2014 Limerick City and County Council election

An election to Limerick City and County Council took place on 23 May 2014 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 40 councillors were elected from six electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office. This is a new local authority which was formed out of a merger from the abolished Limerick City Council and Limerick County Councils.

2014 Limerick City and County Council election

23 May 2014
All 40 seats to Limerick City and County Council
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Sinn Féin Seats won 13 12 6   Party Labour Anti-Austerity Alliance Independent Seats won 3 3 3
Map showing the area of Limerick City and County Council
Council control before election Fine Gael Labour Party Council control after election Fine Gael Labour Party

Significantly Fianna Fáil emerged as the largest party on the Council after the elections despite being 3,838 first preference votes behind Fine Gael. The party won seats in Limerick city, historically a weak area for them in local elections. Its best results were in Cappaghmore-Kilmallock and Limerick City East where they secured 3 seats in each LEA. Fine Gael were disadvantaged by the merger of the 2 local authorities as they held many councillors on the old City Council and several of these Councillors were defeated under the new boundaries. However, the party won 3 seats in Newcastle West. It was a very poor election for Labour as they just returned 1 seat in each of the 3 city LEAs just as did the Anti-Austerity Alliance. Sinn Féin sent a delegation of 6 councillors back to the new chamber to join their existing member Maurice Quinlivan. Independents secured the remaining 3 seats, 1 of which was Emmett O'Brien a former member of the Fianna Fáil National Executive.[1][2] After the elections 4 of the Fianna Fáil members broke away to form an independent block over an internal disagreement over who should secure the Chairmanship of the Council. This was later resolved after intercession by Party Headquarters and they rejoined the Fianna Fáil grouping.[3]

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	13		19,680	27.4%
	Fine Gael	12		23,518	32.7%
	Sinn Féin	6		9,298	12.9%
	Labour	3		4,760	6.6%
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	3		3,136	4.4%
	Independent	3		11,456	15.9%
Totals		40			100%	—

Results by Electoral Area

Adare-Rathkeale

Adare-Rathkeale - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Independent	Emmett O'Brien	18.4%	2,270
	Fine Gael	Tom Neville†††††	15.2%	1,873
	Fine Gael	Stephen Keary*	13.7%	1,688	1,761	1,800
	Fianna Fáil	Kevin Sheahan*	9.9%	1,229	1,334	1,343	1,366	1,444	1,618	1,621	1,749
	Sinn Féin	Ciara McMahon	8.3%	1,027	1,110	1,118	1,247	1,302	1,360	1,361	1,527
	Fianna Fáil	Richard O'Donoghue††	7.4%	912	942	949	963	1,224	1,445	1,449	1,718
	Fianna Fáil	James Cavanagh	6.3%	777	813	819	831	891
	Fine Gael	Rose Brennan*	6.2%	766	811	840	867	940	1,138	1,156	1,375
	Fianna Fáil	Séamus Sheahan	5.9%	736	749	753	772
	Independent	Patrick Fitzgerald*	5.7%	704	783	789	888	1,055	1,144	1,146
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	Kathleen Enright	2.8%	350	394	397
Electorate: 23,045   Valid: 12,332   Spoilt: 118   Quota: 1,762   Turnout: 12,450 (54.02%)

Cappamore-Kilmallock

Cappamore-Kilmallock- 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	Brigid Teefy*	16.04%	2,369
	Fianna Fáil	Eddie Ryan*	14.7%	2,178
	Sinn Féin	Lisa-Marie Sheehy††††††††	12.8%	1,889
	Fianna Fáil	Noel Gleeson*	9.5%	1,399	1,488	1,554	1,559	1,893
	Fianna Fáil	Mike Donegan*	9.1%	1,339	1,374	1,467	1,474	1,548	1,825
	Fine Gael	Gerard Mitchell	8.6%	1,272	1,367	1,426	1,430	1,525	1,713
	Fine Gael	John Egan*	7.9%	1,165	1,242	1,251	1,254	1,355	1,509
	Fine Gael	William O'Donnell*	7.5%	1,108	1,186	1,224	1,227	1,271	1,669
	Fine Gael	Mike Houlihan*	7.3%	1,071	1,101	1,141	1,148	1,208
	Independent	Joe Meagher	6.7%	982	1,100	1,125	1,139
Electorate: 27,485   Valid: 14,772   Spoilt: 187   Quota: 1,847   Turnout: 14,959 (54.4%)

