2019 Meath County Council election

2019 Meath County Council election

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All 40 seats on Meath County Council 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Fine Gael Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Seats won 12 12 3 Seat change 1 2 5   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Labour Social Democrats Aontú Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 1 1 1   Seventh party   Party Independent Seats won 10 Seat change 1
Results by local electoral area

An election to all 40 seats on Meath County Council was held on 24 May 2019 as part of the 2019 Irish local elections. County Meath was divided into 6 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).

Boundary review

Following the recommendations of the 2018 LEA boundary review committee, the LEAs used at the 2014 Meath County Council election were adjusted to reflect population changes revealed by the 2016 census. ^[1] The boundary committee recommended that Navan be designated a borough district. This was implemented in the initial statutory instrument, but was reversed as being contrary to Local Government Act 2001. ^[2]

Overview

Fine Gael lost 1 seat but remained the largest party with 12 seats but with an increased vote share. Fianna Fáil gained 2 seats to return with 12 seats also but their vote share reduced compared to 2014. Sinn Féin lost 5 seats and was reduced to having representation solely in Ashbourne, Kells and Navan. One of the Sinn Féin losses in Navan was to Emer Tóibín of Aontú, a sister of Peadar Tóibín TD. Through Annie Hoey, Labour regained a seat on the council in Laytown–Bettystown, and in Trim Ronan Moore won a seat for the Social Democrats. The number of Independent councillors increased from 9 to 10.

Sharon Keogan was elected in both the Ashbourne LEA and the Laytown–Bettystown LEA, becoming the first woman in Ireland elected to two electoral areas. ^[3] She initially objected to being required to choose one of two seats, ^[3] but later chose Laytown–Bettystown. ^[4]

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	1st pref	FPv%	±%
	Fine Gael	12	1	20,549	29.58	6.76
	Fianna Fáil	12	2	17,560	25.28	2.40
	Sinn Féin	3	5	6,845	9.85	8.32
	Aontú	1	1	3,361	4.84	New
	Labour	1	1	1,710	2.46	2.68
	Social Democrats	1	1	1,533	2.21	New
	Green	0		614	0.88	0.63
	Workers' Party	0		330	0.48	0.11
	Direct Democracy	0		241	0.35	0.05
	People Before Profit	0		164	0.24	0.29
	Independent	10	1	16,552	23.83	0.77
Total		40		69,459	100.00

Results by local electoral area

^  *: Outgoing councillor elected in 2014.
^  †: Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2014 election.

Ashbourne

Ashbourne: 6 seats ^{[5] [6]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Independent	Joe Bonner [*]	21.66%	2,170
	Fine Gael	Alan Tobin [*]	15.62%	1,565
	Independent	Sharon Keogan [*] [a]	11.78%	1,180	1,269	1,277	1,292	1,306	1,395	1,415	1,543
	Fine Gael	Suzanne Jamal [*]	11.73%	1,175	1,239	1,258	1,328	1,336	1,479
	Fianna Fáil	Conor Tormey [†]	8.15%	817	1,019	1,060	1,132	1,151	1,167	1,176	1,256	1,357
	Fianna Fáil	Lisa Mellor	7.20%	721	738	740	790	795	889	896	955	1,005
	Aontú	Joseph Tuite	5.22%	523	562	566	583	590	613	617
	Sinn Féin	Darren O'Rourke [*] [a]	5.00%	501	573	581	592	836	847	848	950	1,148
	Social Democrats	Paul Nolan	4.00%	401	546	569	574	611	621	627	668
	Fine Gael	John Stillman	3.88%	389	414	430	435	439
	Sinn Féin	Aisling O'Neill	3.10%	311	378	387	389
	Fianna Fáil	Sarah-Jane Reilly	2.65%	266	284	287
Electorate: 21,081  Valid: 10,019  Spoilt: 196  Quota: 1,432  Turnout: 10,215

