Wild horses wouldn’t drag me to an election tally. We had e voting in Dublin West in 2002 and expected a result within 2 hours of the close of poll. Inevitably there were snags, not least the incessant rain of that day and we had to endure a long wait in a stuffy crowded room before the computer churned out our count.

Yesterday we had the count at Coolmine Sports Centre in its large sports hall. I only went in about 4pm when I got word that the final count was underway. The Returning Officer in Dublin West was determined to deliver a full proper result in as fast a time as possible and he led his staff through a fantastic pace to achieve this.

I woke up early going over all the worse case scenarios in my mind. Then came the bombshell from Morning Ireland’s exit poll which turned out to be amazingly accurate. FF would have a higher share of the vote than 2002 , Labour would have less and FG would have gains from Labour. I had this awful fatalistic feeling while my husband Pat took a clearer analytic view to steady my nerves.

He had to go out early to the count as he was my campaign manager and I told him I didn’t want to know anything till 11 as I decided to go to the swimming pool ad left my phone at home. When he did get thorough he reported I was poised to hold on but that we wouldn’t know for certain till the last count.

Right from the start I knew that the last seat would be filled by a very small margin. And so it happened and I won by less than 500 votes from a disconsolate Joe Higgins who took his defeat with fantastic dignity. I had been there in 1997 when he defeated me and I respected his demeanour on this occasion.

The tally details are always fascinating and will be studied with care for weeks as the experts work out why we got votes here but not there. Every election is distinct. The lessons of one are different from the lessons of another but I never cease to marvel at the operation of PR and the way transfers operate. Why did 180 people vote for Sinn Fein No 1 and FG No 2? I got a huge number of transfers across the board which is gratifying though I had worried all through the election that the assurances of support I was getting might be No 2 and 3s rather than No 1s. Without an adequate number of first preferences a candidate can sink without trace.

Effectively the Election was determined by first preferences. The top 3 candidates won the 3 seats and there were filled in the order of the first count. The gap between candidates fluctuated all day but the last count ended in the same order as the first. This is a feature in most elections now. The top candidates get elected in the vast majority of cases. The political scientists have churned over the figures for different elections and have a mathematical formula about the chances of election as related to the percentage of the quota a candidate has on the first count. There are exceptions but very few.

It was only at the end of the day that I got word from other constituencies. Joanna Tuffy won in Mid west and I was thrilled by Roisin Shortall’s fantastic showing in Dublin North West. Then I heard the news from South Kerry that Breda had lost by the smallest of margins. She has been a good friend for years since we first arrived in Leinster House together in 1992. She has endured health difficulties in recent years and planned to retire. Then she staged a full recovery and decided to stand again and seemed poised to hold on but the 3 seater curse hither on the day. I will miss her in the House.

RTE asked me out for their radio and TV panels but the journey was a waste of time as it was impossible to have a debate as we were interrupted by declarations all the time. Anyway the final result was not yet ready so we can’t reach a conclusion.

I recalled what Bill Clinton said during the marathon Florida recount in 2002. "The People have spoken but it may a bit of time to work out what they have said." So it well may be with us this time till we know what shape a new Government will have.

I went to the RDS for the City Counts. The Dublin West Count was over by 5pm but in some City Constituencies there seemed to be long frustrating delays. Suddenly by midnight I was starving and decided to go home. We stopped at a chipper in Cabra West on the way. So I celebrated my re –election with fresh cod and chips and the remains of a bottle of Tesco’s Chablis from the fridge. How’s that for high living.