2014 Wicklow County Council election
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All 32 seats on Wicklow County Council 17 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Area of Wicklow County Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An election to all 32 seats on Wicklow County Council took place on 23 May 2014 as part of the 2014 Irish local elections, an increase from 24 seats at the 2009 election. In addition, the town councils of Arklow, Bray, Greystones and Wicklow were all abolished. County Wicklow was divided into five local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Independents proved to be the biggest winners in the elections, gaining 7 seats to return to the council with 10 members. Sinn Féin gained 4 additional seats on the council, leaving them with 6 councillors in total. The additional seats helped to insulate Fine Gael from significant seat losses and they remained the largest party despite losing a seat overall. Fianna Fáil gained 3 seats overall to return with 7 members and though they had more first preference votes than Fine Gael, they won 1 less seat overall. Several of the successful Independents such as Joe Behan, Christopher Fox and Jim Ruttle had former Fianna Fáil connections. The Labour Party polled disastrously in the election and were wiped out in what had been one of their former strongholds, losing all 6 seats. Outgoing councillor and outgoing chairman, Jimmy O'Shaughnessy also lost his seat in the election. O'Shaughnessy was a former Labour member. However, 2 former Labour councillors, Tom Fortune and Tommy Cullen, were returned as Independents.
It was also notable that none of the mayors of the town councils were elected. Mick Glynn (FG; Bray), Malcolm Earls (FG; Wicklow) and Peter Dempsey (Ind; Arklow) all failed to be elected, while George Jones (FG; Greystones) retired after serving over 40 years as a Town Councillor and County Councillor.
Results by party[edit]
| Party | Seats | ± | 1st pref | FPv% | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | 8 | -1 | 10,179 | 19.9 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | 7 | +3 | 10,196 | 19.9 | ||
| Sinn Féin | 6 | +4 | 8,493 | 16.7 | ||
| Green | 1 | +1 | 1,217 | 2.4 | ||
| Labour | 0 | -6 | 1,595 | 3.1 | ||
| People Before Profit | 0 | - | 1,054 | 2.05 | ||
| Independent | 10 | +7 | 18,228 | 35.7 | ||
| Total | 32 | +8 | 51,389 | 100.0 | — | |
Results by local electoral area[edit]
^ *: Outgoing councillor.
^ †: Outgoing councillor elected in 2009 in the Wicklow LEA for Labour; contesting both Arklow and Wicklow LEAs.
Arklow[edit]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat Fitzgerald[*] | 20.55 | 1,937 | ||||||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat Kennedy | 16.46 | 1,552 | ||||||||||
| Fine Gael | Sylvester Bourke[*] | 11.53 | 1,087 | 1,132 | 1,156 | 1,158 | 1,179 | 1,243 | 1,370 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Tommy Annesley | 9.16 | 864 | 1,130 | 1,181 | 1,186 | 1,232 | 1,298 | 1,380 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Mary McDonald†††††† | 7.91 | 746 | 776 | 787 | 811 | 853 | 872 | 972 | 976 | 1,088 | 1,092 | |
| Independent | Tom Curran | 7.0 | 660 | 690 | 703 | 731 | 766 | 807 | 892 | 902 | 1,075 | 1,082 | |
| Independent | Jimmy O'Shaughnessy[†] | 6.55 | 618 | 629 | 699 | 714 | 743 | 768 | |||||
| Independent | Peter Dempsey | 6.54 | 617 | 692 | 695 | 703 | 767 | 813 | 850 | 853 | |||
