There was bound to be an injection of new blood into Roscommon County Council with six of 18 councillors not seeking reelection, but following a count which ran for more than 30 hours the local authority’s make-up is largely unchanged.

There were nine Independents elected here in 2019, and it was a strong showing again this time with seven non-party candidates and an Independent Ireland member taking seats. Fianna Fáil will have five councillors in the chamber (down one) and Fine Gael will have four (up two). Sinn Féin still has just one councillor in the county, with Leah Cull successful in Boyle where she had two running mates.

Voters in the Athlone area almost elected the youngest councillor in the country, but 18-year-old Trinity College Dublin Sociology and Social Policy student Sam Brooks fell just 38 votes of taking a second seat on the council for Sinn Féin. Independent Emer Kelly topped the poll here and was elected alongside Tony Ward (Ind) on the first count.

Fine Gael’s John Naughten, a brother of the Independent TD Denis Naughten, also exceeded the quota on the first count and his party colleague Domnick Connolly, who seemed to be out of the running, surged on transfers and pipped Brooks to the final seat. Fianna Fáil retained a seat here via John Keogh.

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Fianna Fáil retained its three seats in the Roscommon local electoral area, despite the retirement of Cllr Orla Leyden, with Paschal Fitzmaurice, Larry Brennan and Marty McDermott elected. Newcomer Gareth Scahill won back a seat here for Fine Gael after the party drew a blank in 2019. Independent Tony Waldron and Independent Ireland’s Nigel Dineen were elected on the fourth count.

In Boyle, Valerie Byrne (Ind), a councillor for 22 years, polled the highest first preference share and was elected on the third count. Independent Micheál Frain followed her on the seventh. Fianna Fáil will be disappointed not to have retained its two seats here, but newcomer Seán Moylan was elected on the 10th count along with Independent Tom Crosby and Fine Gael’s Liam Callaghan.

Athlone: 6 seats

Boyle: 6 seats

Roscommon: 6 seats

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