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11 June 2009 Edition

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331,797 all-Ireland votes for change

COUNTDOWN: Sinn Féin activists tally in the RDS, Dublin

COUNTDOWN: Sinn Féin activists tally in the RDS, Dublin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sinn Féin gains council seats across the 26 Counties

New county council seats in Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Mayo, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford and Wicklow all show the tangible gains by Sinn Féin as the party held up and improved upon its substantial 2004 performance in local and EU elections.
Across the five EU constituencies on the island Sinn Féin took a massive 331,797 votes and 14.34% of the all-Ireland vote. In the County council elections Sinn Féin entered the election with 51 seats and came out of the poll with 54 county council seats and 67 town council and borough seats.
An Phoblacht’s Robbie Smyth runs through the council votes county by county outlining the Sinn Féin performance which varies from seats won topping the poll to one vote margins in Cavan.

Carlow: New Town council seat
In a first time election for Sinn Féin John Cassin took 11.2% of the vote running in Carlow West and running in Carlow Town Council took a first seat here for the party.

Cavan County Council: One new seat
Sinn Féin took 10.2% of the vote across Cavan County council, winning four seats and representation in each of the county’s four electoral areas, up 1 from 2004.
In Bailieborough Paddy MacDonald was re-elected to the council with 8.4% of the vote.
Pauline Tully McCauley’s vote share increased for the third election running as she was re-elected for the Ballyjamesduff ward of Cavan County Council with 11% of the vote up slight on 9.76% in 2004.
In Belturbet, Damien Brady won a new seat for Sinn Féin with 8.7% of the vote. Brady won by one vote and a recount was called by the returning officer, which only changed the votes to put Sinn Féin three votes ahead.
Fianna Fáil who lost the seat to Sinn Féin were demanding a full manual recount while the returning office favours a smaller recheck of how surpluses were allocated. As An Phoblacht goes to print it is still a Sinn Féin gain.
In Cavan county electoral ward Charlie Boylan topped the poll with 15.3% of the vote up slightly on 2004 and was elected on the first count.

Cavan Town Councils
Sinn Féin didn’t win back the seat it last held on Belturbet Town Council in 1999. Noreen Quinn Briddigkeit won 2.2% of the vote. In Cavan town Council Brian McKeown was elected on the fifth count and running mate Richard Cassidy didn’t make it a double for Sinn Féin who took 13.7% of the vote here. In Cootehill Sinn Féin did retain its two town councillors as Harry McCabe and John Martin were returned for the third successive election.

Clare: New seat on Ennis Town Council
Sean Hayes won 2.8% of the vote running in the Ennis West ward of Clare County Council and 3% of first preferences on Ennis Town Council. Cathy McCafferty was elected on the fourth count to Shannon Town Council with 6.4% of the vote.

Cork City: Two new seats
Sinn Féin took 10.8% of the vote in Cork city up marginally on 2004, but in 2009 the party doubled its representation on council seats across the six city wards.
In Cork North Central Thomas Gould was elected on the ninth count winning a new seat for Sinn Féin with 7.8% of the vote in the five seat ward. In Cork North East Pat Coughlan took 7.7% of the vote in this four seat ward but did not win a seat.
In Cork North West Jonathon O’Brien was elected on the first count with 21.7% of the poll, up from 17.25% in 2004.
In South Central Fiona Kerins took a seat on the fifth count with 11.06% of the vote, up from 9.02% in 2004. In South East Ken Ahern took 7.17%, repeating the 2004 result, but didn’t take a seat. In South West Henry Cremin was elected on the fifth count with 12.38% of the vote.
Cork County
In 2004 Sinn Féin made a breakthrough onto Cork County Council winning its first seat in Middleton. In 2009 the party held its seat with increased votes across the county.
In Bandon Sinn Féin’s Rachel McCarthy took 7.45% of the vote, Sam Simpson took 1.62% of the vote in Bantry, and in Blarney John Stanton won 5.77% of first preferences.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire won 6.39% of the poll in Carrigaline up on 5.92% in 2004, Seamus Coleman took 4.67% of the vote in Fermoy and Donal Kelleher took 3.43% of the vote in Kanturk where Sinn Féin did not run in 2004.
In Macroom Sinn Féin’s Des O’Grady won 6.45% of the vote. Sinn Féin didn’t run here in 2004. Willie O’Regan took 8.44% of the vote in Mallow, another county council ward Sinn Féin did not contest in 2004.
Sandra McClellan retained the Sinn Féin seat in Middleton with 10.04% of the vote and in Skibbereen Cionnaith Ó Suilleabhain tool 6.19% of the vote, mirroring his 2004 performance.

