Veteran criminal came close to winning fourth and final seat after getting almost 10 per cent of first preferences

GANG boss Gerry Hutch has failed to land a Dail seat as a nail-biting election race. The Monk, 61, was a shock contender in Dublin Central constituency and landed 3,098 first preference

The alleged crime boss had been tipped to take one of four seats in Dublin Central, but lost to Labour’s Marie Sherlock

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

LABOUR’S MARIE SHERLOCK has beaten Gerry Hutch to take the final seat in Dublin Central in one of the biggest nail-biters of this general election. The race between the two had come down to the wire: Hutch had been in fourth place in the four-seater constituency throughout the count.