Waterford
Cardiac-care campaigner Matt Shanahan has topped the poll in Waterford City, sailing past the quota in his electoral area, while two Green Party candidates are well positioned to take up seats on the local authority.
Mr Shanahan, a first-time Independent candidate, racked up 20.3% of the first preference votes in the Waterford City East district, where Jody Power could snatch the Green Party’s first ever seat in the county.
He is likely to be beaten to the punch however by Marc O’Cathasaigh in the Tramore-Waterford City West ward, who received 14.3% of the number ones, one shy of the quota, in his party colleague and European Election candidate Grace O’Sullivan’s home district.
Labour, which held a solitary seat on the 32-person council, looks to have bounced back with Ger Barron and Seamus Ryan increasing their share of the vote and in with a shout of joining newbie Thomas Phelan in Dungarvan and sitting councillor John Pratt, who comfortably topped the poll in Lismore with 31.5% of the votes.
Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have held their own in terms of seats across the county. FG has been particularly strong in rural areas of the county, with Seanie Power (21%) and Damien Geoghegan (20%) topping the polls in their wards.
Sinn Féin looked set to potentially see its representation on the local authority reduced by 50% from six to three. One positive was the strong vote for John Hearne in Waterford City South, elected on the first count.
The Lismore Ward was the first to be completed, with John Pratt and FF’s James Tobin both surpassing the quota on the first count, closely followed by FG’s Declan Doocey, with the trio returning resoundingly over the Green’s Lynne Glasscoe and SF’s Louise Brierley.
Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
Tipperary
All five of Independent TD Michael Lowry’s political group have been elected to Tipperary County Council.
The former minister and FG member’s son Micheál topped the poll in the Thurles electoral area while John “Rocky” McGrath, who lost his council seat in 2014, was returned for the Newport LEA.
“Team Lowry” also saw Michael O’Meara retain his seat in Nenagh, as did Eddie Moran in the Roscrea- Templemore electoral area. Newcomer Shane Lee also took a seat for the group in Roscrea-Templemore.
The other big winner in Tipperary was FG, which increased its seat share from 10 to 12 and first preferences from 26 to 27%.
FF also boosted its first preferences by over 2% but ended up losing seats, including that of outgoing council chairman Mattie Ryan “Coole” who lost in Newport to party colleague John Carroll.
It was a bad election for SF, whose Carrick-on-Suir outgoing councillor David Dunne was its only representative in Tipperary to increase his vote share.
Catherine Carey ended up in a battle for the last of six seats in Clonmel and lost to Niall Dennehy while in Cashel-Tipperary, the party’s two candidates Cllr Martin Browne and Tony Black were neck and neck throughout the weekend before Black took the penultimate seat, with Independent Annemarie Ryan of the MarchforTipp protest group also successful.
SF failed to make an impact in any of the other five electoral areas.
Kilkenny
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have claimed all but three of the seats decided so far on Kilkenny County Council, with the parties having 10 and eight councillors elected respectively.
In line with national patterns, Sinn Féin’s vote has collapsed in the area with no candidate yet elected. Local TD Kathleen Funchion said she was hugely disappointed at her party’s performance.
Malcolm Noonan - the longest-serving Green Party councillor in the State - was re-elected in the Kilkenny electoral area along with poll topper Andrew McGuinness (FF), Joe Malone (FF) and David Fitzgerald (FG). There are three seats still to be decided in this electoral area.
Tomás Breathnach (Labour Party) and Pat Dunphy (FG) were both elected on the first count in Pilltown. Fidelis Doherty (FG), Eamon Aylward (FF) and Ger Frisby (FF) took the remaining seats on the sixth count. Cllr Melissa O’Neill, who parted ways with Sinn Féin halfway through the last electoral term to became an independent, has lost her seat. She picked up 1,221 votes in 2014 but secured just 233 first preferences this time out.
In Castlecomer, Fianna Fáil’s Pat Fitzpatrick topped the poll and was elected on the first count along with party colleague Michael McCarthy and Fine Gael’s Hilda Cavanagh. John Brennan (FG) was elected on the third count while Denis Hynes (Labour) and Michael Delany (FF) were elected on the fourth and fifth counts respectively.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael shared the six seats in the rural Callan-Thomastown district. Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere and Matt Doran of Fianna Fáil were both elected on the first count with their running mate Deirdre Cullen coming in on the seventh count. Fine Gael’s Michael Doyle was elected on the sixth count with Patrick O’ Neill and Joe Lyons following him on the seventh.
Carlow
Loses for Sinn Féin and Fine Gael resulted in wins for Independents, Fianna Fáil and, for the first time in the county, Solidarity - People Before Profit, in Carlow’s 18-seat county council.
With three local electoral areas in the county, the largest was the seven-seat Carlow area.
Local and European PBP candidate Adrienne Wallace secured her place on Carlow County Council by taking the fifth seat in the Carlow LEA, outpolling Fine Gael candidate Wayne Fennell in a tense final count. Her success is a first for the party in the county.
Poor national trends for Sinn Féin were reflected in Carlow, with the party losing two seats, a blow following their success in 2014.
