Local Elections 2024 Carlow: Thomas Kinsella re-elected on first count for Muinebheag LEA

The first of the results have been announced at the Carlow count centre for the Muinebheag LEA.

Fine Gael’s Thomas Kinsella has been re-elected in the first count with 1,732 votes.

A quota of 1,183 has been set for the Muinebheag LEA. No other candidates have met this quota in the first round.

Currently Labour’s Willie Quinn has 1,090 votes, Sinn Féin’s Andy Gladney has 1,018 and Fianna Fáil’s Daniel Pender has 986 votes.

Next is Fine Gael’s Michael Doran on 943 votes, Fianna Fáil’s Arthur McDonald on 819, The Green Party’s Liam O’Brien on 295 and Sinn Féin’s Áine Gladney on 210 votes.

Cllr Kinsella’s surplus votes will now be distributed.

17.50- Sitting Labour Cllr Willie Quinn has his number 1 supporter cheering him on

Sitting Cllr and only Labour candidate Willie Quinn has brought his number one supporter with him to the count centre.

Lily Quinn is cheering on her grandfather hoping he can keep his seat in the Muinebheag LEA.

17.25 – Doesn’t look like we’ll get our first results by 5.30pm as first estimated by counters

Early estimations indicated that the first results would start coming in for the Muinebheag LEA between 4.30pm and 5.30pm, however it has not worked out that way.

Spoilt votes are currently being checked for the Muinebheag LEA so hopefully we’ll get our first results soon.

16.50 – Father and daughter duo nervously awaiting results of Muinebheag first count

History has been made in the Carlow count centre today as a father is joined by his daughter on the ballot paper for the same electoral area and the same party.

Sitting Sinn Féin Cllr Andy Gladney and his daughter Áine Gladney, also a Sinn Féin candidate, are both nervously awaiting the results of the Muinebheag LEA count.

Although the odds do not seem to be in Áine’s favour this time round, her father says he is so proud to have canvased alongside his daughter.

“I’m very proud of Áine and all that she has achieved and it has been a great experience running alongside her for the same party and same LEA,” smiled Andy.

15.40- Two Fine Gael newcomers holding their own according to Tullow LEA tallies

Two newcomers are holding their own in the Tullow LEA with Fine Gael candidates Catherine Callaghan and Ben Ward performing well according to the tallies

According to tallies, Ben has 678 while Catherine has 614.

On the other end of the spectrum, newcomer Daeln Murphy of The National Party will struggle as he sits on 154 according to tallies. Newcomer and People Before Profit candidate, John Cahill, has also found himself down the bottom of the tallies with 166.

14.55- Two and a half hours ahead of schedule at the Carlow count centre

Things are an impressive two and half hours ahead of schedule in the Carlow count centre with the first results estimated to be announced between 4.30pm and 5.30pm.

The count for the Muinebheag LEA started about 30 minutes ago. The counters are attributing the record times to the fact each LEA box is being opened separately in order of Muinebheag, Tullow and Carlow.

14:20- Counting started in Muinebheag LEA

The local votes have been moved from the separation centre in St. Laurence O’Tooles in Askea, Carlow to the count centre in the Youth Centre in Green Lane Carlow.

The Muinebheag boxes are currently open and are being counted with it expected that the Tullow votes will be counted next and Carlow last.

According to the tallies for the Carlow Town LEA, it’s looking promising for Fianna Fáil’s sitting Cllr Fintan Phelan who looks to be ahead with just over 21%. Next is Fianna Fáil’s sitting Cllr Andrea Dalton with 14.48%.

In Tullow, the tallymen have reported that Fianna Fáil’s sitting Cllr John Pender seems to be taking the lead on 16.78% followed by Independent sitting Cllr Charlie Murphy on 16.44%.

Finally, in Muinebheag, Fine Gael’s sitting Cllr Thomas Kinsella is flying ahead with over 24% and Labour’s sitting Cllr Willie Quinn also seems to be performing well.

9.00- Ballot boxes have opened as counting gets under way

Members of the Carlow public have had their say on who they want to represent them in Carlow County Council for the next five years.

Voting finished last night and now the first of the ballot boxes have been opened here in St. Laurence O’Tooles in Askea, Carlow with the separation of the European and local votes under way.

The boxes for the local elections in Carlow will then be brought to the Youth Centre on Green Lane where the count will take place.

The candidates have done all they can and now all that is left for them to do is nervously wait to see the outcome of your votes. Will the council remain largely the same or will we see some new faces take their seats in the Carlow council chamber?

We will have all the live updates from the Carlow local election count here on this page so make sure to keep checking in with us.