Cork Town Councils
In Bandon Rachel McCarthy held the Sinn Féin seat with 7.53% of the vote. Mary Horgan took 2.74% of the vote in Bantry, while in Clonakilty Sinn Féin ran two candidates, with Cionnaith Ó Suilleabhain getting elected on the first count but Sinn Féin couldn’t retain the two sets won in 2004 and Paul Hayes wasn’t elected. Sinn Féin won 14.5% of the vote here.
In Cobh Sinn Féin won a seat in 2004 with 8.35% of the vote. In 2009 Kieran McCarty was re-elected on the fourth count, but running mate Albert McGroarty as just short of the second seat with a total Sinn Féin vote of 10.99%.
In Fermoy Seamus Coleman held the Sinn Féin seat with 4.62% of the vote, while In Kinsale Sinn Féin’s Noel Harrington won a new seat with 8.07% of the vote. Sinn Féin didn’t contest these town council in 2004.
In Macroom, Dermot O’Donovan polled 2.26% of the vote, while in Mallow where Sinn Fein won a seat in 2004, two candidates were fielded in 2009. Willie O’Regan retained his seat but second party representative Stella O’Sullivan didn’t make the second seat. Sinn Fein won 10.55% of the vote in 2009 compared to 9.16% in 2004.
In Midleton Sinn Féin won a seat here in 2004 with 4.99% of the vote. The party ran two candidates in 2009 with Pat Buckley being elected on the third count. Gerry O’Sullivan wasn’t elected and the party vote share more than doubled to 11.13%.
In Passage West, Sinn Féin retained their seat with 8.75% of the vote and Michael Frick Murphy was elected. Also in Skibereeen, Donnachadh O Seaghdha retained the Sinn Féin seat with 9.05% of the vote up on 2004, while in Youghal Sandra McClellan and Michelle Hennessy held the two Sinn Féin seats. McClellan was elected on the first count and Hennessy on the seventh. 

Donegal County Council
Sinn Féin’s vote share on Donegal County Council was at 13% in 2009, almost unchanged from 2004.
In the Donegal County Council ward, Jim McLaughlin took 6.51% of the vote, not enough to win a seat. In Glenties, Maire Therese Gallagher and John Ó Fearraigh took 15.82% of the vote, an increase on the 13.2% won by Pearse Doherty in 2004. Gallagher took a seat for Sinn Féin on the eighth count.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Seán Ruddy ran for Sinn Féin in the Inishowen ward. Together they polled 17.42% of the vote, up on the 15.36% won in 2004. Mac Lochlainn topped the poll and was elected on the first count. His transfers could not pull in Ruddy for the second seat.
In Letterkenny, Mick Quinn was elected on the 10th count with 8.26% of the vote. Over in Stranorlar, Cora Harvey topped the poll and was elected on the first count with 19.04% of the vote.

Donegal
Rosaleen Branley retained the seat formerly won by her father on Ballyshannon Town Council. PJ Branley died in a tragic car accident in 2008. Rosaleen topped the poll in the council with 15% of the vote.
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Darren Lalor retained their seats on Buncrana Town Council but could not go the extra mile and bring in the third Sinn Féin candidate, Ciarán McGuinness, even though Mac Lochlainn topped the poll here also.
In Bundoran, Sinn Féin did add an extra seat and Arthur Rafferty joins sitting Sinn Féin Cllr Michael McMahon on the town council. In Letterkenny, Sinn Féin’s Gerry McMonagle retained the seat he won in 2004.

