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THREE Sinn Fein candidates have so far been elected in the two district electoral wards covering the Omagh area.
It looks set to be another historic election for the party, with votes in the Omagh Town area still to be counted.
To date, Glenn Campbell has been elected in West Tyrone, where the party’s other three candidates are strongly position to reach the quota. Mr Campbell polled 1279 first preference votes, while Ann Marie Donnelly on 1174, Stephen McCann on 1112 and Collete McNulty on 1163 are also well-placed.
In Mid-Tyrone, Padraigin Kelly and Roisin Devine-Gallagher were both elected at stage one. Kelly received 1621 first preference votes, while Devine-Gallagher polled 1464 first preferences.
Long-serving Ulster Unionist councillor, Allan Rainey, has also been re-elected. He will be the ‘father of the council’ when he takes his seat for the new mandate.
Elsewhere, though, the SDLP look to be in difficulty. Their sitting councillor in the three Omagh DEAs, Mary Garrity, is currently on 1044 votes, still behind Sinn Fein entering the third phase of counting.
In Mid-Tyrone, Shirley Hawkes of the DUP is close to the quota on 1057. She requires around 150 transfers to get over the line.
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