Kells

Kells: 7 seats ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Drew [*]	14.06%	1,996
	Fine Gael	Sarah Reilly [*]	13.85%	1,966
	Sinn Féin	Johnny Guirke [*] [a]	11.82%	1,678	1,685	1,693	1,724	1,748	1,796
	Fine Gael	Eugene Cassidy [*]	9.95%	1,413	1,421	1,463	1,470	1,514	1,547	1,569	1,792
	Independent	David Gilroy [*]	7.87%	1,118	1,122	1,133	1,171	1,234	1,340	1,357	1,493
	Fianna Fáil	Paul McCabe	7.46%	1,059	1,109	1,125	1,141	1,195	1,251	1,353	1,546
	Fianna Fáil	Mike Bray	7.18%	1,020	1,070	1,088	1,096	1,132	1,178	1,384	1,458
	Sinn Féin	Michael Gallagher [*]	7.02%	997	1,013	1,019	1,071	1,120	1,216	1,235
	Fine Gael	Peter Farrelly	6.83%	970	1,000	1,061	1,083	1,136	1,177	1,347	1,410
	Fianna Fáil	Oliver Fox	4.92%	698	711	716	716	727	761
	Aontú	Peter Devin	4.03%	572	580	586	609	648
	Labour	Aaron Byrne	2.68%	380	402	414	490
	Workers' Party	Séamus McDonagh	2.32%	330	343	349
Electorate: 26,262  Valid: 14,197  Spoilt: 250  Quota: 1,775  Turnout: 14,447

Laytown–Bettystown

Laytown–Bettystown: 7 seats ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Independent	Sharon Keogan [*] [a]	17.80%	2,039
	Fine Gael	Sharon Tolan [*]	15.49%	1,774
	Fine Gael	Paddy Meade [*]	12.71%	1,455
	Fianna Fáil	Wayne Harding [*]	10.44%	1,196	1,228	1,236	1,240	1,251	1,257	1,265	1,270	1,287	1,301	1,451
	Labour	Annie Hoey [a]	9.54%	1,093	1,172	1,268	1,279	1,282	1,294	1,324	1,397	1,435
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen McKee [*]	8.93%	1,023	1,264	1,296	1,299	1,300	1,311	1,314	1,319	1,358	1,413	1,471
	Fianna Fáil	Tom Behan	7.52%	861	892	970	971	972	975	983	1,013	1,025	1,123	1,164
	Sinn Féin	Eimear Ferguson [*]	5.03%	576	633	667	668	669	776	816	846	915	971	1,038
	Aontú	Peter Whelan	3.29%	377	403	409	416	420	430	440	446	474	529
	Independent	Tom Kelly [*]	2.40%	275	322	365	376	377	382	395	407	440
	Direct Democracy	Anthony Connor	2.10%	241	270	274	280	280	293	315	347
	Social Democrats	Rob Corr	1.44%	165	177	198	200	200	202	232
	People Before Profit	William Lacey	1.43%	164	178	192	196	196	199
	Sinn Féin	Fergal O'Byrne	1.41%	162	187	190	192	193
	Independent	Patrick Smith	0.45%	51	65	68
Electorate: 25,236  Valid: 11,452  Spoilt: 201  Quota: 1,432  Turnout: 11,653

Navan

Navan: 7 seats ^{[11] [12]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Fianna Fáil	Tommy Reilly [*]	12.79%	1,330
	Aontú	Emer Tóibín	12.37%	1,286	1,289	1,306
	Independent	Francis Deane [*]	11.11%	1,155	1,161	1,173	1,187	1,250	1,273	1,303
	Sinn Féin	Eddie Fennessy [†]	9.51%	989	990	999	1,002	1,019	1,029	1,044	1,095	1,433
	Fianna Fáil	Padraig Fitzsimons [†]	9.42%	979	987	989	1,032	1,058	1,122	1,139	1,185	1,220	1,238	1,316
	Independent	Alan Lawes	8.76%	911	912	924	925	932	974	978	1,034	1,087	1,141	1,214
	Fine Gael	Yemi Adenuga	6.16%	640	641	649	665	684	707	781	806	867	881	1,225
	Green	Séamus McMenamin	5.91%	614	615	670	686	696	707	723	761	803	839	942
	Sinn Féin	Sinéad Burke [*]	5.41%	562	563	571	575	594	602	609	651
	Fine Gael	Ross Kelly	5.30%	551	552	560	573	590	628	714	756	794	805
	Independent	Wayne Forde [*]	3.06%	318	319	324	330	353	361	370
	Fine Gael	Karen Byrne	2.58%	268	268	270	276	285	291
	Independent	Stephen Ball	2.23%	232	233	239	245
	Fianna Fáil	Jenny McHugh	2.18%	227	229	230	266	269
	Fianna Fáil	Madeleine Thornton	1.70%	177	180	182
	Social Democrats	Amy McGrath	1.52%	158	158
Electorate: 23,167  Valid: 10,397  Spoilt: 195  Quota: 1,300  Turnout: 10,592

