Three vote gap as second Belturbet recount underway

A second recount is underway for the Belturbet electoral area to decide who will take the final seat - Sinn Féin's Damien Brady or Fianna Fáil's Seamus McGahern. Just three votes separate the candidates The recount, requested by Fianna Fáil, was suspended yesterday while the returning officer, Ger Finn, considered a number of submissions from both parties with his legal team. If successful, Damien Brady will take a fourth seat for Sinn Féin on the Council and Fianna Fáil will lost a total of three seats - the other two going to Fine Gael in the Cavan and Bailieboro areas. The original count put just one vote between the two men and the first recount, which took place on Monday, was ordered by Mr. Finn. It's understood that Fianna Fáil had requested a complete recount from scratch and not just a rechecking of bundles or votes. This was declined by Mr. Finn, who's legal advice said it couldn't be granted. The Sinn Féin chief whip Charlie Boylan told The Anglo-Celt that his advice was that a full recount is not within the remit of the legislation governing re-counts and can only be granted by the Clerk of the Dáil. Speaking to The Anglo-Celt yesterday, Damien Brady said: 'I have won the seat twice. I don"t know what went on here at the count centre this morning and it looks at this stage that we are set for another recount tomorrow morning. I think Fianna Fáil should sit down and takes a look at themselves and study what they are at. I think they have wasted enough taxpayers" money in the county and country. They should accept the defeat and take it on the chin and get on with it.' The Fianna Fáil legal representative at the count said they did not wish to make any comment in regard to the nature of the legal submissions they had made to the returning officer. Their candidate in the eye of the re-count saga, Seamus McGahern, also declined to make any comment on the current situation. Damien Brady has a total of 1,006 votes while Seamus McGahern has 1,003 votes. When the votes were counted on Saturday, Brady was only one vote ahead of McGahern"s 1,003 votes. The quota at that stage was 1,199, but this changed to 1,200 in the first recount. Before the recounts in Belturbet, Cllr. Maura Maguire Lynch (FG) was elected on the first count topping the poll, while Cllr. Peter McVitty (FG) was deemed elected on the sixth count. Cllr. John Paul Feeley (FF) had reached 1,100 and Cllr. Sean Smith (FF) 1,082. The rechecking of votes is continuing.