Elections 2024: Waterford City & County Council round-up

As the tallying began in the SETU Arena on Saturday morning, 8 June, no-one expected what ensued.

The Fianna ‘fall’, independent councillors grabbing a quarter of Waterford City and County Council, the election of the county’s first Social Democrat, and a Green Party that – while it definitely did reduce – was not totally recycled.

From first thing Saturday morning until just before 11pm on Sunday night, the Arena had a steady crowd coming and going in support of their potential representatives.

Whether it was the security approach, or the modern-day technology and technicality of tallying, or even the accessibility of content with local radio providing a live stream to the people of Waterford, there was a calm atmosphere all around, and the usual election buzz and cheers were somewhat quieter this time around.

It was only when two or more candidates were deemed elected in the same count that true excitement captured everyone’s attention.

Fianna Fáil and Greens underwhelm

Some of the major upsets over the weekend included Fianna Fáil’s poor performance.

However, they still come away with five seats out of 32, which is a better result than their Coalition colleagues, the Green Party.

While the Greens are fully supportive of the North Quays project, with a recent visit from the Minister of Transport and party leader, Eamon Ryan, to view its progress, it’s entirely possible that the people of Waterford want action on Waterford Airport.

It is arguable that Minister Ryan has failed to demonstrate the urgency some feel that the issue merits. The business plan reached his department months ago.

The Green Party went into these elections with a strong profile in the region, boasting an MEP, a TD and two local councillors. Over the course of the weekend, these have been reduced to just Marc Ó Cathasaigh in the Dáil.

No Green Party councillors were elected to Waterford City and County Council. The Metropolitan Mayor, Jody Power, lost his seat, along with his colleague, Cristiona Kiely.

Meanwhile, during the count for Ireland South in the European Elections, RTÉ’s Paschal Sheehy reported from Cork that Tramore native, “Grace O’Sullivan has conceded the seat she won in 2019 is slipping away from her.

“Things have shifted in people’s minds,” she said. “I’m getting the sense that the tide is going out, in a way. It feels like it’s slipping away.”

Independents and Fine Gael take half the votes

Independent councillors took eight seats, and deserve recognition for coming up trumps against the well-established political parties, not so much in rural areas, but most definitely across the city.

Having served on the outgoing council as an independent, Mary Roche struggled – successfully – to hold onto her seat, having run this time as a Social Democrat, and is the first representative of that party to take a seat in Waterford.

Considering Sinn Féin ran eighteen candidates in this election, it could be considered an upset that they only landed seven seats, but one of those seats was won by first-time candidate, Donnchadh Mulcahy, who gave Sinn Féin its first win since the 1920s in the Lismore district.

Reflecting the slow and steady pace of the weekend-long count, Labour held their own by knowing where their strengths lie. This meant choosing not to run a candidate in the Comeragh district, following the recent retirement of its councillor Ger Barron.

Of those councillors fighting to retain seats won in 2019, 22 were successful and have secured another five-year term. Fine Gael and independent candidates each secured 25% of the votes.

The general sense among many of the politicians was of reasonable contentment with how things landed, and not a recount in sight.