Ratoath

Ratoath: 7 seats ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Damien O'Reilly [*] [a]	17.52%	2,198
	Independent	Gillian Toole [*]	15.72%	1,972
	Independent	Brian Fitzgerald [*]	14.43%	1,810
	Independent	Nick Killian [*]	12.35%	1,549	1,598
	Fine Gael	Gerry O'Connor [*]	9.76%	1,224	1,259	1,339	1,384	1,408	1,470	1,542
	Fine Gael	Maria Murphy [*]	9.28%	1,164	1,366	1,386	1,430	1,469	1,635
	Independent	Seán Henry	5.48%	688	805	832	878	947	970	1,118
	Fianna Fáil	Deirdre Geraghty-Smith	4.62%	579	744	831	873	940	1,071	1,304
	Independent	Fergus O'Riordan	3.83%	481	496	594	609	710	790
	Fine Gael	Bee Flanagan	3.52%	442	456	517	548	567
	Sinn Féin	Maria Uí Ruairc	3.48%	437	469	499	517	567
Electorate: 25,803  Valid: 12,544  Spoilt: 221  Quota: 1,569  Turnout: 12,765

Trim

Trim: 6 seats ^{[15] [16]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fine Gael	Noel French [*]	27.23%	2,954
	Fine Gael	Joe Fox [*]	14.47%	1,570
	Fianna Fáil	Aisling Dempsey	10.25%	1,112	1,385	1,447	1,567
	Fine Gael	Niamh Souhan	9.48%	1,029	1,271	1,321	1,397	1,436	1,508
	Fianna Fáil	Vera Kelly	8.02%	870	931	948	1,085	1,148	1,193
	Social Democrats	Ronan Moore	7.46%	809	996	1,050	1,064	1,143	1,402
	Sinn Féin	Caroline Lynch [*]	5.82%	632	776	799	817	923
	Independent	Trevor Golden [*]	5.56%	603	845	886	923	1,138	1,332
	Aontú	Des Doran	5.56%	603	703	719	725
	Fianna Fáil	Sinéad Geraghty	3.97%	431	470	494
	Labour	Tracy McElhinney	2.18%	237	352
Electorate: 25,574  Valid: 10,850  Spoilt: 222  Quota: 1,551  Turnout: 11,072

Footnotes

1. See change below.

Results by gender

2019 Meath County Council election [17] [18] Candidates by gender
Gender	Number of candidates	% of candidates	Elected councillors	% of councillors
Men	50	64.1%	27	67.5%
Women	28	35.9%	13	32.5%
TOTAL	78		40

Changes after 2019

Co-options

Party		Outgoing	LEA	Reason	Date	Co-optee
	Independent	Sharon Keogan	Ashbourne	Elected for two areas; chose to sit for Laytown–Bettystown [3]	June 2019	Amanda Smith [19] [4]
	Sinn Féin	Darren O'Rourke	Ashbourne	Elected to the 33rd Dáil for Meath East at the 2020 general election [20] [21]	February 2020	Aisling Ó Néill [22]
	Sinn Féin	Johnny Guirke	Kells	Elected to the 33rd Dáil for Meath West at the 2020 general election [23] [24]	February 2020	Michael Gallagher [22]
	Independent	Sharon Keogan	Laytown–Bettystown	Elected to the 26th Seanad on the Industrial and Commercial Panel at the 2020 Seanad election [25] [26]	June 2020	Geraldine Keogan [27]
	Labour	Annie Hoey	Laytown–Bettystown	Elected to the 26th Seanad on the Agricultural Panel at the 2020 Seanad election [25]	8 June 2020	Elaine McGinty [28]
	Sinn Féin	Aisling Ó Néil	Ashbourne	Work Commitments [29]	June 2023	Helen Meyer [30]
	Fianna Fáil	Damien O'Reilly	Ratoath	Death of councillor	September 2023	Caroline O’Reilly [31]