Dublin City Council
The Leinster House breakthrough in 2002, where Sinn Féin won two Dáil seats in Dublin, narrowly missing out on a third for Dessie Ellis in Dublin North-West, was followed up by watershed elections in 2004, where on Dublin City Council Sinn Féin won 10 seats. Holding these was always going to be a serious challenge.
Organisational transition throughout the party in the city, boundary changes and a hostile print and broadcast media ignoring the party’s work on the doorsteps and in the council made the success in holding seven Sinn Féin seats all the more impressive, especially in the context of a campaign of hostile reporting targeted at Dublin South-East Cllr Daithí Doolan.
In the week before the election, the seven daily newspapers chose to ignore many of the party’s campaign activities and focus instead on the unfounded claims that Sinn Féin activists had burned the car of an electoral rival to Daithí Doolan.
This non-story made the front page of the capital’s only evening newspaper, the Evening Herald as “SF bullies smash up rival’s car”. The following day it was reported as “Sinn Féin accused over car damage” in the Independent; it was “SF election opponent’s car vandalised” in the Times; and “Terrorised by my brother’s killers” in the Mirror. The Star reported the story least negatively with a “Sinn Féin condemns attack”.
Even after the election, the Evening Herald has maintained its campaign against the party, running a headline on 8 June “Why most of us still see SF as revolting”. None of this can take away an impressive performance by the party in the capital, taking 12% of the total city vote, in the face of such stern challenges.
In Artane/Whitehall, Cllr Larry O’Toole topped the poll again for Sinn Féin, where the party took 22.35% of first preferences. Sinn Féin ran two candidates here but Denise Mitchell’s 930 votes were not enough to take a second seat for the party.
Louise Minihan was elected on the eighth count in Ballyfermot/Drimnagh with 13.67% of the vote. In Ballymun/Finglas, Cllr Dessie Ellis was elected on the first count but a strong showing by Cllr Ray Corcoran of 1,190 votes could not hold a second seat for the party here even though Sinn Féin had 26.6% of the first-preferences. Only the Labour Party at 31.6% registered a better first-preference share.
Seamus McGrattan had to wait until late on Sunday in Cabra/Glasnevin after a stop-start election count, with recounts and challenges demanded by Fianna Fáil, as Maurice Ahern lost his council seat. McGrattan was elected on the ninth count, notching up 9.6% of first-preferences.
Helen McCormack took 3.9% of the first preferences in Contarf. On the other side of the city, in Crumlin/Kimmage, Ray McHugh could not hold the Sinn Féin seat won in 2004. McHugh had 8.7% of the first-preferences.
Back over on the northside, in Donaghmede, Cllr Killian Forde was re-elected on the seventh count with 16.1% of the vote, just below his 2004 vote share. Sinn Féin ran two candidates in the North City: Christy Burke and Ruadhán Mac Aodháin. Burke held the seat and Sinn Féin took 15.6% of the vote here.
In the south of the city, Oisín Ó Dubhláin won 1.7% of the vote in Pembroke/Rathmines while in the South-East Inner City Daithí Doolan lost his seat, polling 11.9% of the vote.
Críona Ní Dhálaigh was elected on the seventh count to the South-West Inner City ward with 12.2% of the vote.

Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown
Sinn Féin have still not cracked this council. In the Ballybrack ward, Eoin Ó Broin polled 3.6% of the first preferences. Oonagh O’Reilly also took 3.6% of the vote in the Dundrum ward. In Dún Laoghaire, Brian McNally won 1.3% of the first-preferences.
Shaun Treacy, who was also running in the Dublin South by-election, took 5.9% of the vote in Glencullen/Sandyford. In the Stillorgan ward, Seamus Mac Floinn won 1.3% of the vote. Across the council area, Sinn Féin took 3% of the vote.

