The make-up of Clare County Council for the next five yeas has been confirmed following a two-day count at Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis.
51 candidates battled for 28 seats the across the 5 electoral areas of Ennis, Ennistymon, Kilrush, Killaloe and Shannon.
The counting of votes and election of candidates for the Ennistymon Electoral Area concluded on Saturday evening with first-time candidate Shane Talty topping the poll.
The count for the Shannon Electoral Area wasn’t without controversy however with a full recount of votes being requested.
Counting had concluded and the winning candidates announced when Fine Gael requested a full recount of votes. Only four votes separated Fine Gael’s Garreth McPhillips and Independent Gerry Flynn resulting in Flynn’s election on the 6th count along with Fianna Fáil’s Pat McMahon and Mike McKee of Sinn Féin. McPhillips and his team requested a full recount of votes.
CEO Pat Dowling later confirmed that a recheck of the ballots showed “an equality of votes” but that the candidate with the most first preference votes would be the winner.
Mr McPhillips and Mr Flynn had shaken hands and appeared to have resolved the matter when it was pointed out that it was a full recount that had been requested and not a recheck.
Pat Dowling returned to the stage and confirmed that having consulted with both parties, a full recount would be undertaken.
Following the recount, it was found that both candidates had finished level but the Mr Flynn was elected on the basis that he had more first preference votes. As a result, the original declaration remained unchanged.
Below is how the counts finished confirming the newly elected members of Clare County Council; their first preference votes and the count on which they were elected or eliminated.
Ennistymon
Electorate: 13,920
Total Poll: 8,710
Spoiled Votes: 112
Total Valid Poll: 8598
Quota: 1720
Seats: 4
First Preference Votes
Joe Garrihy (Fine Gael) 1328 – 23% – ELECTED 4th Count w/o quota
Róisín Garvey (Green Party) 1302 – 15.1% – ELECTED 4th Count w/o quota
Joe Killeen (Fianna Fáil) 1196 – 13.9% – ELECTED 4th Count
Noeleen Moran (Sinn Féin) 575 – 6.7% – ELIMINATED 1st Count
Martin O’Loghlen (Fianna Fáil) 917 – 10.7% – ELIMINATED 3rd Count
Bill Slattery (Fine Gael) 1303 – 15.2%
Shane Talty (Fianna Fáil) 1977 – 23% – ELECTED – 1st Count
Killaloe
Electorate: 16,040
Total Poll: 10,224
Spoiled Votes: 103
Total Valid Poll: 10,121
Quota: 1687
Seats: 5
First Preference Votes
Pat Burke (Fine Gael) 1036 – 10.2% – ELECTED – 6th Count w/o quota
Joe Cooney (Fine Gael) 2697 – 26.6% – ELECTED – 1st Count
Beckha Doyle (Social Democrats) 198 – 2% – ELIMINATED – 2nd Count
Joe Floyd (Independent) 531 – 5.2% – ELIMINATED – 3rd Count
Pat Hayes (Fianna Fáil) 1386 – 13.7% – ELECTED – 4th Count
Seán Naughton (Sinn Féin) 189 – 1.9% – ELIMINATED – 2nd Count
Tony O’Brien (Fianna Fáil) 1227 – 12.1% – ELECTED – 6th Count w/o quota
Alan O’Callaghan (Fianna Fáil) 1117 – 11% – ELECTED – 6th Count w/o quota
Barry O’Donovan (Green Party) 708 – 7% – ELIMINATED – 5th Count
Ger O’Halloran (Fine Gael) 1032 – 10.2% – ELIMINATED – 6th Count
Ennis
Electorate: 22,744
Total Poll: 11,599
Spoiled Votes: 163
Total Valid Poll: 11,436
Quota: 1,430
Seats: 7
First Preference Votes
Clare Colleran Molloy (Fianna Fáil) – 1184 – ELECTED – 8th Count
Frank ‘Pinky’ Cullinan (Independent) – 562 – ELIMINATED – 5th Count
Pat Daly (Fianna Fáil) – 1064 – ELECTED – 10th Count w/o quote
Alfonso D’Auria (Independent) – 715 – ELIMINATED – 7th Count
Johnny Flynn (Fine Gael) – 1240 – ELECTED – 8th Count
Andre Hakizimana (Independent) – 35 – ELIMINATED – 1st Count
Dermot Hayes (Independent) – 793 – ELIMINATED
*Mary Howard (Fine Gael) – 1311 – ELECTED – 6th Count
Chris Kirwan (Social Democrats) – 172 – ELIMINATED – 2nd Count
Amanda Major (Independent) – 200 – ELIMINATED – 3rd Count
Donna Deirdre McGettigan (Sinn Féin) – 277 – ELIMINATED – 3rd Count
Paul Murphy (Fine Gael) – 1252 – ELECTED – 10th Count
Mark Nestor (Fianna Fáil) – 1211 – ELECTED – 8th Count
Ann Norton (Independent) – 925 – ELECTED – 10th Count w/o quota
Seamus Ryan (Labour Party) – 495 – ELIMINATED – 4th Count
Kilrush
Electorate: 18104
Total Poll: 9336
Spoiled Votes: 160
Total Valid Poll: 9176
Quota: 1530
Seats: 5
First Preference Votes
Bill Chambers (Fianna Fáil) – 1431 – ELECTED – 2nd count
Gabriel Keating (Fine Gael) – 1494 – ELECTED – 2nd count
P J Kelly (Fianna Fáil) – 2147 – ELECTED – 1st count
Ian Lynch (Independent) – 1026 – ELECTED – 6th count
Noreen Lynch (Independent) – 76 – Eliminated – 2nd count
Cillian Murphy (Fianna Fáil) – 1110 – ELECTED – 6th count
Mike Taylor (Fine Gael) – 473 – Eliminated – 5th count
Joseph Woulfe (Independent) – 1034 – Eliminated – 6th Count
Violet-Anne Wynne (Sinn Féin) – 385 – Eliminated – 5th count
Shannon
After Original Count
Electorate: 22467
Total Poll: 11384
Spoiled Votes: 143
Total Valid Poll: 11241
Quota: 1406
Seats: 7
First Preference Votes
Michael Begley (Independent) 1027 – ELECTED – 3rd Count
Cathal Crowe (Fianna Fáil) 2575 – ELECTED – 1st Count
John Crowe (Fine Gael) 1308 – ELECTED – 2nd Count
Gerry Flynn (Independent) 1041 – ELECTED – 6th Count
Eugene Long (Fine Gael) 619 – ELIMINATED – 5th Count
Mike McKee (Sinn Féin) 1042 – ELECTED – 6th Count
Pat McMahon (Fianna Fáil) 973 – ELECTED – 6th Count
Garret McPhillips (Fine Gael) 939 – ELIMINATED – 6th Count
P J Ryan (Independent) 1238 – ELECTED – 5th Count
Betty Walsh (Social Democrats) 479 – ELIMINATED – 2nd Count
Divorce Referendum 2019
The referendum on divorce was passed by large majority with 82.1% voting in favour and 17.9% voting against national.
The declaration was made at Dublin Castle in the early hours of this morning.
Result for Clare was announced on Saturday in Ennis.
Electorate: 88,273
Total Poll: 49,704
Spoiled Votes: 1406
Total Valid Poll: 48,298
YES Votes: 39,767 – 82.33%
NO Votes: 8,551 – 17.67%