The Dublin count in the European elections has been completed with independents4change Clare Daly taking the third seat and Fianna Fáil's Barry Andrews taking the fourth and final seat.

Daly leap-frogged Mr Andrews on the previous count, and expanded her majority on Lynn Boylan's transfers.

Earlier, Fine Gael's Seán Kelly was elected in the South constituency in the European election. He has secured the first of five seats in the constituency with 119,883 votes. The quota was 119,866.

The tenth count is now under way with Independent candidate Theresa Heaney's votes being distributed after she was excluded.

Mr Andrews has described his situation as "unusual" and "unprecedented".

The fourth Dublin seat does not become operational until the United Kingdom leaves the EU.

A dispute broke out late last night between Mr Andrews and Clare Daly of Independents 4 Change over whether or not Sinn Féin candidate Lynn Boylan's votes should be redistributed.

The Dublin count of the European Election was suspended last night, following the dispute between the candidates.

Ms Daly overtook Mr Andrews earlier, following the resumption of counting.

Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime programme, Mr Andrews said that it is a bittersweet situation to be in, as he can only take his seat if the UK departs the EU, which he does not want to happen.

"I've been studying Brexit over the last two years, and you don't have to study it to understand the damage it can do, so nobody wishes for it to happen. It's a really damaging thing, but if it happens, I am ready to take my seat."

He said that Fianna Fáil has been calling for an electoral commission to resolve many of the issues surrounding confusion of vote transfers.

He added that he's relieved the count has concluded, and that although it's not an ideal situation, he's satisfied with the outcome.

Ciarán Cuffe of the Green Party and Fine Gael's Frances Fitzgerald were elected last night.

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European Election results

EU counts resume, last local seats to be filled

In Midlands-North-West, Solidarity/People Before Profit candidate Cyril Brennan has been eliminated, following the seventh count.

He was the lowest placed of the remaining field with 8,699 votes, following the distribution of Renua's Michael O'Dowd's 7,677 total.

As the counts progress, the final make up of the European constituency is becoming clearer.

Luke 'Ming' Flanagan remains at the top of the field and is expecting to reach the quota based on transfer analysis his team has conducted in recent days.

The Independent MEP is followed by Sinn Féin's Matt Carthy and Fine Gael's Maria Walsh.

Peter Casey is in fourth place and, so far, has only made very slow progress in eating into the lead other candidates have on him.

After the seventh count, 12,038 votes separate Mr Casey and Ms Walsh. The former presidential candidate is considered unlikely to bridge this gap in coming counts.

In due course, the distribution of the votes of Fianna Fáil's Anne Rabbitte is expected to heavily favour her running mate Brendan Smith. He could leapfrog Mr Casey at that point, leaving the Cavan TD as the fourth candidate, with the remaining three seats to be filled.

The eighth count is under way with a result from that expected later this evening. It is considered unlikely that anyone will be elected today.

Minister apologises for 'mea culpa' moment

Meanwhile, Minister of State for Local Government and Electoral Reform John Paul Phelan has apologised for his "mea culpa" moment when he said Ms Boylan's votes should not be redistributed in the Dublin count.

Speaking this morning on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Phelan had said as he read the legislation "I think that the Sinn Féin candidate is excluded" and the other two are deemed to be elected in the order they stand.

When asked if it was his interpretation that Ms Boylan's votes should not be redistributed, he said the legislation does not provide for those votes to be redistributed "so I can't see how they will be".

He said the legislation is actually quite clear, but "it's a new situation because of the additional seats, but the legislation doesn't seem to provide for the redistribution of Lynn Boylan's votes".

Later, Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Mr Phelan said it must be something in the water with Fine Gael politicians on RTÉ early morning programmes in the last few days.

He said he doubted himself when he was reading reports last night regarding the redistribution of votes in the Dublin constituency.

He said that the law that was quoted was not the updated law - the updated law was amended by the 2019 Act - and this requires the distribution of votes to determine the order of election because the order is important.

He said luckily it seems from the tally men, "and this comes with a tally man health warning", that with the distribution of Garry Gannon's votes it seems likely to put Clare Daly ahead of Barry Andrews.

He said it is necessary to distribute the surpluses as they can affect the ranking of the candidates, as well as the votes of the Sinn Féin candidate, in order to determine the positioning of candidates.

Mr Phelan said the order is important in Dublin and in Ireland South because the last seat in both are the "cold storage" seats, which are dependent on the outcome of Brexit.

"I apologise to all the listeners for my misunderstanding this morning, it was a real 'mea cupla' moment", he said.