Gerard Hutch, the Dublin crime figure also known as The Monk, remains in strong contention to win the fourth and final seat in the Dublin Central constituency.
Hutch (61), a surprise contender in the election when he lodged papers earlier this month declaring his candidacy, received 3,098 first preference votes, or 9.5 per cent of the vote in the first count.
The vote put him in fourth position in the race in the four-seater constituency behind three sitting TDs – Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, Fine Gael Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe and Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon – though almost 3,500 votes short of the quota.
He remained in fourth position after the six count on Saturday night when counting adjourned for the night until Sunday morning at 10am.
Observers initially gave Hutch little chance, but he secured a large following in the north inner city, where he comes from, and picked up significant support in other areas.
The battle for the final seat is expected to come down to a contest between Hutch and Labour’s Marie Sherlock who remained 816 votes behind the veteran criminal after the six count at 11pm.
Following that count, Hutch had 3,733 votes followed by Sherlock with 2,917, Fianna Fáil’s Mary Fitzpatrick on 2,553 and the Green Party’s Neasa Hourigan on 2,315.
McDonald was elected with 7,388 votes after the third count.
After the sixth count, Gannon jumped into second place, ahead of Hutch, with 6,363 votes, followed by Donohoe who has 5,730 votes.
Donohoe told reporters at the Dublin Central count centre at the RDS in south Dublin on Saturday night that the majority of people in his constituency didn’t vote for Hutch but that other parties “will have to reflect on what are the reasons as to why this happened, why he got the votes that he did”.
Gannon said Hutch’s candidacy was unexpected but attributed his popularity to the media attention he received and the hurt felt for a long period by the Dublin inner-city community.
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“For me, it’s not just about what happens and who takes the fourth seat. I think it’s a reflection of the fact that there’s a lot of hurt; there’s a huge amount of pain,” he said.
The Social Democrats TD said that years of austerity had “destroyed the fabric of communities”, including those in Dublin Central.
He described the support for Hutch not as a “protest vote” but a “cry for help”.
Hutch’s election may depend on how many votes he receives from Independent candidate Malachy Steenson, an anti-immigration activist who was eliminated after the sixth count.
Hutch’s electoral challenge is all the more surprising given it comes a year and a half after the end of the Regency Hotel trial during which Hutch was accused of the murder of gangland rival David Byrne.
The 2016 attack marked an escalation in the bloody feud between the Hutch and Kinahan gangs which would eventually leave 18 people dead, including Hutch’s brother and two nephews.
Hutch was later acquitted of the murder by the Special Criminal Court, which rejected the evidence of former Sinn Féin councillor and Hutch associate Jonathan Dowdall who turned state’s witness.
The court concluded he did have control of the three assault rifles used in the murder and that Hutch was planning to give these to dissident republicans. However, Hutch was never charged with this offence.