Fingal
Running in the Balbriggan ward, Sinn Féin’s Fergus Byrne took 3.8% of the vote. Byrne was also trying for a seat on Balbriggan Town Council but didn’t get elected.
Charlie Maples won 3.6% of the votes in the Castleknock ward. Colm Ó Murchadha took 2.9% in the Howth/Malahide ward.
In Mulhuddart, Sinn Féin Cllr Paul Donnelly’s 11.4% of first-preferences was not enough to hold this council seat for Sinn Féin. In Swords, Conor Kelly won 4.6% of the vote. Across Fingal, Sinn Féin took 5% of the total vote.

Galway City and County

Sinn Féin took 3% across the three Galway city wards. Anna Marley won 2.1% of the vote in City Central, Martin Concannon took 4.7% of the vote in City East while Tom Hanly won 1.9% of first preferences in City West.
On Galway County Council, Sinn Féin won 5% of the total poll with Dermot Connolly holding the Ballinasloe ward seat he won in 2004. In 2004, he took 9.7% of the vote and increased this to 12.7% in 2009.
Sinn Féin had two candidates in Connemara and Trevor Ó Clochartaigh and Kenneth Coyne shared 9.7% of the vote here. Anna Marley took 1.9% of the vote in Oranmore while, in Tuam, Grainne Morahan won 1.5% of the vote.
Jason Devlin held the Sinn Féin seat on Ballinasloe Town Council. Unfortunately, in Loughrea and Tuam town councils Eoghan Mac Cormaic and Grainne Morahan weren’t elected.

Kerry
Sinn Féin’s vote on Kerry County Council rose to 10% in 2009.
Theresa Moriarty Raftery ran for the party in Dingle, taking 2.7% of the vote. In Killarney, Lynn Ní Bhaoigheallain and Con Walsh shared 3.3% of the vote.
Robert Beasley topped the poll in Listowel with 2,523 votes and was elected on the third count. Risteard Ó Fuarain took 1,005 first preferences and the total Sinn Féin vote here was 21.6%.
In Tralee, Toiréasa Ferris was elected on the first count with over 800 votes to spare. Moss Hannon was the second Sinn Féin candidate here; he took 609 first-preferences. The total Sinn Féin vote share was 20.7%.
Lynn Ní Bhaoigheallain didn’t take a seat on Killarney Town Council but, in Listowel, Tom Barry topped the poll and was elected on the first count, followed by Anthony Curtain on the fourth count. In 2004, there was just one Sinn Féin seat here. The total Sinn Féin Listowel vote was 20.19% in 2009.
In Tralee, Sinn Féin held its two council seats with Toireasa Ferris elected on the first count. Cathal Foley had to wait until the 17th! The total Tralee Sinn Féin vote was 15.21%.

Kildare
Seán Downey ran for Sinn Féin in the Kildare ward on the county council and took 4.2% of the vote.
Paddy Wright held his seat on Athy Town Council elected on the third count with 9.3% of the vote.
Seán Downey also ran for Newbridge Town Council and polled 4.3% of first preferences here.

Kilkenny
Sinn Féin contested four of the five council wards in Kilkenny.
In Ballyragget, Ray Quinlan polled 3.6% of the vote. In Kilkenny, Kathleen Funchion garnered 6.2% of the vote. Peadar De Bluit took 3.8% of the vote in Piltown. In Thomastown Jamie Roche picked up 2.4% of the vote.
In Kilkenny Borough, Kathleen Funchion made the significant breakthrough of winning a seat for Sinn Féin on the 14th count, having polled 5.55% of the vote on this 12-seat council.