Former Sinn Féin councillor John Cassin, now running as an Independent, was successful in the Carlow LEA, meaning a loss to his former party. In Tullow, Sinn Féin councillor Jim Deane lost out to first-time Fianna Fáil candidate John McDonald, in a very tense eighth and final count.
Fine Gael suffered the loss of long-standing councillor Denis Foley in Muinebheag, bringing to an end 40 years of public service for the Bagenalstown based councillor. However, Tom O’Neill managed to win back a seat for Fine Gael in the Carlow LEA.
Fianna Fáil polled incredibly well in the Carlow LEA, securing an impressive 48% of the vote to re-elect councillors Fintan Phelan, Andrea Dalton and Ken Murnane. The party also made a gain in Tullow, winning two seats to elect long-standing councillor John Pender and new candidate John McDonald.
It was a good election for the Independents in the county with Charlie Murphy polling well with 1,396 first preferences to take the second seat in the Tullow LEA, while Independent John Cassin held his seat in the Carlow LEA.
Wexford
he shocking and the predictable stood in stark contrast in Wexford as the cheering of elected candidates rung out over the weekend. With six local electoral areas and 67 candidates, there was triumph and despair as the counts came in.
Sinn Féin’s fortunes around the county were a big point over the weekend as they lost three sitting councillors. Fionntán Ó’Súilleabháin scraped over the line in Gorey to retain his seat, as did Tom Forde in Wexford. Mick Roche hung in until the last count in Rosslare, but ultimately lost out to Aontú candidate Jim Codd. Marie Doyle didn’t gain much momentum in New Ross before being eliminated, while first-time candidate Colette Nolan also missed out in Kilmuckridge.
Perhaps the biggest shock for Sinn Féin, however, was the failure of their general election candidate Johnny Mythen to retain his seat in Enniscorthy. However, he wasn’t the only high-profile candidate to miss out in the area. Current county council chairman Keith Doyle, who has been involved in local politics for 25 years, also lost his seat, as did Fine Gael councillor of 10 years Paddy Kavanagh.
In fact, in Enniscorthy, it was only Kathleen Codd Nolan (FG), John O’Rourke (IND) and Barbara Anne Murphy (FF) who retained their seats on a new-look council that will feature cousin of TD James Browne, Aidan Browne (FF), Cathal Byrne (FG) and Jackser Owens (IND) who had previously served on Enniscorthy Town Council.
There was a predictable outcome in Kilmuckridge with all four sitting councillors – Pip Breen (FF), Mary Farrell (IND), Willie Kavanagh (FF) and Oliver Walsh (FG) –l retaining their seats.
With a hint of predictability, European hopeful Malcolm Byrne (FF) topped the poll in Gorey, but will be hoping not to take up his seat as the European count continues. He was joined by Fine Gael duo Anthony Donohoe and Diarmuid Devereux before Donal Kenny and Joe Sullivan made it a clean sweep for Fianna Fáil in the district with Sinn Féin’s Ó’Súilleabháin also getting in on the last count. Labour veteran Robbie Ireton failed to retain his seat, which was a shock.
One of the more dramatic areas was Rosslare. Ger Carthy comfortably topped the poll with over 20% of first preference votes and was closely followed by Frank Staples (FG) on count two. Fianna Fáil general election candidate Lisa McDonald faced an anxious wait before being elected on count seven and then things took a turn when Fianna Fáil candidate Michael Wallace called for a recount with some 20 votes separating him and Sinn Féin’s Mick Roche, who was battling Aontú’s Jim Codd. The call was eventually retracted and the new party on the block claimed the new seat as the Rosslare public gave Codd the nod.
Wexford reaffirmed its status as a Labour stronghold with George Lawlor topping the poll with over 20 per cent of the vote. He was later joined by Labour colleague Maura Bell, but former councillor Joe Ryan just missed out on the final seat to complete a clean sweep.
Joining Mr Lawlor being elected on count one was John Hegarty (FG), who this time out had transferred from the Gorey district to Wexford LEA. Independent candidate and former Social Democrat candidate in the last general election, Leonard Kelly, surprised even himself when he took the third seat in Wexford before All-Ireland winner for Wexford in 1996 Garry Laffan (FF), veteran Davy Hynes (IND) and Tom Forde (SF) were all elected on count nine.
New Ross was the last district to be completed and while independent Pat Barden topped the poll comfortably, it was a clean sweep for Fianna Fáil seeing Michael Sheehan, Michael Whelan and John Fleming make it over the line. They were joined by Brídín Murphy (FG) and Anthony Connick (IND) with veteran Fine Gael councillor Willie Fitzharris missing out.
Overall in Wexford, Fianna Fáil can be said to have been the real winners, taking 29 per cent of the vote, closely followed by the independents who made up 27 per cent and Fine Gael with 26 per cent. Sinn Féin will not be happy with their campaign, retaining just two seats. Meanwhile it was a mixed bag for Labour. Although they gained a seat in Wexford, they lost a party stalwart in Robbie Ireton in Gorey.