| Independent | Miriam Murphy | 6.31 | 595 | 651 | 669 | 691 | 747 | 815 | 933 | 949 | 1,233 | 1,245 | |
| Labour | Mary Mooty | 3.42 | 322 | 350 | 355 | 359 | 376 | ||||||
| Independent | Nicky Kelly[*] | 3.0 | 283 | 322 | 329 | 349 | |||||||
| Direct Democracy | Brian Whelan | 1.03 | 97 | 102 | 104 | ||||||||
| Independent | Charlie Keddy | 0.53 | 50 | 55 | 56 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 16,752 Valid: 9,428 (56.28%) Spoilt: 104 Quota: 1,347 Turnout: 9,532 (56.90%) | |||||||||||||
Baltinglass[edit]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||
| Independent | Tommy Cullen[*] | 16.90 | 1,802 | |||||||||
| Sinn Féin | Gerry O'Neill††††† | 14.45 | 1,541 | |||||||||
| Independent | Jim Ruttle[*] | 14.42 | 1,538 | |||||||||
| Fine Gael | Edward Timmins[*] | 11.95 | 1,274 | 1,374 | 1,381 | 1,402 | 1,405 | 1,411 | 1,434 | 1,513 | 1,850 | |
| Fine Gael | Vincent Blake[*] | 11.66 | 1,244 | 1,255 | 1,258 | 1,285 | 1,285 | 1,285 | 1,389 | 1,402 | 1,468 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Pat Doran[*] | 9.98 | 1,064 | 1,086 | 1,086 | 1,115 | 1,115 | 1,116 | 1,162 | 1,305 | 1,324 | |
| Sinn Féin | Aidan Kinsella | 6.09 | 650 | 685 | 689 | 716 | 723 | 724 | 792 | 823 | 840 | |
| Fine Gael | Lorcan McMahon | 5.45 | 581 | 596 | 603 | 611 | 615 | 618 | 627 | 723 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Joe McCormac | 3.81 | 406 | 439 | 446 | 456 | 458 | 460 | 473 | |||
| Independent | Kevin Byrne | 2.51 | 268 | 287 | 312 | 380 | 381 | 382 | ||||
| Independent | Jillian Godsil | 1.81 | 193 | 214 | 250 | |||||||
| Independent | Dominic Plant | 0.68 | 73 | 90 | ||||||||
| Independent | Charlie Keddy | 0.29 | 31 | 36 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 18,501 Valid: 10,665 (57.65%) Spoilt: 123 Quota: 1,524 Turnout: 10,788 (58.31%) | ||||||||||||
Bray[edit]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | John Brady[*]††† | 16.95 | 2,142 | ||||||||||||||||
| Independent | Joe Behan | 12.11 | 1,516 | ||||||||||||||||
| Independent | Christopher Fox[*] | 11.85 | 1,484 | ||||||||||||||||
| Independent | Brendan Thornhill | 6.55 | 820 | 843 | 896 | 903 | 912 | 947 | 964 | 1,004 | 1,013 | 1,102 | 1,138 | 1,217 | 1,298 | 1,498 | |||
| Green | Steven Matthews | 6.01 | 752 | 768 | 791 | 797 | 799 | 813 | 826 | 847 | 865 | 888 | 953 | 1,073 | 1,163 | 1,302 | 1,346 | 1,381 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Pat Vance[*] | 5.41 | 677 | 691 | 720 | 729 | 731 | 737 | 743 | 755 | 767 | 786 | 816 | 860 | 942 | 974 | 986 | 998 | |
| Sinn Féin | Oliver O'Brien††††† | 5.39 | 675 | 1,163 | 1,205 | 1,210 | 1,214 | 1,222 | 1,254 | 1,271 | 1,283 | 1,309 | 1,314 | 1,336 | 1,341 | 1,541 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | David Grant | 5.12 | 641 | 665 | 722 | 728 | 729 | 732 | 744 | 760 | 771 | 799 | 814 | 853 | 921 | 970 | 976 | 989 | |
| Fine Gael | John Ryan[*] | 4.71 | 590 | 594 | 607 | 617 | 617 | 620 | 624 | 634 | 647 | 656 | 851 | 942 | 1,312 | 1,339 | 1,347 | 1,358 | |
| People Before Profit | Sharon Briggs | 4.47 | 560 | 638 | 667 | 673 | 676 | 703 | 750 | 770 | 783 | 817 | 834 | 881 | 907 | ||||
| Fine Gael | Mick Glynn[*] | 4.39 | 550 | 560 | 580 | 588 | 589 | 592 | 595 | 607 | 615 | 630 | 746 | 842 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Sarah Wray | 3.93 | 492 | 498 | 505 | 515 | 517 | 519 | 521 | 529 | 554 | 565 | |||||||