Here is a quick recap of all the candidates across the three municipal districts of Carlow, Tullow and Muinebheag who have been vying for a seat on Carlow County Council:

Carlow (7 seats up for grabs)

Aylesbury, Molly (GP)

Browne, Fergal (FG)*

Callinan, Mark (SF)

Cassin, John (Independent Ireland)*

Chiorean, Nicoleta (SF)

Dalton, Andrea (FF)*

Donohue, Orla (I.F.P)

Doogue, Paul (FG)

Doyle, Ruairí (SF)

Murnane, Ken (FF)*

Murphy, Daeln (The National Party. Also running in the Tullow)

O’Neill, Tom(FG)*

O’Rock, Jolly (Ind)

Phelan, Fintan (FF)*

Ryan, Maria (Ireland First)

Temiola, Adetula (Ind)

Wallace, Adrienne (PBP)*

Woods, Rory (The Irish People)

Muinebheag (5 seats up for grabs)

Doran, Michael (FG)*

Gladney, Áine (SF)

Gladney, Andy (SF)*

Kinsella, Thomas (FG)*

McDonald, McDonald (FF)*

O’Brien, Liam (GP)

Pender, Daniel (FF)

Quinn, Willie (Lab)*

Tullow (6 seats up for grabs)

Cahill, John (PBP)

Callaghan, Catherine (FG)

Deane, Jim (SF)

Fennelly Nolan, Patricia (Ind)

Gahan, Ken (SF)

McDonald, John (FF)*

McDonnell, Annette (Ind)

Murphy, Charlie (Ind)*

Murphy, Daeln (The National Party. Also running in Carlow)

Nolan, Billy (Ind)

O’Donoghue, Brian (FG)*

Paton, Will (Ind)*

Pender, John (FF)*

Thompson, Phil (SF)

Ward, Ben (FG)

*Sitting councillors

What did the outgoing council look like:

Carlow County Council is divided into three local electoral areas, Carlow Town Municipal District (MD), the Tullow MD and the Muinebheag MD. The council consists of 18 seats with seven seats in the Carlow Town MD, six seats in the Tullow MD and five seats in the Muinebheag MD. As there are 18 seats up for grabs, a party must have 10 councillors elected to Carlow County Council to have a majority.

In the outgoing council, as chosen in the last local election in 2019, no party held a majority in the council. In some respects, Carlow County Council mirrored what national Government looks like minus the presence of the Green Party. With six seats each, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil attained the most seats in the 2019 election.

The outgoing mayor of Carlow is Fine Gael Cllr Tom O’Neill while the outgoing Cathaoirleach of Carlow County Council is Fianna Fáil’s Cllr Andrea Dalton.

However, unlike the Government coalition that includes the Green Party, Carlow County Council had no Green Party Councillors elected back in 2019.

As Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael won the most seats in 2019 in Carlow County Council, the remaining councillors from other political parties were outnumbered.

The remaining six seats are were held by three Independent, one Labour, one People Before Profit and one Sinn Féin councillor.

The outgoing Carlow County Council also had a number of councillors who have been serving 20-plus years as elected members of Carlow County Council. These include Fine Gael’s Thomas Kinsella and Michael Doran, Fianna Fail’s John Pender and Arthur McDonald and former Labour but now Independent Will Paton.

Fine Gael’s John Murphy is the only outgoing councillor that did not stand for re-election in Carlow County Council.

Moving forward to the count today and the majority that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil did enjoy in the outgoing council in Carlow could potentially come under threat. The council faces the prospect of a big switch up with a large number of Independent candidates running along with a high number of non-government parties running candidates.

As with most of the country, lack of housing and tackling vacancy and dereliction was a topic that featured heavily on doorsteps in Carlow.

Similarly, immigration, another hot topic both in Carlow and nationwide, has recently become an issue that has divided people in Carlow with a number of anti-immigration protests taking place in the last year.

As a large amount of Carlow’s population live in rural areas, rural issues will always be raised. For instance, potholes and the condition of roads in rural Carlow, the lack of transport links in rural areas and also farming issues.

Another big topic in Carlow is the lack of a women’s refuge. Carlow is still one of nine counties without a women’s refuge. A campaign for a women’s refuge in Carlow started in 2016, yet it still has not been delivered.

The Carlow Women’s Refuge campaigners have now received a commitment from Government that a refuge will be established in 2025.

However, following previous broken promises, the activists say they will keep campaigning until they finally see the doors to a Carlow women’s refuge open.

It will be interesting to see how these heavily featured issues on doorsteps in Carlow impacted how the votes were cast yesterday.