Fianna Fáil demand third recount for Belturbet electoral area

A third recount of votes in the Belturbet electoral area will resume tomorrow morning (Tuesday) at 10am after the Fianna Fáil party exercised its right to call a recount. The Sinn Féin candidate, Damien Brady, is now three votes ahead of Fianna Fáil candidate Seamus McGahern. On the ninth and last count, Brady was just one vote ahead and a recount was ordered by the returning officer, Ger Finn. The two men, it seems, are locked in a fight for the last seat in the Belturbet area. If tomorrow's recount were to come out in favour of the Fianna Fáil candidate, the Sinn Féin party have the right to demand a fourth recount. Eitherway, with so little in the difference between the candidates (1,006 votes versus 1,003) there is a very real possibility of the result being determined by the High Court with both parties seeking legal advice on the issue. If Fianna Fáil are to lose the seat, they will have lost three seats on Cavan County Council - two to Fine Gael in the Cavan and Bailieboro areas and one to Sinn Féin in the Belturbet area. 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. Detailed count results are available at: http://www.cavancoco.ie/cavanweb/publish/domain/cavancoco/Default.aspx?StructureID_str=274 Full election coverage, analysis, count results and photographs will also be published in the Anglo-Celt on Wednesday.