Irish elections: Islanders first to ballot box
More than 2,000 people living on the islands off Mayo, Galway and Donegal are voting in local and European elections.
The elections in the rest of the Republic of Ireland take place on Friday, but islanders vote a day earlier to facilitate the count.
A total of 2,131 people are registered to vote on the 12 islands.
There are 753 people on the electoral list on the five inhabited islands off the coast of County Donegal.
Arranmore, with over 500 voters, has the largest list while just six people are entitled to vote on Inishfree. The other islands are Tory, Inishbofin and Gola.
Voting on Innishboffin and Tory islands was slightly delayed on Thursday morning because of technical problems with the Irish Air Corps helicopter.
The problem has now been resolved and the ballots have been delivered.
On the four Galway islands, 1,180 people are entitled to vote with over half of that number registered on Inis Mór.
The islands off County Mayo, Inishbiggle, Inishturk and Clare Island, have 198 voters.
The sealed ballot boxes will be brought back to the mainland by helicopter and by boat.