Fianna Fáil has won half of the 28 seats on Clare County Council following a count that was halted for a period to allow staff and candidates to watch the banner county’s defeat to Limerick in the Munster Senior Hurling Final.

The party performed particularly strongly in the Ennis and Killaloe areas as it increased its overall representation on the council by one and nearly claimed a majority. Fianna Fáil newcomer David Griffin swept the boards in Shannon and secured his election on the first count. His party colleagues Pat O’Gorman and Rachel Hartigan were elected on later counts.

There was some drama on Sunday afternoon when Fianna Fáil’s Cillian Murphy called for a recount in Kilrush. He was on 1,161 votes on the eighth count, just six votes behind his party colleague Alan Troy. However, the recount did not result in any extra votes for Mr Murphy, who ultimately lost his seat, while Mr Troy was also unsuccessful. Fianna Fáil’s Rita McInerney and Michael Shannon were elected.

In the Ennis Municipal District, Fianna Fáil pulled off a masterstroke by winning four of the seven seats. Poll-topper Pat Daly comfortably exceeded the quota on the first count and his running mates Antoinette Baker Bashua, Clare Colleran Molloy and Tom O’Callaghan will be joining him in the council chamber.

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While Independents performed strongly across the country in the local elections, they had a difficult weekend here taking only three seats, a decrease of two. Independent Dinny Gould was elected in Kilrush and was later joined by fellow non-party candidate Ian Lynch. In Shannon, one of the big casualties was long-serving councillor PJ Ryan (Ind), who lost his seat on the 11th count. Fellow Independent Michael Begley staged a remarkable comeback and was elected.

Fine Gael finished with nine councillors (up one) with Tony Mulcahy taking a seat for the party in Shannon after an eight-year absence. Paul Murphy and Mary Howard retained their seats for the party in Ennis.

In Killaloe, the same five councillors were returned for the third election in a row. Joe Cooney of Fine Gael topped the poll for the fourth successive local election, increasing his first preference haul from 2,697 to 2,819 against a quota of 1,735. He was later joined by his party colleague Pat Burke and the Fianna Fáil trio of Pat Hayes, Alan O’Callaghan and Tony O’Brien.

“It is not easy to maintain. It takes a lot of work, time and dedication. It is the people who come out and give me another fantastic vote. I help them and they help me,” Mr Cooney said.

Sinn Féin gained a seat, with Donna McGettigan, the party’s general election candidate, elected in Shannon and Tommy Guilfoyle taking a seat in Ennis.

The Green Party has lost its sole representative in Clare, Liam Grant, who was co-opted in Ennistymon after Róisín Garvey’s nomination to the Seanad in 2020. He finished behind poll topper Bill Slattery (FG), Joe Garrihy (FG), Shane Talty (FF) and Joe Killeen (FF).

Ennis: 7 seats

Ennistymon: 4 seats

Killaloe: 5 seats

Kilrush: 5 seats

Shannon: 7 seats

[ View 2019 Clare County Council results ]

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