Laois
Sinn Féin contested all of the wards on Laois County Council, winning 8% of first-preferences, more than doubling the party’s 2004 vote share.
In Borris-in-Ossory, Ray Fitzpatrick took 5.3% of the vote. In Emo, Aidan Mullins was narrowly beaten for the last seat, having won 10.3% of first-preferences.
Marie Johnston ran in Luggacurren, taking 2.6% of the vote. In Mountmellick, Adam Haughton polled 2.7% of first-preferences.
In Portlaoise, Brian Stanley was elected on the first count with 17.5% of the vote. Stanley was also elected on the first count to Portlaoise Town Council. In Mountmellick, Stephen Lynch was elected for Sinn Féin, winning a new seat for the party here.

Leitrim
Sinn Féin won 12.5% of the vote on Leitrim County Council.
In Ballinamore, the party ran two candidates: Maureen Martin was alongside sitting Cllr Martin Kenny. Kenny was re-elected and the total Sinn Féin vote here was 21.7%.
In Carrick-On-Shannon, Chris Cronin polled 3.6% of the vote. In Dromahaire Padraig Fallon won 10.5% of the vote.
Michale Colreavy held the Sinn Féin seat in Manorhamilton with 15% of the vote.

Limerick
In Limerick City, Sinn Féin picked up 7.2% of the vote with Maurice Quinlivan elected on the 13th count in Limerick City North with 10.6% of the vote.
In City East, Tom Collopy took 6.4% of the vote. In City South, Seán Griffin won 4.1% of first preferences.
On Limerick County Council, Sinn Féin contested two of five wards. In Castleconnell, Seamus Keating won 1.7% of the vote and in Kilmallock it was a 1.7%  share for Richard Young.

Longford
Sinn Féin contested the four wards of Longford County Council and got 2.2% of first-preferences.
Conor Nolan ran in Ballymahon and won 2.7% of the vote. In Drumlish, Ciarán Grimes took 1.9% of the vote. In Granard, Jack Mulvey polled 1.2%. In the Longford ward, Brendan Farrell won 2.7% of the vote.
Brendan Farrell also unsuccessfully defended his seat on Longford Town Council.

Louth
The Sinn Féin vote in Louth was at 17.4%, marginally higher than 2004.
In Ardee, Pearse McGeough, with 14.9% of the vote, had to wait until the seventh count to be the first councillor elected for Ardee in this five-seater.
In Drogheda East, Imelda Munster held her seat with 12.5% of the poll. In Drogheda West, Paddy McQuillan added a new seat for Sinn Féin with 14.4% of the vote.
Moving up the coast, in Dundalk/Carlingford, Sinn Féin took 24.8% of the vote and two council seats as Jim Loughran and Edel Corriagn were returned to the council.
Tomás Sharkey topped the poll in Dundalk South with 19.4% of the vote.
Pearse McGeough held his Ardee Town Council seat, as did Kevin Meenan and Todd Harry on Dundalk, now joined by Ian Dooley.
In Drogheda Borough, Sinn Féin elected three members: Matthew Coogan, Imelda Munster and Dom Wilton.

Mayo: New councillor
Sinn Féin contested four of the six county council wards in Mayo winning 7.2% of the vote. The most significant breakthrough came in Mayo where Rose Conway-Walsh won a new seat for the party. Elected on the fourth count she won 15.1% of the vote.
In Castlebar Therese Ruane took 6.1% of the vote while in Swinford Gerry Murray topped the poll and was elected on the first count with 24.6% of the vote.
Dave Keating ran in Westport for both the county and town council elections. In the county council he polled 5.1% of the vote but didn’t hold his town council seat.


Meath
All of the Meath County Council wards were contested by Sinn Féin who won 7.9% of the vote slightly down on 9% in 2004.
In Dunshaughlin Michael Óg Ó Gallachoir won 1.9% of the vote, while in Kells Michael Gallagher took 10.7% of first preferences, but it wasn’t enough to hold onto the council seat he won in 2004. Conor Ferguson took a seat on Kells Town Council.
In Navan, Sinn Féin ran two candidates Joe Reilly and Peadar Toibin, who together won 15.5% of the vote. Reilly held his seat.
In Slane Sinead Burke won 5.9% of the vote and in Trim Caroline Lynch took 4.9% of first preferences.
On Navan Town Council Joe Reilly and Peadar Toibin held their seats. On Trim Council Caroline Lynch lost her seat by the narrowest of margins, a result compounded by the distribution of ballot papers to voters who didn’t live within the town council boundary.