Changes in affiliation

Name	LEA	Elected as		New affiliation		Date
Noel French	Trim		Fine Gael		Independent	September 2023 [32]
Joe Bonner	Ashbourne		Independent		Independent Ireland	May 2024

References

1. Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No. 1 (13 June 2018). Report 2018 (PDF). Government Publications. pp. 84–87, 157. ISBN   978-1-4064-2990-9. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
2. • For the initial order see County of Meath Local Electoral Areas Order 2018 (S.I. No. 628 of 2018). Signed on 19 December 2018by John Paul Phelan, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019.Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 8 May 2019.
   • For the amending order, see County Of Meath Local Electoral Areas And Municipal Districts (Amendment) Order 2019 (S.I. No. 8 of 2019). Signed on 17 January 2019by John Paul Phelan, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019.Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 15 May 2019.
3. "Keogan becomes first woman in Ireland elected to two electoral areas". Meath Chronicle . Navan. 27 May 2019. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
4. Doyle, Kevin (1 July 2019). "'Sad day for democracy' - Fianna Fáil candidate loses out on council seat after colleagues vote against co-option". Irish Independent . Dublin. Archived from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
5. "Declaration Of Result: Ashbourne LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
6. "Ashbourne LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019 – Results of Counts 1 to 9 of 9" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
7. "Declaration Of Result: Kells LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
8. "Kells LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019 – Results of Counts 1 to 8 of 8" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
9. "Declaration Of Result: Laytown–Bettystown LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
10. "Laytown–Bettystown LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019 – Results of Counts 1 to 11 of 11" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
11. "Declaration Of Result: Navan LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
12. "Navan LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019 – Results of Counts 1 to 11 of 11" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
13. "Declaration Of Result: Ratoath LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
14. "Ratoath LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019 – Results of Counts 1 to 7 of 7" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
15. "Declaration Of Result: Trim LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
16. "Trim LEA - Local Election - 24 May 2019 – Results of Counts 1 to 6 of 6" (PDF). Meath County Council . Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
17. Walshe, Louise; McCullen, Richard (27 May 2019) [25 May 2019]. "Meath County Council: Star of Gogglebox takes seat in Navan". The Irish Times . Dublin. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
18. DHPLG 2019, p. 247.
19. Carolan, Michael (1 July 2019). "Amanda Smith co-opted onto Meath County Council". LMFM . Drogheda. Archived from the original on 1 July 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
20. Bowers, Shauna (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Meath East results: SF tops the poll while FG's Regina Doherty loses seat; Minister for Social Protection comes in fifth in three-seater". The Irish Times . Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
21. Bowers, Shauna (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Election 2020: Darren O'Rourke (Sinn Féin)". The Irish Times . Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
22. Doyle, Simon (25 February 2020). "Three Sinn Féin members co-opted onto Louth and Meath County Councils". LMFM . Drogheda. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
23. Walsh, Louise (10 February 2020) [9 February 2020]. "Meath West results: Surprise at Fianna Fáil loss as seismic shift to left". The Irish Times . Dublin. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
24. "Election 2020: Meath West". The Irish Times . Dublin. 10 February 2020. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
25. O'Halloran, Marie (4 April 2020). "Seanad election results: Full list of Senators voted in to new Seanad". Irish Times . Dublin. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
26. Donohoe, John (3 April 2020). "Sharon Keogan becomes Meath's third senator". Meath Chronicle . Navan. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
27. "Gilroy new council chairperson". Meath Live. 6 June 2020. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020.
28. Donohoe, John (10 June 2020). "Newly elected representative hopes to be a councillor for all generations, present and future". Meath Chronicle . Navan. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020.
29. "Exclusive; Sf Councillor Resigns". 19 June 2023.
30. "Helen Meyer set to replace Aisling O'Neill on Meath County Council". 26 June 2023.
31. Murphy, Paul (11 January 2023). "Warm welcome for Meath's newest count councillor". Meath Chronicle . Navan.
32. Finegan, Noelle (28 September 2023). "French confirms he will contest local elections as an independent" . Retrieved 29 October 2024.

Sources

• "Meath County Council - Local Election candidates". RTÉ. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 September 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
• "Meath Local Election Results 2019". Meath County Council. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
• "Local Elections 2019: Results, Transfer of Votes and Statistics" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government . Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.