Laois last county in Ireland without a count concluded or councillor elected
Laois County Council votes being counted in Portlaoise
Nearly 40 hours after the local election polls closed in Laois the county is the last in Ireland to conclude a count or return a candidate.
Meath County Council, where Laois man Kieran Kehoe is CEO, was the second latest county to conclude a count. A result from the Trim local electoral district was announced before 4pm on Sunday.
Many neighbouring counties are further advanced than Laois with Carlow, Offaly and Kildare already having returned several councillors by Sunday evening. Just two seat was left unfilled by 5pm in the Tullamore district.
Leitrim County Council was among the first to conclude a counts finishing at by 6am on Sunday morning.
Sorting of Laois votes in the local and European elections started at 9am on Saturday in Portlaoise at the CBS Scoil Chriost Rí sports hall.
Local election votes were transferred to the Laois County Council count centre in Kea Lew Business Park in Portlaoise at 6pm on Saturday.
Count staff concluded the sorting of one Laois municipal district in the early hours of Sunday morning after the returning officer Donal Brennan adjourned the process of the two other municipal districts at midnight.
Counting in the three municipal districts began by lunchtime on Sunday. By five hours later, by 5pm, counting was still underway in all districts.
A total of 47 candidates are competing for 19 seats.