Blaney remains in contention to retain Seanad seat

Donegal-based Senator Niall Blaney remains in contention to retain his seat on the Agricultural Panel.

The Agriculture Panel has the joint-most number of seats of all the panels in the Seanad, with 11, and had 28 candidates standing for election.

Blaney was first elected to the Seanad in 2020, having served as a TD from 2002 until 2011.

Fianna Fáil’s Blaney currently sits on 71,420 votes following the 20^th count.

His party colleague Paddy O’Rourke was eliminated after the 15^th count, receiving 32,646 votes in total while Gerry McMunn, who was representing Fine Gael was eliminated after the 9^th count, receiving 9,000 votes.

Four candidates have already been elected so far- Malcom Noonan (Green Party), Joanne Collins (Fianna Fáil), Victor Boyhan (Independent), Paul Daly (Fianna Fáil).