1981 Fermanagh District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Fermanagh District Council election

←  1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985  →
All 20 seats to Fermanagh District Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Ulster Unionist Irish Independence SDLP Seats won 8 4 4 Seat change 2 4 3   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party DUP Independent Nationalist Independent Republican Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 2 0 1   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Party UUUP Unity Independent Seats won 0 0 0 Seat change 3 2 1

Elections to Fermanagh District Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used five district electoral areas to elect a total of 20 councillors.

Election results

Fermanagh District Council Election Result 1981 ^[1]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	8	2	0	2	40.0	34.0	10,395	4.0
	Irish Independence	4	4	0	4	20.0	22.3	6,867	New
	SDLP	4	0	3	3	20.0	17.8	5,436	7.3
	DUP	2	2	0	2	10.0	12.3	3,750	12.3
	Alliance	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.6	477	0.3
	Independent Nationalist	1	0	0	0	5.0	5.5	1,697	2.9
	Independent Republican	1	1	0	1	5.0	3.5	1,069	3.5
	Independent Labour	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.2	362	1.2
	Independent	0	0	1	1	0.0	1.7	528	4.5

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

^[1]

Results of the Fermanagh District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		IIP		SDLP		DUP		Others
Area A	21.3	2	19.6	1	13.8	0	8.3	0	37.0	1	4
Area B	52.0	2	21.5	1	12.4	0	14.1	1	0.0	0	4
Area C	27.6	1	33.7	1	16.5	1	7.9	0	14.3	1	4
Area D	36.8	2	15.8	0	25.9	1	18.6	1	2.9	0	4
Area E	34.3	2	22.5	1	19.9	1	12.6	0	10.7	0	5
Total	34.0	8	22.3	4	17.8	4	12.3	2	13.6	2	20

Districts results

Area A

1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Unity, 1 x Independent
1981: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP, 1 x Independent Republican
1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Independent, Independent Republican leaves Unity

Fermanagh Area A - 4 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Ulster Unionist	Jack Leahy*	16.29%	1,075	1,076	1,363
	Irish Independence	John McMahon	19.58%	1,292	1,309	1,312	1,312	1,455
	Independent Republican	John McCusker*	16.20%	1,069	1,085	1,086	1,086.36	1,239.44	1,243.44
	SDLP	Fergus McQuillan	9.52%	628	834	838	838.72	1,005.08	1,025.42
	Independent Nationalist	Thomas Murray*	12.87%	849	859	860	860	887	889
	DUP	Caroline Madill	8.31%	548	549	576	612.9	616.8
	Independent	Michael McBarron	8.00%	528	544	546	550.32
	Ulster Unionist	Thomas Johnston	4.99%	329	331
Electorate: 7,737  Valid: 6,598 (85.28%)  Spoilt: 136  Quota: 1,320  Turnout: 6,734 (87.04%)

Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x SDLP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x IIP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: IIP and DUP gain from UUUP and SDLP

Fermanagh Area B - 4 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Ulster Unionist	Cecil Noble*	29.30%	1,660
	Irish Independence	Anthony Cox	21.47%	1,216
	Ulster Unionist	Norman Brown*	15.75%	892	1,181.85
	DUP	Roy Coulter	9.44%	535	583.05	583.14	826.68	828.3	1,136.3
	SDLP	Thomas Doherty	6.97%	395	395.93	437.06	437.06	746.36	749.36
	Ulster Unionist	Cyril Crozier	6.99%	396	551	551.99	575.71	580.8
	SDLP	Seamus Carson	5.47%	310	310.93	348.01	350.01
	DUP	Margaret Veitch	4.61%	261	276.5	276.5
Electorate: 6,582  Valid: 5,665 (86.07%)  Spoilt: 109  Quota: 1,134  Turnout: 5,774 (87.72%)

Area C

1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Unity, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: Unity joins IIP

Fermanagh Area C - 4 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Irish Independence	Patrick McCaffrey*	19.90%	1,178	1,196
	Ulster Unionist	Wilson Elliott*	15.90%	941	1,215
	Independent Nationalist	Patrick Flanagan*	14.32%	848	901	1,252
	SDLP	Gerry Gallagher*	13.11%	776	907	1,150
	Ulster Unionist	Herbert Corrigan	11.71%	693	861	890
	Irish Independence	Annie Cavanagh	13.78%	816	818
	DUP	George Gott	7.91%	468
	SDLP	Patrick McGovern	3.38%	200
Electorate: 6,653  Valid: 5,920 (88.98%)  Spoilt: 174  Quota: 1,185  Turnout: 6,094 (91.60%)

Area D

1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: UUP gain from SDLP, UUUP joins DUP

Fermanagh Area D - 5 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Ulster Unionist	Herbert Kerr	19.31%	1,214	1,290
	SDLP	John O'Kane	13.41%	843	868	868	869.98	990.98	1,003.98	1,505.98
	DUP	Bert Johnston*	14.39%	905	921	1,180	1,181.98	1,183.98	1,187.98	1,194.98	1,197.98
	Ulster Unionist	Caldwell McClaughry	17.08%	1,074	1,117	1,124	1,149.74	1,153.74	1,156.74	1,167.4	1,191.4
	Irish Independence	Gerry O'Donnell	8.65%	544	547	548	548	576	876	992	1,170
	SDLP	John Cunningham	6.30%	396	414	415	416.98	647.98	752.98
	Irish Independence	Patrick Keown	7.13%	448	450	451	451	460
	SDLP	Patrick McGrath	6.22%	391	403	403	403
	DUP	Mariam Cuthbertson	4.23%	266	270
	Alliance	John Haslett	2.85%	179
Electorate: 7,320  Valid: 6,287 (85.89%)  Spoilt: 84  Quota: 1,258  Turnout: 6,371 (87.04%)

Area E

1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP
1977-1981 Change: UUP and IIP gain from SDLP and UUUP

Fermanagh Area E - 4 seats ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Ulster Unionist	Raymond Ferguson *	18.26%	1,116	1,124	1,225
	SDLP	James Lunny*	8.49%	519	629	694	790	795	1,294
	Irish Independence	Patrick O'Reilly	13.50%	825	836	844	931	931	984	1,558
	Ulster Unionist	Samuel Foster	9.21%	563	570	596	603	996	1,001	1,006	1,041
	DUP	Nigel Dodds	12.55%	767	768	772	781	813	815	823	837
	Irish Independence	Edward Bermingham	8.97%	548	552	553	623	624	639
	SDLP	James Donnelly*	7.46%	456	512	532	608	609
	Ulster Unionist	Alwin Loane	6.79%	415	421	436	440
	Independent Labour	Thomas Campbell	5.92%	362	384	425
	Alliance	Marjorie Moore	4.88%	298	313
	SDLP	Roy Tarbotton	3.96%	242
Electorate: 7,934  Valid: 6,111 (77.02%)  Spoilt: 142  Quota: 1,223  Turnout: 6,253 (78.81%)

References

1. "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Fermanagh". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 17 August 2021.