Newstalk’s political correspondent Sean Defoe is expecting Gerry Hutch to take the fourth seat adding, “The Monk will be a TD before all this is over”. Further down the tally, Labour’s Marie Sherlock is at 7.4%, Fianna Fáil’s Mary Fitzpatrick at 7.1% and Independent Malachy Steenson is at 4.8%.

Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch is reportedly doing well in his Dublin Central constituency, as the election remains too close to call between the three main parties.

GERRY ‘THE MONK’ Hutch appears to be in contention for a Dáil seat in Dublin Central.In the first count in the four-seat constituency, he secured 3,098 votes, while Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald topped the poll with 6,

There are four seats up for grabs in Dublin Central in what looks to be an intriguing race. Mary Lou McDonald and Paschal Donohoe are set to be re-elected but the other two seats are up for grabs, with Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch looking like he could take one, based off tallies.

One of the big stories from the General Election 2024 count is that Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch could take a seat in Dublin Central

With counting well under way in Dublin Central, early tallies show Gerard "The Monk" Hutch with a good proportion of first preference votes. At 10:45am, with 21,741 vote tallies unofficially, he had received 11.

With all boxes now tallied in the Dublin Central constituency, Independent candidate Gerard Hutch looks likely to be in contention for a seat with around 9% of first preference votes.

People across Ireland went to the polls on Friday to vote in the 2024 General Election. A lot has changed since we last went to the polls nearly five years ago. We have survived a global pandemic, saw Donald Trump re-elected US President and watched as two wars broke out.

Counting is underway across the country in the general election, and you can follow live updates here throughout the day