The six candidates elected in the Bandon-Kinsale local electoral area

THE six seats in the Bandon-Kinsale local electoral area have now been filled after eight counts in Clonakilty.

Alan Coleman (Independent) and John Collins (Independent Ireland) were the first councillors to be elected to the Bandon/Kinsale area. (Photo: Martin Walsh)

The first count in the Bandon-Kinsale electoral area saw Alan Coleman (Ind) take the poll-topping position for the third time, and first time candidate John Collins (Ind Ire) was also elected - both having reached the quota of 2,379 votes.

Fine Gael's John Michael Foley had to wait until the sixth count to reach the required number of votes in what was a close race to the finish line.

Fine Gael's John Michael Foley (centre) celebrating his election this evening with his father and uncle.

Social Democrat Ann Bambury reached the quota and was elected after picking up 17 votes from the surplus of John Michael Foley, taking her to 2,387.

'I'm just so proud of myself,' Bambury told The Southern Star after her election. 'All the hard work did pay off. This has not been an easy course for me – I'm new to the politics arena, I recently had a surgery in the middle of my campaign that put me back a little bit but we strategised, me and my sister and decided that we were taking this bull by the horns.'

The final two seats in Bandon-Kinsale were filled after count eight by Fine Gael's Marie O'Sullivan and Fianna Fáil's Gillian Coughlan.

Coughlan was elected with a surplus of 106 while O'Sullivan took the last seat without reaching the quota, as Fianna Fáil's Sean O'Donovan missed out.

'I'm very, very happy,' Marie O'Sullivan told The Southern Star. 'I'm delighted with the confidence that the people in the area have vote for me to continue working with them.'