Independent candidate Gerard Hutch’s bid for the Dáil has ended as Labour’s Marie Sherlock took the fourth and final seat in Dublin Central.
Mr Hutch arrived at the RDS earlier this afternoon for the final declaration, but left the count centre before it was confirmed that he had missed out on a seat in the constituency.
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He ran through the car park of the RDS count centre being pursued by members of the media before turning onto the main road and continuing to run away.
Mr Hutch said that he got people to register to vote for the first time in Dublin Central.
He said “there was a very short time to do it”, but he said, “they went out and done it”
There were chaotic scenes in the Dublin Central count centre when Mr Hutch arrived shortly before the final count.
He refused to answer a number of questions by RTÉ’s Crime Correspondent Paul Reynolds before he walked around the centre followed by a huge media scrum.
Security guards appealed to journalists, camera operators and photographers on several occasions to stop pushing as they scrambled to capture pictures and video of Mr Hutch
He ignored many of the questions shouted at him, often smiling, nodding and shrugging his shoulders in response, while muttering some short answers to reporters who managed to get close to him.
He finally stopped at railings placed around a vote counting station, which was not for the constituency in which he was running.
Dozens of reporters, photographers and camera operators jostled to get close and shouted questions.
He said: “There’s never a guard (Garda) around when you need one.”
Asked why he thought so many people had voted for him, he replied “Because they are looking for change and if I got elected I would give them the change that they want. I would do what they want.”
Asked why he had attended the count centre, he replied: “What do you think? This is a joke, this is a circus.”
Asked if he would run again, he said: “I’ve been running all my life, I love running.”
He ended his visit to the RDS by approaching Labour candidate Marie Sherlock before leaving the centre surrounded by the press pack.
Mr Hutch, also known as ‘The Monk’, has been described by the Special Criminal Court as the head of the Hutch family.
He was found not guilty of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in February 2016.
The murder led to an escalation in the ongoing feud between the Hutch and the Kinahan organised crime groups, which has so far cost 18 lives.
During the election count for Dublin Central, Gerard Hutch had been locked in a tight race for the fourth and final seat, with just a few hundred votes separating them at times.
McDonald took first of four seats
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald was the first to be elected in Dublin Central. She was elected on the third count.
Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats took the second seat, while Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe took the third seat.
Of the 930 surplus votes that were distributed following the election of Mr Gannon, 716 went to Ms Sherlock and only 18 went to Mr Hutch.
At another point, Gerard Hutch was on 5,194 – 124 votes ahead of Labour’s Marie Sherlock on 5,070.
Paschal Donohoe’s surplus of 1,518 were then distributed – with 1,032 going to Ms Sherlock and 127 to Mr Hutch, allowing the Labour candidate to take the fourth seat.
Speaking earlier, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said she had received “many” messages from people who were not Labour voters saying how much they wanted to see Ms Sherlock win.
“This contest has captured the imagination like no other in the country,” she said.
Read more:
At a glance: The story so far as counting continues
Fianna Fáil looks likely to return as largest party
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Additional reporting PA
