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2024 Irish local elections

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2024 Irish local elections
← 2019 7 June 2024 2029 →
949 County and City Council Seats
Opinion polls
Turnout49.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Micheál Martin TD (cropped).jpg
Simon Harris at the Special European Council - 2024 (cropped).jpg
Mary Lou McDonald, 2018.jpg
Leader Micheál Martin Simon Harris Mary Lou McDonald
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Sinn Féin
Leader since 26 January 2011 24 March 2024 10 February 2018
Last election 279 255 81
Seats won 248 245 102
Seat change Decrease 31 Decrease 10 Increase 21
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Ivana Bacik 2021 (cropped).jpg
Holly Cairns, April 2023 (headshot).jpg
Eamon Ryan 2020 (cropped).jpg
Leader Ivana Bacik Holly Cairns Eamon Ryan
Party Labour Social Democrats Green
Leader since 24 March 2022 1 March 2023 27 May 2011
Last election 57 19 49
Seats won 56 35 23
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 16 Decrease 26
  Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party
 
Michael Collins politician.jpg
PBP–S
Peadar Tóibín (official portrait) 2020 (cropped).jpg
Leader Michael Collins Collective leadership Peadar Tóibín
Party Independent Ireland PBP–Solidarity Aontú
Leader since 10 November 2023 N/A 28 January 2019
Last election New party 11 3
Seats won 23 13 8
Seat change N/A Increase 2 Increase 5

The 2024 Irish local elections were held in all local authorities in Ireland on Friday, 7 June 2024. European Parliament elections were held on the same day.[1] It also included the 2024 Limerick mayoral election, for the first directly elected mayor in Ireland.[2][3] Each local government area (a city, a county, or a city and county) is divided into local electoral areas (LEAs) where three to seven councillors are elected on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).[4] This year saw a record number of women standing for election, with 31.4% (682 out of 2,171 candidates) being female.[5] 26.1% women (248 out of 949) were elected, a small increase compared to the last elections.[6]

Election timetable[edit]

Campaign[edit]

Violence and abuse against candidates[edit]

On 8 May, Fingal councillor Tania Doyle and her husband, while erecting election posters, were assaulted by a man shouting anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric while an accomplice filmed it. Her husband was left bleeding and knocked to the ground by the assault which also saw Doyle herself punched in the head after she attempted to shield her husband. The assault lasted 15 minutes and only ended when the accomplice pulled the assaulter away from kicking Doyle's husband while on the ground. Doyle stated she feared for their lives and going forward would not be canvassing for the remainder of the election.[7] The gardaí have stated that they are investigating the matter.[7]

Concurrently on 8 May, Dublin City Councillor Janet Horner of the Green Party and a colleague claim she was assaulted by a man who said "Dublin 1 is for the far-right". Horner was erecting election posters when she was reportedly confronted by a man who threatened to kill her. She said the man confiscated her posters and struck her when she resisted. Horner contacted the gardaí afterwards and resolved to continue to canvass despite the event.[8]

In another incident on 8 May, two women placing posters up in the Smithfield area of Dublin for Social Democrats candidate Ellen O'Doherty were threatened with a knife by a man demanding they remove the posters, who was then joined by another man. The women managed to escape when a local woman came from a nearby house and begged the men to stop. The campaigners reported the incident to the gardaí and said they would not canvass in future nor return to the area.[9][10]

On 15 May Fianna Fáil candidate Suzzie O'Deniyi was canvassing with members of her team in the Caherdavin area of Limerick when a man is alleged to have begun screaming racist and sexist slurs about O'Deniyi at her supporters. The man recorded himself doing so on his phone.[11] A man, Aaron Daly of Caherdavin, was arrested by Gardaí and charged with two counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, contrary to section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, before being released on bail. Daly was ordered to have no contact of any kind with O'Deniyi and that he is to report to the gardaí regularly until his trial, which is scheduled for 6 September 2024.[12]

On 17 May, Fine Gael candidate in Artane–Whitehall Linkwinstar Mattathil Mathew and his campaign team were forced to take down posters after they were racially abused and intimidated by a group of men. The perpetrators filmed the incident and posted it to social media.[13]

On 16 May Tánaiste Micheál Martin denounced the targeting of candidates, noting that the large majority of those targeted were from minority backgrounds. Martin stated the right to run in elections was a pillar of liberal democracy, regardless of background.[14]

Standing of parties[edit]

