2019 Sligo County Council election

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2019 Sligo County Council election

Sligo in Ireland.svg

Map showing the area of Sligo County Council


Council control after election

TBD

A Sligo County Council election was held in County Sligo in Ireland on 24 May 2019 as part of that year’s local elections. All 18 councillors were elected for a five-year term of office from 3 local electoral areas (LEAs) by single transferable vote.

The 2018 LEA boundary review kept the two municipal districts used in the 2014 elections, while transferring one seat from Ballymote–Tubbercurry to Sligo and splitting the latter into two LEAs.[1] The changes were enacted by statutory instrument (S.I.) No. 632/2018.[2]

A total of 35 candidates contested the county’s 18 seats,[3] of whom fifteen were outgoing councillors.Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael each had nine candidates. Sinn Féin had three, Solidarity/People Before Profit had two, while and one each for the Labour Party, Green Party and Renua. The nine independent candidates included Declan Bree, who was County Sligo’s longest serving councillor. Thirteen of the fifteen candidates who were outgoing councillors were re-elected, including Bree who was first elected in 1974 to both the County Council and Sligo Borough Council.[3]

Several seats were decided by very narrow margins, and result was that Fine Gael gained three seats to become the largest party, with six seats. Fianna Fáil lost three seats, and the other group totals were unchanged.[5] The long-serving Bree was re-elected in the Sligo–Strandhill LEA.

Results by party[edit]

Results by local electoral area[edit]

Ballymote–Tubbercurry[edit]

Ballymote–Tubbercurry — 7 Seats[8]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fianna Fáil Paul Taylor[c 1] 11.80% 1,886 1,900 2,076              
Independent Joe Queenan[c 1] 10.86% 1,737 1,763 1,773 1,775 1,806 1,822 2,158      
Independent Michael Clarke[c 1] 9.77% 1,562 1,603 1,614 1,615 1,664 1,693 2,076      
Fine Gael Gerard Mullaney 9.53% 1,523 1,551 1,556 1,557 1,565 1,635 1,747 1,798 1,819 1,853
Fine Gael Dara Mulvey[c 1] 9.36% 1,497 1,538 1,583 1,584 1,624 1,931 2,062      
Fianna Fáil Martin Baker[c 1] 8.96% 1,432 1,472 1,510 1,521 1,535 1,793 1,821 1,869 1,895 1,902
Fine Gael Blair Feeney 7.54% 1,206 1,219 1,221 1,221 1,227 1,241        
Independent Willie Gormley 6.54% 1,046 1,098 1,175 1,186 1,455 1,743 1,786 1,804 1,821 1,826
Fianna Fáil Keith Henry[c 2] 6.39% 1,022 1,050 1,092 1,109 1,146          
Fine Gael Martin Connolly 6.32% 1,011 1,019 1,193 1,214 1,732 1,783 1,868 1,893 1,906 1,923
Independent Barry Gallagher 5.93% 948 998 1,097 1,109            
Fianna Fáil Romuald Mullarkey 4.33% 692 699                
Sinn Féin Daniel Gallagher 2.66% 425                  
Electorate: 24,389   Valid: 15,989   Spoilt: 198   Quota: 1,999   Turnout: 16,187 (66.37%)  

The Fine Gael director of elections made a formal complaint about the large increase in the number of postal votes cast — 252 compared to 131 in the same district in the 2014 election and 20 and 17 in the other two districts in 2019.[9] The ensuing Garda investigation into potential electoral fraud was still ongoing in February 2022.[10]

Sligo–Drumcliff[edit]

Sligo–Drumcliff — 5 Seats[12]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Sinn Féin Thomas Healy[c 1] 15.11% 1,370 1,402 1,437 1,610      
Fianna Fáil Dónal Gilroy 13.87% 1,257 1,279 1,322 1,435 1,450 1,534  
Fine Gael Thomas Walsh 13.46% 1,220 1,236 1,252 1,322 1,339 1,613  
Independent Marie Casserly[c 1] 12.94% 1,173 1,211 1,250 1,460 1,504 1,688  
Fine Gael Tom Fox 11.45% 1,038 1,049 1,060 1,112 1,116 1,320 1,375
Fianna Fáil Seamus Kilgannon[c 1] 10.20% 925 941 964 1,052 1,063 1,168 1,217
Fine Gael Ciara McLoughlin 9.27% 840 857 873 926 934    
People Before Profit Nigel Gallagher 4.78% 433 475 491        
Fianna Fáil Colm McGurran 3.66% 332 333 348        
Independent Amanda Gallagher 2.84% 257 267          
Inds. 4 Change Corey Whyte 2.23% 202            
Electorate: 16,154   Valid: 9,065   Spoilt: 127   Quota: 1,511   Turnout: 9,192 (56.9%)  

Sligo–Strandhill[edit]

Sligo–Strandhill — 6 Seats[13]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Inds. 4 Change Declan Bree[c 1] 15.83% 1,348          
Fianna Fáil Tom Macsharry[c 1] 12.23% 1,042 1,053 1,125 1,140    
Fianna Fáil Rosaleen O’Grady[c 1] 11.87% 1,011 1,016 1,057 1,069 1,145 1,217
Sinn Féin Chris MacManus[c 2] 11.24% 957 967 988 1,012 1,099 1,167
Fine Gael Blaine Gaffney 10.81% 921 926 958 971 1,016 1,100
Fine Gael Sinead Maguire[c 1] 10.74% 915 942 976 984 1,022 1,203
People Before Profit Gino O’Boyle[c 2] 10.56% 899 925 944 976 1,061 1,164
Labour Nessa Cosgrove 5.52% 470 537 567 583 606  
Independent Jim McGarry 5.45% 464 470 495 506    
Renua Finbarr Filan 3.70% 315 320        
Green Miranda O’Donnell 2.05% 175          
Electorate: 16,754   Valid: 8,517   Spoilt: 133   Quota: 1,217   Turnout: 8,650 (51.63%)  

Results by gender[edit]

2019 Sligo County Council election[5]
Candidates by gender
Gender Number of
candidates
% of
candidates
Elected
councillors
% of
councillors
Men 29 87.9% 15 83.3%
Women 4 12.1% 3 16.7%
TOTAL 33   18  
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Outgoing councillor elected in 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2014 election.

Sources[edit]

References[edit]