Limerick City East

Limerick City East - 8 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
	Sinn Féin	Seighin O Ceallaigh	14.3%	1,703
	Fianna Fáil	Shane Clifford†††	11.2%	1,338
	Fianna Fáil	Kieran O'Hanlon*	8.2%	975	995	999	1,020	1,047	1,073	1,132	1,196	1,257	1,350
	Fine Gael	Michael Sheahan*	7.7%	924	929	930	930	932	941	1,009	1,015	1,024	1,108	1,109	1,113	1,113	1,115	1,312
	Labour	Elena Secas	7.3%	867	878	878	938	943	972	1,020	1,029	1,064	1,139	1,143	1,162	1,164	1,165	1,229
	Fine Gael	Marian Hurley	6.5%	772	775	775	777	781	788	866	874	916	990	992	994	995	996	1,200
	Fine Gael	Leo Walsh*	5.9%	709	713	721	723	725	733	745	758	782	851	851	860	860	861
	Fianna Fáil	Jerry O'Dea	5.2%	619	636	641	658	669	691	760	792	862	917	925	953	955	959	1,113
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	Paul Keller	4.5%	540	614	618	631	676	707	718	781	823	846	847	1,345
	Fine Gael	Diarmuid Scully*	4.2%	499	506	506	514	519	533	542	583	659
	Independent	Sarah Jane Hennelly	3.9%	467	484	487	492	543	629	651	714	752	789	791	856	868	869	911
	Fianna Fáil	Joe Pond	3.8%	455	463	464	467	469	469
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	Derek Towell	3.7%	442	536	538	552	587	624	637	673	716	758	762
	Fine Gael	Sarah Lee Kiely	3.6%	427	445	449	472	495	529	535	554
	Independent	Jim Hickey	3.2%	384	400	400	409	447	482	491
	Independent	Orla McLoughlin*	2.6%	313	345	350	370	388
	Independent	Noel Hannon	1.9%	236	268	274	295
	Labour	Derek Mulcahy	1.9%	234	243	243
	Independent	Richie Smith	0.4%	43	51
Electorate: 27,654   Valid: 11,947   Spoilt: 167   Quota: 1,328   Turnout: 12,114 (43.8%)

Limerick City North

Limerick City North- 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Sinn Féin	Maurice Quinlivan*††††††	24.5%	2,456
	Fine Gael	Michael Hourigan*	12.4%	1,249	1,278	1,281	1,294	1,301	1,341	1,348	1,426	1,628
	Labour	Frankie Daly	10.1%	1,014	1,179	1,195	1,201	1,225	1,289	1,303	1,336	1,398	1,454
	Fianna Fáil	Joe Crowley††††	10.1%	1,014	1,053	1,057	1,065	1,075	1,085	1,200	1,251	1,284	1,296	1,362
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	Cian Prendeville†††††††††	9.6%	964	1,277	1,288	1,312	1,350	1,368	1,393	1,423	1,448
	Independent	John Gilligan*	8.3%	831	1,036	1,045	1,060	1,100	1,116	1,156	1,207	1,265	1,288	1,446
	Independent	Gerry McLoughlin*	4.99%	501	569	584	600	623	644	664	703	740	753	880
	Fine Gael	Denis McCarthy*	4.3%	430	440	445	446	457	488	512	525
	Labour	Tom Shortt*	4.2%	426	456	456	462	472	489	504	535	578	618
	Independent	Desmond Hayes	3.3%	334	349	354	368	383	391	397
	Fianna Fáil	Christy McInerney	2.7%	268	289	289	289	293	297
	Fine Gael	Tina O'Gorman	1.9%	195	233	242	243	258
	Independent	Frank Ryan	1.7%	169	213	214	235
	Independent	Denis Riordan	1.2%	125	139	139
	Independent	Patrick McCarthy	0.7%	65	93
Electorate: 20,980   Valid: 10,041   Spoilt: 150   Quota: 1,435   Turnout: 10,191 (48.6%)

