All political alliances come down to a numerical balance, and so it is with the unlikely council groupings now formed all over the country following the change-over of mayors and chairs a year after the local government elections. Fianna Fail holds 19 of the 34 chair/mayor positions, Fine Gael eight, Labour two, PDs one, Sinn Fein two and non-party two. FF's strength in the council chambers is demonstrated by them holding both chair and vice chair position in 12 councils, compared to FG holding both positions in only two.
The strange coalitions include the PDs and Labour in Carlow County Council to elect PD Walter Lacey as chair; Sinn Fein's Brian McKenna taking the chair with FG support in Monaghan; ex-FF councillor Tom Crosby in the chair with FG support in Roscommon and on Waterford Corporation the two big parties were sidelined to elect Independent Davy Daniels as chair and Labour's Pat Hayes as deputy mayor.