Ballots have closed on the offshore islands where 760 residents on five Donegal islands and almost 200 residents on three Mayo islands are registered to vote.
Over 1100 Aran and Inishbofin islanders vote in the Galway West constituency tomorrow.
However, over 460 residents of seven islands in the Cork South-West constituency can vote with the rest of the State on Friday, as the Department of Environment believes the return of ballot boxes will not be affected by weather conditions.
Earlier, strong southerly winds forecast for the north-west coast had presiding officer on Inishbiggle Mr Michael Leneghan hoping they would ease to allow for delivery of his ballot box into the Mayo count centre.
Some 29 people are on the electoral register for Inishbiggle.
However, Comdháíl Oiléain na hÉireann (Irish Islands Federation) chairman Padraic O’Malley says there is no reason why most other islands cannot vote at the same time as the rest of the electorate.
“Our students who are away at college won’t be able to come home to vote, and our polling stations are open from 10am to 7pm – shorter hours than on the mainland,”Mr O’Malley, who lives on Clare island, Co Mayo, said;
“It’s symptomatic of how islands are viewed, and how we are treated when it comes to other issues,” Mr O’Malley said. “Island transport has improved, but populations are falling and it is a constant battle to keep it at a certain level and hold onto schools.”
The smallest island electorate is Dursey island off Cork, which has just nine registered voters, while the largest is the Aran island of Inis Mór with 629.
There are over 2,500 registered island voters in total, according to Department of Environment figures.