Party Councillors
2019 result Seats at election day Change
Fianna Fáil 279 276 Decrease 3
Fine Gael 255 254 Decrease 1
Sinn Féin 81 81 Steady
Labour 57 55 Decrease 2
Green 49 45 Decrease 4
Social Democrats 19 22 Increase 3
Independent Ireland — 13 Increase 13
PBP–Solidarity 11 10 Decrease 1
Aontú 3 3 Steady
Inds. 4 Change 3 2 Decrease 1
Right to Change — 2 Increase 2
Rabharta — 1 Increase 1
Kerry Ind. 1 1 Steady
Republican Sinn Féin 1 1 Steady
Workers' Party 1 1 Steady
Workers and Unemployed 1 1 Steady
Independent 185 181 Decrease 4

Results by party[edit]

The results were seen as a victory for governing coalition parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and a disappointment for Sinn Féin, which had significantly underperformed its polling.[15][16] Despite an increased number of far-right candidates, only a handful were elected.[17] The new right-wing Independent Ireland party notably performed well, as did independent candidates.[18]

Party Candidates Seats[19] ± vs 2019 1st pref. FPv% ±%
Fianna Fáil 366 248 Decrease31 22.9 Decrease 4.00
Fine Gael 339 245 Decrease10 23.0 Decrease 2.26
Sinn Féin 335 102 Increase21 11.8 Increase 2.32
Labour 109 56 Decrease1 97,575 5.3 Decrease 0.4
Social Democrats 77 35 Increase13 63,273 3.4 Increase 1.1
Green 129 23 Decrease26 66,684 3.6 Decrease 2.1
Independent Ireland 61 23 Increase23[a] 51,562 2.8 New
People Before Profit[b] 45 10 Increase3 22,231
Aontú 66 8 Increase5 39,461 2.1 Increase 0.7
Wexford Ind. Alliance[c] 12 5 Increase5 10,223 0.6 New
100% Redress 6 4 Increase4 7,400 0.4 New
Solidarity[b] 8 3 Decrease1 4,952
Inds. 4 Change 2 1 Decrease2 3,537 0.2 Decrease0.3
Irish Freedom 28 1 Increase1 9,500 0.5 New
National Party 15 1 Increase1 4,983 0.3 New
Right to Change 2 1 Increase1 2,639 0.1 New
Workers and Unemployed 2 1 Steady 1,887 0.1
Kerry Ind. 1 1 Steady 1,574 0.1
Independent Left 1 1 Steady 1,365 0.1
Republican Sinn Féin[c] 1 1 Steady 974 0.1
The Irish People 57 0 New 13,134 0.7 New
Ireland First 8 0 New 3,165 0.2 New
Workers' Party 3 0 Decrease1 1,700 0.1
Rabharta[d] 4 0 New 1,246 0.1 New
Glór 1 0 New 559
Party for Animal Welfare 5 0 New 457 New
Farmers' Alliance 2 0 New 355 New
Independent 488 178 Decrease7
Total 2,172 949 — — —
  1. ^ Founded in 2022. Entered the election with 13 sitting councillors, of whom 11 were re-elected.
  2. ^ a b Contesting as part of People Before Profit–Solidarity.
  3. ^ a b Not a registered party. Appeared on the ballot as non-party.
  4. ^ Did not appear on the ballot as Rabharta. The Electoral Commission proposed the registration of the party to contest European and local elections on 12 April. However, as the proposed decision was subject to a 21-day appeal period, it was not in force for the 7 June 2024 elections.[20]

Results by council[edit]

Authority FF FG SF Lab SD GP II PBP Aon WIA 100% RE Sol I4C IF NP RTOC WUA KIA IL RSF Ind Total Details
Carlow 5 6 2 1 1 1 2 18 Details
Cavan 6 6 3 1 1 1 18 Details
Clare 14 9 2 3 28 Details
Cork 19 18 1 2 3 4 8 55 Details
Cork City 9 5 4 3 1 3 1 1 4 31 Details
Donegal 10 3 10 1 4 9 37 Details
Dublin City 8 11 9 4 10 8 1 2 1 9 63 Details
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown 5 16 5 1 6 2 5 40 Details
Fingal 6 7 4 7 2 1 2 2 1 1 7 40 Details
Galway 11 13 2 6 7 39 Details
Galway City 4 4 1 3 2 4 18 Details
Kerry 9 6 4 2 1 11 33 Details
Kildare 12 11 1 5 7 1 3 40 Details
Kilkenny 11 7 1 2 1 2 24 Details
Laois 6 5 2 1 5 19 Details
Leitrim 6 3 4 5 18 Details
Limerick 10 13 3 3 2 1 2 1 5 40 Details
Longford 8 8 2 18 Details
Louth 6 6 7 2 1 7 29 Details
Mayo 10 10 1 1 1 7 30 Details
Meath 9 11 6 1 2 11 40 Details
Monaghan 3 6 8 1 18 Details
Offaly 8 5 3 1 2 19 Details
Roscommon 5 4 1 1 7 18 Details
Sligo 6 4 2 1 1 4 18 Details
South Dublin 5 9 5 3 2 1 4 1 10 40 Details
Tipperary 10 10 2 3 1 14 40 Details
Waterford 5 8 7 3 1 8 32 Details
Westmeath 9 4 2 2 1 2 20 Details
Wexford 9 8 3 1 1 5 6 34 Details
Wicklow 4 9 2 1 3 2 1 10 32 Details
Total 248 245 102 56 35 23 23 13 8 5 4 1 1 1 1 1 186 949

