Ireland election: Counting process under way in council poll – BBC News

The counting process has begun in the Republic of Ireland’s local council elections.

A total of 949 city and county council seats will be filled across 31 local authorities.

The polls closed at 22:00 local time on Friday.

Voting also took place in the Republic of Ireland on Friday in the European elections, but those ballots will be separated and local elections will be the first to be counted.

More than 2,100 candidates had been selected or declared for the local election.

Meanwhile, about 373 million people across the EU are eligible to vote to elect 720 MEPs in the European elections.

Voting has been taking place across Europe over four days, and as a result, Ireland will not start counting European votes until Sunday 9 June.

Fourteen MEPs will be sent back to Brussels from the Republic of Ireland.

Five will represent the constituency of Midlands North-West, a 15-county constituency in which 27 candidates are running.

Five will represent Ireland South, where 23 candidates are running across 10 counties.

And four will represent Dublin, where there are also 23 candidates on the ballot.

The elections are being held from 6 June to 9 June.

The results cannot be announced until voting concludes across Europe at 22:00 Irish time on Sunday.