Galway East likes to be first – will it throw the first surprise in the West?

GALWAY East was the first count centre to call it a day in 2016 with all three seats filled well before midnight. But there’s speculation that the jaffa cakes might be needed as darkness falls on Sunday.

The tradition of voting either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil is over in the still rather conservative Galway East where there are 12 candidates running and five main contenders battling for the three seats – FG’s Ciaran Cannon and Pete Roche, FF’s Anne Rabbitte and Donagh Killilea and Independent Sean Canney.

Read our full preview, featuring the constituency map and voters' views, in this week's edition of The Tuam Herald