Monaghan
Sinn Féin won 27.6% of the Monaghan Council vote and retained their council seats won in 2004. Sinn Féin are still the largest party on Monaghan County Coucil.
In the Carrickmacross ward the party retained their two council seats with Matt Carthy and Noel Keelan re-elected having won 29.8% of the vote here. Jackie Crowe was elected on the first count to the Castleblayney ward of the county council with 21.1% of the vote while in Clones Pat Treanor was also elected on the first count with 22.1% of the first preferences.
Sinn Féin’s strongest performance in the this council area was in the Monaghan ward where the party took 34.2% of the votes. Brian McKenna was elected on the first count, Sean Conlon on the sixth and Sheila McKenna on the tenth count. The fourth Sinn Féin candidate Malachy Trainor was not elected.
In the Monaghan Town Councils Sinn Féin had mixed results. In Ballybay 11.5% of the vote was not enough to keep the two council seats won in 2004. Gene Duffy was elected on the fifth count and Barry Cunningham lost his seat.
In Carrickmacross Sinn Féin ran four candidates after electing three councillors here in 2004. This time around Matt Carthy topped the poll and was elected on the first count as was Noel Keelan. There were no seats for the other Sinn Féin candidates Rose McMahon or Enda Tourish.
Sinn Féin elected three councillors to Castleblayney Town Council running four candidates here. Jackie Crowe and James Cunningham were elected on the first count. Sitting councillor Mariea Kelly lost out to Peter Grimes who was elected on the sixth count.
On Monaghan Town Council Sinn Féin fielded five candidates electing four. Sean Conlon was elected on the first count, Donal Sherry on the second, Pádraigín Uí Mhurchadha on the tenth and Paul McGeown on the 11th count displacing Malachy Toal who had a seat for Sinn Féin here in 2004.
In Clones Sinn Féin’s Pat Treanor and Niall Quigley were elected but there were no seats for Marcella Leonard and Aidan Sheerin.

Offaly: New town councilor
Sinn Féin contested two of the four Offaly electoral areas. In Edenderry Martin O’Reilly took 3.2% of the vote while in the Tullamore Ward Brendan Killeavy won 6.7% of first preferences.
O’Reilly also stood for Edenderry Town Council taking 2.65% of the vote. On Tullamore Town Council Killeavy was elected on the first count with 10.36% of the vote.

Roscommon: Two new councilors
Sinn Féin contested four of the five Roscommon electoral areas in 2009 winning 4.2% of the vote.
Alma Keogh running in the Athlone ward took 4.5% of the vote while in Boyle Jane Suffin polled 5.6% of first preferences. Jane Suffin was succesfully elected onto Boyle Town Council
The Sinn Féin breakthrough came in the Castlerea ward where Michael Mulligan was elected on the sixth count with 7.5% of the vote and in the Strokestown ward Catherine Vallely won 1.6% of first preferences.

Sligo
Sinn Féin won 7.9% of the vote in Sligo County Council slightly up on 2004. In Ballymote Thomas Healy took 10.9% of the vote more than doubling the 2004 Sinn Féin performance and narrowly missing out on the last seat here.
In Dromore Pádraig Hallinan polled 6.2% of first preferences while in the Sligo Drumcliffe ward Arthur Gibbons took 8% of the vote. Sean MacManus was elected on the first count in Sligo Strandhill with 12.9% of the vote.
In Sligo Borough, Arthur Gibbons was elected on the fifth count with 11.78% of the vote. Chris MacManus was elected on the fifth count in Sligo East with 11.9% of the vote while in Sligo West Sean MacManus topped the poll and was elected on the first count with 25.18% of the vote.

