The veteran gangster – named in the High Court by the Criminal Assets Bureau as the head of the Hutch Organised Crime Gang - is under the microscope of gardai and Spanish cops.

Gerry “The Monk” Hutch has ruled out a run for the Áras as he admitted that he enjoyed running in the general election campaign. “I love running. I’ve been running all my life,” he told reporters who gathered around him in a large scrum.

GANGSTER Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch sprinted away from the media after narrowly ­losing his bid to become a TD this afternoon. And the veteran criminal joked that he would run for election again,

Gerry Hutch has admitted that there's 'small concern' surrounding his personal safety after narrowly losing out on a Dáil seat in the General Election.

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 arrived at the RDS count centre where he was running as a candidate in Dublin Central. Video: Enda O'Dowd

All eyes are on Gerry Hutch in Dublin Central following Independent candidate Malachy Steenson’s elimination on Saturday evening

It’s now pretty much a two-way battle between Hutch and Labour’s Marie Sherlock for the fourth seat in the constituency.