Healy eliminated as Ahearn gets massive boost - FG candidate still needs a large portion of Healy transfers

Long serving Independent TD Seamus Healy has been eliminated in Tipperary at the seventh count.

FG's Garret Ahearn received 3,592 transfers from party colleague Mary Newman Julian to elevate him to  10,626, but he is still lagging behind Mattie McGrath (12,478), Alan Kelly (12,135), Jackie Cahill (12,118) and Martin Browne (11,964). Indeed, Browne (SF) looked a dead cert for perhaps the second or third seat, but is now looking more likely to take the fifth seat if trends continue.

However, he could be banking on getting a big transfer from Healy in the 8th count, whereas Ahearn is unlikely to do so.

It still seems likely that McGrath, Browne, Cahill and Kelly will follow Michael Lowry into Dail Eireann.