South Dublin
Sinn Féin won 11.1% of the votes in South Dublin electing three councillors.
In Clondalkin Sinn Féin ran two candidates sitting councillor Shane O’Connor and new candidate Matthew McDonagh. Sinn Féin held its seat with 17.45 of the vote and McDonagh was elected.
In Lucan Robert Ballesty won 3.7% of the vote, while in Rathfarnham Sorcha Nic Cormaic polled 3.2% of first preferences.
Séan Crowe was elected on the 9th count in Tallaght Central after taking 11.4% of first preferences while in Tallaght South Sinn Féin won 20.4% of the vote. Cathal King and Sinead Cooke were the Sinn Féin candidates with King elected on the 5th count.

Tipperary: New council seat
Seamus Morris was elected on the 9th Count to the Nenagh ward of Tipperary North Council with 8.7% of first preferences, securing Sinn Féin’s first seat on that Council since 1957. Morris also won a seat on Nenagh Town Council. David Doran held his seat on Thurles Town Council.
In Tipperary South Kevin Brunnick took 2.8% of the votes in Cahir while in Fethard David Dunne won 5.1% of first preferences.
Liam Walsh held his seat on Carrick-On-Suir Town Council as did Michael Browne in Cashel.


Waterford: New
county council seat
Sinn Féin took 9.2% of the vote in Waterford City electing one councillor. In the City East ward Bill Hayes took 6.15 of the vote, while in City North 12.9% of first preferences was not enough for Joe Kelly to hold the Sinn Féin seat here.
In City South David Cullinane retained the seat he won in 2004 with 9.9% of the vote.
Brendan Mansfield was elected to the Dungarvan ward of Waterford County council with 11.5% of the vote. Mansfield also won a seat on Dungarvan Town council. He was elected on the first count.
Pat Fitzgerald won a new seat for Sinn Féin in the Tramore ward of the council. He was elected on the ninth count with 8.4% of the vote.


Westmeath
Paul Hogan narrowly missed out on the last seat in the Athlone ward of Westmeath council when he won 7.9% of first preferences in this six seat ward. Hogan was re-elected on the ninth count to Athlone Town Council.
In Coole Mick Kenny took 6.1% of the vote while in Mullingar West Sorcha Clarke won 3.5% of first preferences. Clarke also ran for Mullingar Town Council but was unsuccessful.

Wexford
Sinn Féin won 7.6% of the vote in Wexford and suffered some council losses.
In Enniscorthy Noirin Sheridan polled 5.2% of the vote while in Gorey Michael Carty took 6.5% of first preferences.
John Dwyer’s 12% of first preferences in New Ross were not enough to help him keep his seat. Maurice Roche polled 6.7% of the votes in Wexford Town and lost his council seat also.
Johnny Mythen won a seat on Enniscorthy Town Council, while Liz Kenny lost out in Gorey with 3.33% of the vote
 In New Ross John Dwyer was elected on the ninth count while the second Sinn Féin candidate Mary Pyne was not elected.
In Wexford Borough a marathon count elected Anthony Kelly on the six count.


Wicklow: New county and town council seats
Sinn Féin won its first two seats on Wicklow County council with a major breakthrough for the party also taking 8.2% of the votes across the county.
Gerry O’Neill took 11.1% of the votes in Baltinglass up on 2004, while In Bray John Brady was elected on the first count with 13.4% of the vote.
Anthony McCoy won 3.4% of the vote in Greystones while in the Wicklow ward John Snell was elected on the fourth count with 12.8% of the vote. McCoy also ran for Greystones Town Council.
Sinn Féin won two seats on Bray Town council for Rossa Murray and John Brady. Catherine Hannon Kennedy was the other Sinn Féin candidate for Bray Town Council. She polled 5% of the vote. Eamon long retained his seat on Wicklow Town Council being elected on the fourth count.

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