GERRY ‘The Monk’ Hutch has broken his silence by thanking his voters after he narrowly missed out on a Dail seat at the weekend. The Monk, 61, was a shock contender in

The veteran criminal had opened up a seemingly unassailable lead over rival Marie Sherlock in Dublin Central by Sunday afternoon but there was to be a final twist in one of the stories of the general

Failed election candidate Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch became a pivotal character in the story of organised crime in Ireland when he masterminded three of the biggest armed robberies in the history of the State.

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

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

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

WE’RE PAST THE halfway mark now in terms of the number of seats filled. It’s day two of counting election results to find out who will and won’t be making it in to the next Dáil. The Journal is bringing you live updates throughout the day as counting continues and more candidates are elected and eliminated.