Presidential election count begins

Counting in the election for Ireland's ninth president is set to begin.

Voter turnout nationwide was reported to be about 50% despite a record seven candidates standing for the role.

The first results from the first counts in the 43 constituencies are expected early in the evening or later, depending on the official turnout.

While a formal declaration by the Presidential Returning Officer may not come through until Saturday, the voting pattern should be clear much earlier and the final outcome expected to be known late on Friday.

The field was headed at the start of the week by opinion poll- topper Sean Gallagher, dogged in the final campaign days by controversy over his political fundraising past and financial transactions in his businesses.

Labour's Michael D Higgins was running second with commentators suggesting he will benefit from questions over Mr Gallagher's political background.

Gay Mitchell, candidate for the Government party Fine Gael, is not likely to poll strongly amid allegations that grassroots were not behind him.

Others in the race are Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, whose intervention in the last candidates' debate brought the questions over Mr Gallagher's past to the fore.

The also-rans look likely to be Senator David Norris, a former Trinity professor and Joycean scholar, Mary Davis, who headed the Irish division of Special Olympics, and Dana Rosemary Scallon, former Eurovision winner and Eurosceptic MEP.

The turnout was well below the high 70% seen at the February general election. About 3.1 million people were eligible to vote in the single transferable vote system, where the successful candidate needs 50% of the vote plus one