Gangland figure Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch ran away from the press after losing his controversial bid to be elected to the Irish Dail.
The independent candidate, 61, was seen running away through the Royal Dublin Society car park being followed by the media.
Hutch had seemed well poised through much of the lengthy count process to win the final seat in the Dublin Central constituency, but was ultimately overhauled by Labour Party candidate Marie Sherlock.
The Dubliner had announced his surprise candidature after arriving back in Ireland last month following his arrest in Spain last month as part of an international investigation into money laundering.
He has reportedly been released on bail of £83,000.
Last spring, Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of the murder of David Byrne, in one of the first deadly attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.
Byrne, 33, died after being shot six times at a crowded boxing weigh-in event at the Regency Hotel in February 2016.
A judge of the Special Criminal Court described Hutch as the patriarchal figurehead of the Hutch criminal organisation and said he had engaged in ‘serious criminal conduct’.
Gerry Hutch, 61, was seen running away through the Royal Dublin Society car park being followed by the media
The independent candidate and alleged criminal known as ‘The Monk’ congratulates his opponent, Labour candidate Marie Sherlock at the RDS count centre on December 1
Last spring, Hutch was found not guilty by the non-jury Special Criminal Court of the murder of David Byrne
Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and other candidates in the constituency had criticised his election bid.
It had been anticipated that Hutch would not attend the Dublin count centre when it had become clear he would not be elected, but he arrived unexpectedly just after three o’clock on Sunday.
His presence caused chaotic scenes as a huge media scrum assembled and following him around the centre, while security staff struggled to keep control.
He finally stopped at railings placed around a vote counting station, which was not for the constituency in which he was running.
Dozens of reporters, photographers and camera operators jostled to get close and shouted questions.
He said: ‘There’s never a guard (member of the Garda) around when you need one.’
Asked why he thought so many people had voted for him, he replied: ‘Because they are looking for change and if I got elected I would give them the change that they want. I would do what they want.’
Asked why he had attended the count centre, he replied: ‘What do you think? This is a joke, this is a circus.’
Asked if he would run again, he said: ‘I’ve been running all my life, I love running.’
There were angry scenes as security staff attempted to move the media back.
Hutch stayed in the count centre for just over half an hour before leaving, surrounded by security staff.
As the media followed him outside the building, he was repeatedly asked if he would run for election again.
As the media followed him outside the building, he was repeatedly asked if he would run for election again
On Sunday morning, Hutch still had a lead of more than 2,000 votes over Sherlock
Hutch stayed in the count centre for just over half an hour before leaving, surrounded by security staff
Hutch (left) is pursued by the media outside the Special Criminal Court, Dublin, after he was found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin in 2016
He then started jogging through the car park, with journalists in pursuit, before turning onto the main road and continuing to run away.
Hutch had run a colourful campaign, telling reporters after he arrived at Dublin Airport some weeks ago that he would contest the General Election and then arriving at the office of the Dublin City returning officer on a moped to lodge his papers.
He was later pictured driving through the constituency in his white election van. His election posters featured the slogan: ‘We need change and I’m your man.’
His efforts at first seemed to have paid off. At the end of the first count in the four-seat constituency on Saturday, in which Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald topped the poll, Hutch was in fourth place with 3,098 first preference votes.
However, the complex system of proportional representation in the Irish election, means that the gap between candidates can fluctuate through a series of counts as some are elected and others eliminated.
On Sunday morning, Hutch still had a lead of more than 2,000 votes over Sherlock, prompting former taoiseach Bertie Ahern to tell Newstalk FM that it seemed likely that the controversial candidate would be elected.
However, as the count stretched into Sunday afternoon, the further distribution of votes saw Sherlock dramatically narrow the gap to just over 100 votes.
Of the 930 surplus votes that were available after the Social Democrat Gary Gannon was elected, 716 went to Sherlock and just 18 to Hutch.
The distribution following the elimination of Fianna Fail’s Mary Fitzpatrick similarly favoured Sherlock.
This left Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik able to predict shortly after lunchtime that Sherlock would ‘hold off’ the challenge of the independent candidate while the count was still progressing.
Shortly after Hutch left the RDS, it was confirmed that Sherlock had secured the final seat in the Dublin Central area.