IT will almost certainly be well into Monday before the identify of the eight successful candidates in the Killarney Electoral Area will be officially confirmed as county council staff brace themselves for a marathon weekend of counting at the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre.
The polling booths will close at 10pm this Friday night and at 9am on Saturday the boxes from all four Kerry electoral districts will be opened, amidst tight security, at the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre.
The European election ballot papers will also be sorted in Killarney before being transferred by Army personnel to the official count centre at the Nemo Rangers GAA stadium in Cork.
The Tralee and Listowel local election papers will be counted at the John Mitchels GAA club in Tralee.
The Killarney and South/West count will continue in Killarney where the returning officer will be John Flynn while Michael McMahon takes charge in Tralee.
Staff numbers at the count centre and in polling stations have been significantly reduced following cost-cutting instructions from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and while the number of stations will be the same as 2009, there has been a reduction of 42 in the number of internal booths which is likely to lead to longer delays at peak times.
Three full days have been earmarked for the marathon count due to the fact that it is the first ever municipal authority election and there is a high number of candidates seeking election.
Six additional seats are up for grabs on the new 33-strong county council, with nine in both Tralee and Kerry South/West, eight in Killarney and seven in Listowel.
County registrar Padraig Burke said it could be very late on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning before the official results of the first count are announced.
Caterers from Tralee have been lined up to look after the food and beverage needs of the count staff in Killarney.
