Elections 2024: Galway County Council round-up

Independent Ireland taking six seats, three of which will be Conamara-based, is the main story from the count centre at Galway Lawn Tennis Club.

Fine Gael will hold the majority of the seats with thirteen, closely followed by Fianna Fáil with eleven, Independent Ireland with six, Sinn Féin with two and Independent candidates making up the remaining seven seats.

Mainly familiar but nine new faces and one returning face will make up Galway County Council for the next five years, only six of which will be female.

Conamara North LEA

Independent Thomas Welby was for the fourth consecutive time the poll topper in Conamara North when he was the first councillor elected not only to Galway County Council but the first councillor in the Country elected on Saturday afternoon.

He was quickly joined by Seamus Walsh (Independent Ireland), Eileen Mannion (Fine Gael), and Gerry King (Fianna Fáil) as Conamara North re-elected all its current sitting councillors.

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Gort-Kinvara LEA

In Gort-Kinvara on Saturday the first count saw the re-election of Geraldine Donoghue (Independent), Martina Kinnane (Fianna Fáil) and PJ Murphy (Fine Gael) who topped the poll.

On the second count, teacher Paul Killilea was the first new face elected to Galway County Council but no changes for the parties as he took the Fine Gael seat here vacated by Joe Byrne who decided not to run.

Sitting Councillor Gerry Finnerty of Fianna Fáil was deemed elected without reaching the quota on the fifth count to take the last seat for Gort Kinvara.

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Loughrea LEA

On Sunday Shane Curley, (FF) Jimmy McClearn (FG) and Declan Kelly (Independent Ireland) were all returned on the first count for Loughrea.

They were joined by Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher (FG) on the second count while Ivan Canning (FF) had to wait until the sixth count before he exceeded the quota to take the fifth and final seat.

Loughrea will be fielding the same team for the next five years as was elected in 2019.

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Athenry-Oranmore LEA

Returning Officer Michael Owens granted a recount in Athenry-Oranmore late on Sunday evening requested by Young Fine Gael’s President Eoghan Gallagher, who missed out on being elected by 19 votes. However, following the recount Mr Owens declared just before 1am, that “no significant error has been found” and that the results remained the same.

The first two seats in Athenry-Oranmore had been filled over a day earlier on Saturday by Fianna Fail’s Albert Dolan and new recruit Independent Tomás Grealish who took the seat vacated by retiring Councillor Jim Cuddy who was co-opted onto the Council himself in place of Tomás’s brother, Galway West TD Noel Grealish, back in 2003

David Collins (FG) and James Charity (Independent) joined them on Sunday after counts five and six respectively.

Peter Feeney (FG) returns to claim back a seat on the council after deciding not to run last time out in 2019, he is back in 2024.

Current councillor Shelley Hereterich Quinn (FF) was a surprise exclusion after the eighth count.

However, her party colleague Cillian Keane managed to hang onto the seat following the recount for Fianna Fáil. Fellow newcomer Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara rounds off the council line up for Athenry-Oranmore.

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Tuam LEA

The epic Tuam count and the battle for that final seventh seat in Tuam was the highlight of Sunday afternoon at the Galway Lawn Tennis Club with Independent Karey McHugh Farag finally being declared the victor with current Fianna Fáil councillor and publican Joe Sheridan losing out.

Earlier on Sunday it was the tenth count before Mary Hoade of Fianna Fáil reached the quota and was deemed elected to retain her seat.

Her running mate Donnagh Mark Killilea (FF) joined her on the twelfth count.

Two new faces in Tuam as Independent Ireland’s Sean Cunniffe and radio presenter Ollie Turner (FG) also claimed seats in the twelfth and final count.

Mr Turner joined his Fine Gael party colleagues Andrew Reddington and Pete Roche who were elected on the first count on Saturday.

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Ballinasloe LEA

If only all Local Election Area counts were like Ballinasloe – on Sunday it took just two counts to fill all six seats here.

Three of Ballinasloe’s sitting councillors – Michael Connolly of Fianna Fáil, Independent Ireland’s Declan Geraghty, and Evelyn Parsons (Independent) – were elected on the first count well exceeding the quota of 1,777.

Fine Gael’s new recruit solicitor Alan Harney snuck in on the first count also with just seven votes over the quota.

The remaining two seats in Ballinasloe were filled in the second count with the re-election of Peter Keaveney (FG) and Dermot Connolly (Sinn Féin), who’s parties both ran a two-candidate strategy here with only eight names on the ballot but it was Fine Gael who emerged the victor claiming two seats.

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Conamara South

A loss for the Green Party and gains for Independent Ireland was the story in Conamara South at Monday lunchtime.

Independent Ireland winning their fifth seat on Galway County Council with the election of Noel Thomas on Sunday night on the third count and postman Michael Leainde claiming the party’s sixth seat on the council in the tenth count on Monday afternoon.

Councillor Pádraig Mac an Iomaire of Fine Gael was re-elected on the eight count, with Máirtín Lee (FF) and Tomas Ó Curraóin (Independent) elected without reaching the quota on the final tenth count in Conamara South.

Earlier, following his elimination, the Green Party’s Alastair McKinstry was seen graciously thanking his fellow councillors as well as County Council staff after losing his seat.

He said he currently has a full agenda with his day job but will continue to work with his Green Party colleagues.

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