Ireland votes in local and European elections

Polls have closed in the Republic of Ireland in the local and European elections.

A total of 949 city and county council seats will be filled across 31 local authorities, and 14 MEPs will be elected to the European Parliament.

Polling stations opened from 07:00 to 22:00 local time.

Many schoolchildren got the day off as their building was used as a polling centre.

Voting took place in three electoral contests – the local elections, the European elections and the contest to elect a mayor for Limerick.

Fourteen MEPs will be chosen to represent Ireland at the European Parliament.

Five will represent the constituency of Midlands North-West, a 15-county constituency in which 27 candidates are running.

Five will represent Ireland South, where 23 candidates are running across 10 counties.

And four will represent Dublin, where there are also 23 candidates on the ballot.

In the local elections, 949 seats are to be filled in county and city councils in 166 local electoral areas.

More than 2,100 candidates have been selected or declared for the local elections this year.

In an important race seen as a test case for other cities in Ireland, the people of Limerick will vote to elect the mayor of the city.

It is the first time a mayor will be directly elected in Ireland.

Voters chose from a group of 15 candidates.

Polling stations opened at 7am and closed at 10pm on Friday evening.

On Saturday morning, ballots will be separated and bundled, with local elections the first to be counted.

Meanwhile, some 373 million people across the EU are eligible to vote and will elect 720 MEPs in the European elections.

Voting will take place across four days, starting with the Netherlands on 6 June and Ireland on 7 June.

Some countries will vote on 8 June and 20 others on 9 June.

As a result, Ireland will not start counting European votes until 9 June, and results cannot be announced until voting concludes across Europe at 22:00 Irish time.