Fianna Fáil has retained its position as the largest party on the 31-seat Cork City Council.

Labour had a successful weekend, gaining two seats to finish with three, and the Social Democrats took a seat through Pádraig Rice in the South Central area. Fianna Fáil went into the local elections with eight seats and managed to gain one.

However, Fine Gael (down two seats to five), the Greens (down one to three) and Sinn Féin (no change) will be left assessing their electoral strategies. A number of sitting councillors lost seats including the Green Party’s Colette Finn, Rabharta’s Lorna Bogue (a former Green Party member) and Sinn Féin’s Mick Nugent.

In the North West area, Fianna Fáil’s Tony Fitzgerald topped the poll and exceeded the quota on the first count. Fine Gael’s Damian Boylan also retained his seat here and was followed by Fianna Fáil’s John Sheehan, Sinn Féin’s Ken Collins and Michelle Gould, the wife of Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould. Solidarity’s Brian McCarthy held his seat, beating Ross Lahive of The Irish People by 190 votes following a dogfight for final spot.

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Labour’s John Maher was returned in the North East area and will be joined on the council by party colleagues Peter Horgan (South East) and Laura Harmon (South West).

The Green Party’s Honore Kamegni was deemed elected in the South East local electoral area on the 12th count, becoming the city’s first black councillor.

The 46-year-old, a manager with An Post, arrived in Ireland from Cameroon in 2002, moved to Cork in 2006 and became an Irish citizen in 2013. He said he was had encountered significant racist abuse on social media but that the people he met on the campaign trail were always supportive.

Independent Ireland’s Ken O’Flynn got the highest vote in the city, with 3,134 first-preference votes in the North East area. “My message to the people for the last five years has been very, very simple. It’s about common-sense politics,” he said.

In the South West area, Fianna Fáil’s Fergal Dennehy topped the poll while his party colleague Colm Kelleher and Fine Gael’s Garret Kelleher held their seats.

In the South Central area, Fine Gael’s Shane O’Callaghan was elected on the first count and Fianna Fáil’s Sean Martin, a brother of Micheál Martin, took the second seat.

In the South East area, Fianna Fáil’s Terry Shannon topped the poll and councillor Kieran McCarthy also held his seat.

Cork City North East: 6 seats

Cork City North West: 6 seats

Cork City South Central: 6 seats

Cork City South East: 6 seats

Cork City South West: 7 seats

[ View 2019 Cork City Council results ]

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