First votes cast in presidential election as islanders have their say

The first votes have been cast in Ireland’s presidential election.

Ballot boxes were delivered to 11 islands off the coast of counties Donegal, Mayo and Galway on Thursday morning.

The island with the largest number of registered voters is Inis Mor, Co Galway, where 666 people were able to cast ballots.

There are five islands in Co Donegal where voting took place, including the largest, Arainn Mhor.

The ballot boxes were brought to some of the islands by ferry and to others by helicopter by the Irish Defence Forces.

At Inishbofin off the coast of Co Donegal, the ballot box arrived by helicopter before being carried by a Garda officer accompanied by local presiding officer Carmel McBride to a community centre to allow islanders their chance for a say in who will become the next president of Ireland.

There was a similar procedure on Tory Island where a Garda officer carried a ballot box to a school and voting was opened to the public at 11am.

The ballot boxes were then collected on Thursday afternoon from the islands following voting.

Islanders traditionally vote a day before the rest of the country to ensure there is no delay in transferring the ballot boxes to the mainland in time for the count.

Voting on the mainland will take place on Friday.

Some 2,601 islanders are eligible to vote in this year’s election.

About 460 live on islands off the coast of Cork, but they will have to wait until Friday to vote, like the rest of the country.

Fianna Fail’s Eamon O Cuiv said islanders are at a disadvantage under the current process.

The Galway West TD said he is confident this election will be the last time those living off the coast have to vote on a different day.

“As a consequence of transport difficulties and the impact of adverse weather on these services, islanders have historically cast their vote up to three days ahead of the general populace,” Mr O Cuiv said.

“However, we have improved transport services and therefore this is no longer a valid reason for non-polling day voting.”

He added the arrangement has proved “very unfair” to residents because it means they typically miss out on the final days of election campaigns.

Six candidates are vying for the highest office in the state.

They are incumbent President Michael D Higgins, Senator Joan Freeman, Sinn Fein MEP Liadh Ni Riada, and three businessmen – Sean Gallagher, Gavin Duffy and Peter Casey.

The electorate will also be asked on the ballot paper whether they want to remove the word “blasphemous” from the constitution.