It was Independents’ day in the local elections in Co Wicklow but Fine Gael also performed strongly in the Taoiseach’s home county, holding on to nine seats even though four veteran councillors decided not to run.

Fianna Fáil had a bad weekend in Bray and Greystones, where no party candidate won a seat. It ended up with just four seats on the incoming council, down from seven in 2019.

The Social Democrats gained two seats and now has three councillors. Sinn Féin had two councillors after the 2019 election and did not manage to increase its total this time around.

Among the successful Independents was Joe Behan, a veteran politician who was a member of Fianna Fáil until 2008. He topped the poll in the Bray West local electoral area with 2,449 votes, exceeding the quota by more than 1,000.

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Independent Stephen Stokes topped the poll in Greystones with 2,059 votes, 400 above the quota. Mr Stokes was previously a member of the Labour Party.

In the Wicklow electoral area, Independent candidate John Snell topped the poll with 2,118 first preferences against a quota of 1,758. Mr Snell was formerly a Sinn Féin member.

Independent Tom Fortune was elected on the fifth count in the Greystones area. He was formerly a member of the Labour Party, but said on Sunday that the fact is “a bit irrelevant now”.

Independent Pier Leonard was elected on the first count in Arklow, exceeding the quota by almost 600 votes. Fianna Fáil’s Pat Kennedy topped the poll here with an impressive 2,791 first preference votes.

In the Baltinglass, the poll was headed by Independent Gerry O’Neill, who was elected on the first count with 2,013 votes.

In Bray East, Independent candidate Malachi Duddy was elected on the seventh count without reaching the quota.

For Sinn Féin, the rise of the independents caused problems, particularly in Bray East where party candidate Denise Cahill was just 52 votes behind Mr Duddy, who was elected on the seventh count along with Ian Neary of Independent Ireland without reaching the quota.

In the Wicklow electoral area, Sinn Féin asked for a recount but it did not stop the party’s candidate Anthony Hill from being eliminated. The party’s two seats came in the Arklow and Bray West electoral areas.

Arklow: 6 seats

Baltinglass: 6 seats

Bray East: 4 seats

Bray West: 4 seats

Greystones: 6 seats

Wicklow: 6 seats

[ View 2019 Wicklow County Council results ]

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