We take a look at some of the interesting things that the count threw up last Sunday
Sinn Fein surge
Newly elected Sinn Féin Teachta Dála Rose Conway-Walsh saw her vote explode in last Saturday's election, she increased her vote from the 2016 general election by 128 per cent, taking 14,633 number one votes up from 6,414 last time out - getting 22.7 per cent of the popular vote on her own. In last year's local elections the party got just 7.37 of the vote and lost two of the three county councillors they had going into that election - an amazing turnaround that also raises questions as to whether the party could have taken two seats had the vote been managed strategically.
Ring still tops the poll
Despite it being a bad day for his party, outgoing Minister Michael Ring is still the biggest vote-getter in the county - he took 14,796 number ones and just held off the challenge of Rose Conway Walsh to head the poll. Ring saw his vote increase by 3,521 votes on the 2016 general election - his ability to take big votes from boxes all over the county continued.
Greens on the rise
Having a high profile candidate who got plenty of coverage and was not afraid to speak her mind did the Green Party no harm at all, as Mayo's Saoirse McHugh got 4,177 number ones - a massive 564 per cent increase on the last Green Party candidate from last time out. She finished in seventh place in the popular poll and her transfers became the king-maker at the end. When she was eliminated on the fifth count and her votes were distributed, it put Fine Gael's Alan Dillon ahead of his running mate Michelle Mulherin, who was then eliminated and her transfers put Dillon in ahead of Fianna Fail's Lisa Chambers to take the last seat.
Wild fluctuations in party support in four years
Both Sinn Féin and The Green Party saw massive rises in support since the last campaign - with both running only one candidate. Sinn Féin saw their support jump by 128 per cent on 2016 up from 6,414 number ones to 14,633 - while The Green Party went from 629 number one votes to 4,177 - a 564 per cent increase. As for the former two big parties, Fine Gael saw a 21.5 per cent decrease in support going from 32,434 first preference votes to 25,429 (the retirement of Enda Kenny would have a big part to play in this ), while Fianna Fáil they saw their share of the vote drop from 17,633 to 15,536 - an 11.9 per cent decrease, with Lisa Chambers missing out by just over 2,000 votes and Dara Calleary having a surplus of 765 that couldn't be distributed at the end - suggesting it could have been even tighter for the last seat in the end had they been able to distribute better.
Some go up, some go down
A number of the major candidates ran in both of the last two elections and while two saw vote increases, three saw their votes go down. Both Michael Ring and Rose Conway Walsh increased their number one votes with Conway-Walsh's vote the big talking point, as she increased hers by 8,219, while Ring saw his go up by 3,521. Fianna Fáil's Dara Calleary saw his vote drop slightly, going down by 259 on 2016, but his running mate Lisa Chambers saw hers drop by 1,858 and that cost her at the end of the count. Fine Gael's Michelle Mulherin saw her personal vote also take a serious hit, going down by 2,406 from 2016 and when McHugh's votes were handed out, Dillon pulled ahead of her by 221 votes and sent her out of the race.
Dillon delivers on his first run
Newly elected Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon was the last person voted in, but all that will matter is that he won the seat. Dillon had been building for this campaign for a long time and in the end his transfer-friendliness proved to be key in him winning his seat. He was sitting in sixth place all the way up to the sixth count after getting 5,198 number ones, but the common consensus was that if he got ahead of his running mate Michelle Mulherin, he would take the fourth and final seat, which proved to be true, with Mulherin electing him thanks to 3,329 votes coming back to him from his party colleague.
Local votes count on when it came to the quota
This is the fourth time that Dara Calleary has been elected to the Dáil by the people of Mayo but this was the first time that he got in beating the quota, he went over the quota on the final count thanks to picking up 2,506 votes from his fellow Ballina candidate Michelle Mulherin follwing her elimination from the race on the sixth count.
Sinn Féin transfers go everywhere
Rose Conway-Walsh's surplus of 1,762 went everywhere when it was divided out - with 35.7 per cent going to The Green Party and People Before Profit, another 10 per cent going to Aontu, while Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael won around 42 per cent with Fianna Fáil getting 28.6 per cent and Fine Gael 13.3 per cent. People Before Profit's Joe Daly and The Green Party's Saoirse McHugh were the big beneficiaries of her transfers with Daly getting 321 (18.2 per cent ) and McHugh getting 309 (17.5 per cent ), but the other 65 per cent of her surplus went all over the ballot, with Dara Calleary getting 294, Lisa Chambers 208, Paul Lawless (Aontú ) 192, Alan Dillon 121 and Michelle Mulherin 116.
Lawless leaves a mark
Aontú candiate Paul Lawless had a very good showing on his first run at a general election, finishing up with four per cent of the first preference vote, getting 2,574 number ones and finishing up on 3,375 votes. Lawless previously ran in the local elections in 2016, taking 677 number ones in the Claremorris area, this time around he managed to hang on in the race until the fourth count.
First Sinn Fein TD since almost 100 years
Rose Conway-Walsh became the first Sinn Féin TD in Mayo since 1927, the last was Tom Maguire, the former commandant-general in the Western Command of the Irish Republican Army (IRA ) and leader of the South Mayo flying column, who served as a TD in Mayo south from 1921, retained his seat in 1923 and did not stand in the 1927 election.
