BALANCE OF POWER: REST OF THE COUNTRYFIANNA FÁIL remains the largest political party in only four of the 34 county and city councils following the local elections.
The party has lost its top position to either Fine Gael or Labour in a total of 10 local authorities. In Dublin and Cork city councils its representation has halved: from 12 to six in Dublin and from 11 to six in Cork.
The party had 13 seats on Cavan County Council entering these elections but now only has eight. In contrast, Fine Gael’s has seen its number rise from nine to 13.
Fianna Fáil did manage to buck the trend in the home county of Taoiseach Brian Cowen where its representation increased from eight to nine.
In Donegal, the party holds 10 of the 29 seats, two ahead of Fine Gael. And in Tipperary North, notwithstanding the loss of four seats, Fianna Fáil remains the largest party with six seats. However, there is a wide distribution of seats here, with Independents making up a third of the 21 seats, thanks to the influence of candidates backed by former Fine Gael TD Michael Lowry.
Fianna Fáil now has but a single councillor on both Limerick and Waterford city councils and only three councillors on Galway City Council, the same as former PDs who stood as Independents.
Labour’s big gains in Dublin in 2004 were echoed by strong performances in urban and rural authorities nationwide. It gained one seat on seven councils and made more impressive gains in Wexford (up three), Kildare (up two) and Kerry (up two).
Fine Gael’s most impressive showings included councils where it now has a clear majority including Mayo, Limerick county, and Cavan. It is close to holding half the council seats in Longford, Laois, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Waterford and Sligo and Tipperary South.
Sinn Féin’s comparatively poor performance in Dublin was balanced by seat gains in Cork city, Waterford county, Limerick city, Mayo and Wicklow.
Independents also made strong gains at the expense of Fianna Fáil, particularly in Cork city, Clare, Tipperary North and Roscommon, which returned seven Independent councillors out of 26.
Fine Gael’s share of the vote was 35 per cent, compared to 25 per cent for Fianna Fáil and 15 per cent for Labour. Fianna Fáil’s seat-loss amounted to almost 80, compared to gains of almost 40 for Fine Gael and 30 for Labour. Fianna Fáil has now some 160 fewer council seats than when 382 councillors were returned for the party in 1999. There are now three Green councillors compared to 18 in 2004 – the party’s worst election since 1985 when only one of its members was elected.