| Labour | Ronan McManus | 3.58 | 448 | 461 | 481 | 487 | 490 | 497 | 500 | 513 | 623 | 639 | 677 | ||||||
| Labour | Tracy O'Brien | 1.76 | 220 | 231 | 240 | 243 | 244 | 244 | 247 | 251 | |||||||||
| Independent | Barry Nevin[*] | 1.65 | 207 | 224 | 225 | 250 | 254 | 271 | 288 | 318 | 322 | ||||||||
| Independent | Eugene Finnegan | 1.34 | 168 | 185 | 211 | 217 | 221 | 232 | 246 | ||||||||||
| Independent | Catherine Hannon-Kennedy | 1.16 | 145 | 162 | 179 | 182 | 189 | 198 | |||||||||||
| Independent | Seay Ledwidge | 1.0 | 126 | 133 | 142 | 146 | 154 | ||||||||||||
| Independent | Charlie Keddy | 0.39 | 49 | 54 | 59 | 61 | |||||||||||||
| Electorate: 23,347 Valid: 12,522 (53.63%) Spoilt: 148 Quota: 1,392 Turnout: 12,670 (54.27%) | |||||||||||||||||||
Greystones[edit]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||||
| Independent | Jennifer Whitmore† | 27.44 | 2,328 | |||||||||||
| Independent | Tom Fortune[*] | 14.64 | 1,242 | |||||||||||
| Fine Gael | Derek Mitchell[*] | 9.56 | 811 | 931 | 941 | 944 | 975 | 1,006 | 1,111 | 1,145 | 1,278 | |||
| Sinn Féin | Nicola Lawless | 8.08 | 686 | 757 | 796 | 800 | 823 | 840 | 847 | 882 | 896 | 897 | 1,090 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Gerry Walsh | 7.45 | 632 | 732 | 747 | 749 | 755 | 806 | 827 | 1,043 | 1,068 | 1,074 | 1,110 | |
| Fine Gael | Gráinne McLoughlin[*] | 7.46 | 633 | 755 | 771 | 774 | 808 | 851 | 922 | 960 | 1,167 | 1,215 | ||
| People Before Profit | Jacqui Johnston | 3.88 | 329 | 452 | 490 | 495 | 516 | 532 | 547 | 577 | 591 | 593 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | James Doyle | 3.83 | 325 | 380 | 393 | 395 | 410 | 478 | 505 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Liz Dillon | 3.65 | 310 | 405 | 411 | 412 | 442 | 454 | 511 | 532 | ||||
| Green | Niall Byrne | 3.58 | 304 | 462 | 480 | 483 | 542 | 555 | 578 | 611 | 668 | 676 | 800 | |
| Fine Gael | David O'Reilly | 3.36 | 283 | 345 | 349 | 350 | 369 | 383 | ||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Taragh Hanley | 2.82 | 239 | 295 | 302 | 304 | 306 | |||||||
| Labour | Ian McGahon | 2.22 | 188 | 273 | 283 | 286 | ||||||||
| Independent | Charlie Keddy | 2.10 | 178 | 243 | ||||||||||
| Electorate: 16,531 Valid: 8,485 (51.33%) Spoilt: 81 Quota: 1,213 Turnout: 8,566 (51.82%) | ||||||||||||||
Wicklow[edit]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | John Snell[*]††††† | 15.33 | 1,577 | |||||||||||||||
| Independent | Dáire Nolan | 11.26 | 1,159 | 1,162 | 1,169 | 1,170 | 1,176 | 1,180 | 1,191 | 1,196 | 1,266 | 1,281 | 1,317 | 1,370 | 1,394 | 1,468 | 1,475 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Pat Casey[*]†††† | 11.20 | 1,152 | 1,157 | 1,161 | 1,162 | 1,166 | 1,173 | 1,176 | 1,190 | 1,197 | 1,218 | 1,238 | 1,301 | 1,320 | 1,342 | 1,404 | |
| Fine Gael | Shay Cullen | 9.85 | 1,013 | 1,016 | 1,022 | 1,024 | 1,025 | 1,035 | 1,039 | 1,048 | 1,061 | 1,076 | 1,095 | 1,156 | 1,212 | 1,224 | 1,330 | |
| Fine Gael | Irene Winters[*] | 7.47 | 769 | 772 | 772 | 776 | 777 | 794 | 799 | 830 | 834 | 864 | 888 | 930 | 1,024 | 1,072 | 1,328 | |
| Independent | Pat Kavanagh†† | 5.19 | 534 | 538 | 543 | 556 | 573 | 587 | 625 | 637 | 655 | 702 | 825 | 880 | 930 | 1,109 | 1,200 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Gail Dunne | 6.87 | 707 | 711 | 712 | 715 | 722 | 724 | 729 | 752 | 757 | 775 | 799 | 824 | 885 | 947 | 1,082 | |
