Possible Laois Fine Gael General Election candidate set to top poll predicts final Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick District tally

Fine Gael councillor Conor Bergin could have put himself in the driving seat to be his party's General Election candidate after poll-topping performance, according to the final Fianna Fáil tally from the Laois County Council election count in Portlaoise. 

A titanic contest is on the cards also between Paddy Buggy of Fine Gael and possibly Fianna Fáil's Seamus McDonald for a seat. Mr Buggy campaigned actively among Mountmellick people in the hope of winning a second seat for the town.

All but two of the 36 boxes from the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District were tallied.

The tally reveals as follows:

• Conor Bergin, Fine Gael, 1537, 14%
• Paddy Bracken, Fianna Fáil,1426, 13%
• James Kelly, Non-party, 1271, 12%
• Ollie Clooney, Non-party, 1232, 11%
• Paddy Buggy, Fine Gael, 1067, 10%
• John King, Fine Gael, 1036, 9%
• Seamus McDonald, Fianna Fáil, 1035, 9%
• Fint Cuddy, Fianna Fáil, 531,5%
• Brian Phelan, Fianna Fáil, 481, 4%
• Lorna Holohan Garry, Sinn Féin, 440, 4%
• Helen Campion, Sinn Fein, 361, 3%
• Declan Good, Fianna Fáil, 270, 2%
• Kevin Drennan, Non-Party, 161, 1%
• Fiona Dunne, Green Party, 105, 1%
• Brian Corrigan, Labour Party, 76, 1%

A total of 15 candidates are vying for a seat in the Municipal District.

The votes will be counted at the Kea Lew business park from Saturday evening.