So now we know – Dublin will be represented by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and the Labour Party at the European Parliament for the next five years.
It was clear from the first count on Sunday night that Barry Andrews (FF) and Regina Doherty (FG) had nailed down their MEP seats.
Lynn Boylan (SF) wasn’t guaranteed but always seemed to be in a strong position, even if she might not have felt that herself, given her running mate Daithí Doolan would transfer heavily to her.
The biggest battle was always for the final seat.
This was a four-way electoral joust between Niall Boylan (Ind), Clare Daly (I4C), Ciaran Cuffe (Gr) and Aodhán Ó Riordáin (Lab).
For much of the three-day count, Mr Cuffe and Mr Ó Riordáin were neck-and-neck with only around 1,500 votes separating them.
Niall Boylan made steady gains over successive counts as candidates like Philip Dywer and Malachy Steenson were eliminated.
By the 16th count, he was in fourth place.
One of the key moments came when the People Before Profit TD Brid Smith was eliminated.
The question was whether she would transfer heavily to the other left-candidate Clare Daly and put her in the driving seat.
In the event, that didn’t happen.
Ms Daly only received 6,464 votes from Ms Smith’s 28,772 total. By contrast, Sinn Féin’s Lynn Boylan secured 5,899.
The focus then switched to whether Ciarán Cuffe MEP could stay ahead of Aodhán Ó Riordáin TD.
With Ms Daly excluded, her 39,334 votes transferred heavily to Lynn Boylan – with the Sinn Féin candidate securing 11,338.
Crucially, however, Mr Ó Riordáin secured 5,001 over Mr Cuffe’s 3,189. This meant that Mr Cuffe, the incumbent, ended-up being eliminated.
He in turn transferred more than 16,000 votes to Mr Ó Riordáin, who was able to beat Niall Boylan without reaching the quota.
It was notable that after being eliminated, Mr Cuffe embraced Mr Ó Riordáin and praised him for his progressive campaign and pro-European outlook.
For Niall Boylan and Clare Daly – a General Election isn’t too far away, should they be interested.
It’s certainly going to be an interesting few month in Aodhán Ó Riordáin ‘s five-seater Dublin Bay North constituency.
Sitting TDs Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton and Fianna Fáil’s Sean Haughey have already declared they’re standing down at the next General Election.
That means only two deputies – Sinn Féin’s Denise Mitchell and the Social Democrats Cian O’Callaghan – will contest it.
If the Coalition does run its full term up to March 2025, as the three Coalition leaders insist, then there will be a fascinating bye-election in early December for the new MEPs seat.
