second-preference votes in Dublin Central. From Marie O’Halloran in the RDS: A sample of 250 of Gerry Hutch’s ballots showed 47 per cent going to Sinn Féin candidate Janice Boylan, 15.6 per cent going to the Social Democrats’ Daniel Ennis and 38 per cent non-transferable.Based on that tally, says one Sinn Féin analyst, “the final destination between Ennis and Boylan would effectively favour Boylan by about 900 votes”.Looking out to the final count, when Sinn Féin expects Hutch to be the last candidate eliminated, Ennis needs to be about 1,000 votes ahead. If the gap were smaller than 900, Boylan would win but based on the first tally the Social Democrats are already about 500 votes ahead.Ennis is expected to keep getting more votes through transfers as the lower candidates are excluded and the Sinn Féin tally expert reckons Ennis’s lead will be above 1,000.A Social Democrats tallyman looking at Boylan’s second preferences noted a big change from previous elections. Previously many Sinn Féin voters voted 1, 2 for their candidates and mostly stopped after that, he said. This time around they are voting farther down the ballot paper and transferring. Based on one sample of about 200 ballots – but this was only one sample – the second places favoured Ennis, followed by Hutch, then the Green’s Janet Horner and People Before Profit’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin.5 hours agoMore candidates have been arriving at the Dublin Central count centre in the RDS including the Green Party’s Janet Horner and People Before Profit’s Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin.Janet Horner of the Green Party in the RDS on Saturday. Photograph: Alan Betson