Opinion polls[edit]

Last date
of polling 		Polling firm / Commissioner Sample
size 		SF
Left 		FF
Renew 		FG
EPP 		GP
G/EFA 		Lab
S&D 		SD PBP–S Aon O/I
22 May 2024 Red C/Business Post[21] 1,021 21 15 19 3 5 4 4 3 26[a]
15 May 2024 The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A[22] 1,500 18 20 21 5 6 3 2 1 23
8 February 2020 2020 general election — 24.5 22.2 20.9 7.1 4.4 2.9 2.6 1.9 13.5
24 May 2019 2019 local elections — 9.5 26.9 25.6 5.6 5.7 2.3 1.9 1.5 24.1
  1. ^ Includes 24% for "Independent" and 2% for "Other Party".

Aftermath[edit]

Despite performing better than in the last election, Sinn Féin's results where seen as a "disappointment", with the election being reported as a victory for Ireland's governing coalition.[16] Fine Gael credited the results to the resignation of Leo Varadkar, which injected "fresh energy" in the coalition.[16] The Guardian, who stated that the "the local elections were a calamity for Sinn Féin", also reported that some figures within the coalition called on taoiseach Simon Harris to call for a snap election to "seize the momentum."[16] Harris, Micheál Martin, and Eamon Ryan, rejected calls for an early election.[16]

Financial Times reported that Sinn Féin did particularly poor because their core demographic, the working-class and youth, increasingly hardened on immigration, and instead voted for independent and far-right parties.[23] These parties in turn saw a surge in public support, with the Irish Freedom party seeing their first ever elected official.[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Polling Day Orders made for European, local and Limerick mayoral elections". Gov.ie (Press release). Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 6 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Cabinet approves legislation for a directly elected Mayor for Limerick". Government of Ireland. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  3. ^ English, Bernie (6 March 2024). "President signs Mayor of Limerick bill into law". Limerick Post. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Local elections in Ireland". Citizens Information Board. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Local elections 2024: See the full list of candidates in your area". web.archive.org. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Womens' groups call for gender quotas in local elections after 'disappointing' results". web.archive.org. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b MacRedmond, David (12 May 2024). "'We feared for our lives': Fingal councillor Tania Doyle attacked while putting up posters". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  8. ^ Jennifer, Bray (15 May 2024). "Green Party councillor attacked while hanging posters in Dublin". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 May 2024.
  9. ^ Gataveckaite, Gabija (10 May 2024). "Social Democrats campaigners say they were threatened with knife while putting up local election posters". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  10. ^ Gataveckaite, Gabija (14 May 2024). "Gardaí investigate alleged knife threat against Social Democrats campaigners". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  11. ^ McGee, Harry (16 May 2024). "Gardaí investigating alleged racist abuse of Limerick election candidate and canvassing team". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  12. ^ Raleigh, David (20 May 2024). "Man granted bail after alleged racist abuse of Fianna Fáil local election canvassers in Limerick". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  13. ^ Matthews, Jane (20 May 2024). "FG candidate grateful for outpouring of support after being attacked for putting up posters". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  14. ^ Matthews, Jane (16 May 2024). "Threats to election candidates from minority backgrounds 'dangerously off the wall', Tánaiste says". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  15. ^ Halpin, Padraic (9 June 2024). "Irish coalition parties hammer Sinn Fein in local elections". Reuters. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Carroll, Rory (10 June 2024). "Disappointment for Sinn Féin as Irish local elections bolster coalition". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  17. ^ O’Keeffe, Cormac (10 June 2024). "No 'revolution' but landmark result for four far-right candidates in local elections". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  18. ^ McMorrow, Conor (8 June 2024). "Bumper day for independents: 5 teatime election takeaways". RTE.ie. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  19. ^ "RTÉ 2024 Elections". RTÉ. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  20. ^ "Changes to Register of Political Parties See New Party Proposed and Name/Emblem Changes for Another". Electoral Commission. 12 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Business Post Red C Opinion Poll Report May 2024" (PDF). Business Post. 28 May 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  22. ^ "Three main parties and Independents expected to evenly divide most of local elections spoils". The Irish Times.
  23. ^ Webber, Jude. "Sinn Féin falters in Irish local elections". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 June 2024.

External links[edit]

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