| Fine Gael | Malcolm Earls | 5.27 | 542 | 547 | 550 | 555 | 560 | 569 | 572 | 595 | 598 | 623 | 647 | 685 | 789 | 827 | ||
| Sinn Féin | Garrett O'Reilly | 4.63 | 476 | 519 | 522 | 531 | 542 | 549 | 573 | 580 | 615 | 635 | 666 | 708 | 761 | |||
| Labour | Paul O'Brien | 4.05 | 417 | 424 | 426 | 428 | 432 | 453 | 460 | 471 | 479 | 498 | 543 | 580 | ||||
| Independent | Jimmy O'Shaughnessy[†] | 3.98 | 409 | 422 | 425 | 431 | 437 | 447 | 456 | 471 | 477 | 508 | 539 | |||||
| Independent | John Goodman | 3.72 | 383 | 386 | 387 | 390 | 397 | 404 | 417 | 426 | 435 | 457 | ||||||
| Independent | Gerry Kinsella | 2.40 | 247 | 252 | 258 | 265 | 269 | 281 | 294 | 302 | 307 | |||||||
| Éirígí | Seán Doyle | 1.79 | 184 | 186 | 189 | 191 | 195 | 196 | 217 | 219 | ||||||||
| Independent | Mervyn Morrison | 1.69 | 174 | 175 | 175 | 176 | 180 | 190 | 193 | |||||||||
| People Before Profit | Anna Doyle | 1.60 | 165 | 167 | 168 | 172 | 174 | 187 | ||||||||||
| Green | Paul Leahy | 1.56 | 161 | 161 | 161 | 166 | 170 | |||||||||||
| Independent | Michael Mulvihill | 0.86 | 88 | 91 | 93 | 94 | 94 | |||||||||||
| Direct Democracy | Norman Phillips | 0.71 | 73 | 74 | 76 | |||||||||||||
| Independent | Charlie Keddy | 0.57 | 59 | 59 | ||||||||||||||
| Electorate: 18,303 Valid: 10,289 (56.21%) Spoilt: 91 Quota: 1,470 Turnout: 10,380 (56.71%) | ||||||||||||||||||
Aftermath[edit]
Following the elections, the Fine Gael group with 8 councillors, the Fianna Fáil group with 7 councillors and an independent technical group of 4 councillors came together to become the "official/government" side of the council, while the Sinn Féin group with 6 councillors, the Green Party councillor and an independent technical group of 5 councillors formed the "opposition" side of the council. One independent councillor refused to join either side and remained on his own.
Following the election, at the first Annual General Meeting of the council, Christopher Fox (Independent) was elected Cathaoirleach (chairman) of the council. John Ryan (Fine Gael) was elected as Leas-Cathaoirleach (Vice-chairman) of the council.
The "control" of the council was a rainbow coalition of Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil/Independent. The opposition side consisted of Sinn Féin/Green Party/Independent.
Changes[edit]
- †Greystones Independent Cllr Jennifer Whitmore joined the Social Democrats on 14 November 2015.[1]
- ††Wicklow Independent Cllr Pat Kavanagh died on 17 December 2015. Her sister, Mary, was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 7 March 2016.[2]
- †††Bray Sinn Féin Cllr John Brady was elected to the 32nd Dáil for Wicklow at the 2016 general election. Michael O'Connor was co-opted to fill the vacancy in March 2016.
- ††††Wicklow Fianna Fáil Cllr Pat Casey was elected to the 32nd Dáil for Wicklow at the 2016 general election. Gail Dunne was co-opted to fill the vacancy in March 2016.
- †††††Following an internal row with Sinn Féin TD, John Brady, three Wicklow Cllrs Oliver O'Brien (Bray), Gerry O'Neill (Greystones) and John Snell (Wicklow) were stripped of the party whip and became Independents.[3] On 8 12 Oliver O'Brien joined Peadar Tóibín's new movement.[4]
- †††††† Arklow Sinn Féin Cllr Mary McDonald resigned from the party and became an Independent on 10 March 2019 saying she was restricted in what she could do at Council level.[5]
Sources[edit]
- "Wicklow County Council". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014.