Limerick City West

Limerick City West - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	Fianna Fáil	James Collins*	14.9%	1,445
	Fine Gael	Maria Byrne*†††††††	14.1%	1,370
	Labour	Joe Leddin*	14.1%	1,154	1,176	1,208	1,213
	Sinn Féin	Malachy McCreesh	9.8%	952	960	963	963	968	982	992	1,029	1,043	1,073	1,097	1,149	1,191
	Fine Gael	Daniel Butler*	7.4%	721	748	790	809	824	827	841	860	974	1,036	1,179	1,247
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	John Loftus†	6.6%	642	650	654	656	670	698	722	761	770	800	821	938	991
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Lynch	5.4%	519	576	581	583	586	599	605	614	630	653	669	701	919
	Fine Gael	Fergus Kilcoyne	5.3%	516	526	541	548	550	569	575	579	628	654	692	713	771
	Fianna Fáil	Geraldine Leddin	4.1%	394	458	469	473	481	483	492	500	515	554	592	619
	Labour	Tomás Hannon*	3.8%	369	382	388	390	394	394	408	416	440	461
	Independent	Richie Ryan	3.3%	319	325	328	338	351	371	393	469	477	502	541
	Fine Gael	Jim Long*	3.1%	300	303	315	320	325	330	332	341	364
	Fine Gael	Felim Cronin	2.8%	275	279	290	295	297	299	300	302
	Independent	Cathal McCarthy	2.02%	196	198	199	200	211	236	265
	Independent	Sunny Martins Duruagwu	1.9%	183	186	188	190	205	215
	Independent	Jason Griffin	1.5%	144	145	146	161	161
	Independent	Gerry Casey	1.3%	124	127	131	131
	Fine Gael	Frank Mulqueen	0.7%	63	66	73
Electorate: 20,242   Valid: 9,686   Spoilt: 98   Quota: 1,211   Turnout: 9,784 (48.3%)

Newcastle West

Newcastle West - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fine Gael	Jerome Scanlan*	18.3%	2,396
	Fine Gael	Liam Galvin*	13.7%	1,795	1,860	1,888
	Fianna Fáil	Michael J. Collins*	12.9%	1,682	1,772	1,905
	Sinn Féin	Séamus Browne	9.7%	1,271	1,296	1,390	1,394	1,467	1,674	1,814
	Fianna Fáil	Francis Foley*	8.5%	1,112	1,144	1,188	1,201	1,279	1,400	1,772
	Fine Gael	John Sheahan*	7.9%	1,027	1,077	1,096	1,097	1,192	1,263	1,556
	Fianna Fáil	Seamus Ahern	7.2%	941	947	987	997	1,090	1,148
	Fine Gael	Damien Riedy*	6.9%	907	1,057	1,094	1,098	1,277	1,366	1,429
	Labour	Stephen Goulding	5.3%	696	729	756	759
	Independent	Christy Kelly	4.99%	652	677	793	795	884
	Fianna Fáil	John Leahy	2.7%	348	391
	Anti-Austerity Alliance	Joe Harrington	1.5%	198	205
	Independent	Seán O'Mahony	0.3%	45	47
Electorate: 21,891   Valid: 13,070   Spoilt: 143   Quota: 1,868   Turnout: 13,213 (60.4%)

References

1. "Limerick City and County Council finalised". Limerick Leader. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
2. "Limerick City and County Council results". Irish Independent. 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014..
3. "Limerick City and County Council dispute resolved". Irish Times. 1 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014..

Changes since 2014

• † Limerick City West Anti-Austerity Alliance Cllr John Loftus was expelled from the party and became an Independent after sending death threats on Facebook.
• †† On 14 December 2015 Adare-Rathkeale Fianna Fáil Cllr Richard O'Donoghue quit the party and became an Independent citing dissatisfaction that he had not been chosen as a candidate for the Limerick County constituency in the 2016 Irish general election.. He re-joined the party in 2017.
• ††† Limerick City East Fianna Fáil Cllr Shane Clifford announced he was resigning his seat with effect from 31 December 2015 citing personal and family reasons. Joe Pond was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 14 March 2016.
• †††† On 15 February 2016 Limerick City North Fianna Fáil Cllr Joe Crowley died suddenly while canvassing with Willie O'Dea TD in Limerick East during the 2016 Irish general election. His daughter, Vivienne, was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 14 March 2016.
• ††††† Adare-Rathkeale Fine Gael Councillor Tom Neville was elected as a TD for Limerick County at the Irish general election 2016. Adam Teskey was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 14 March 2016.
• †††††† Limerick City North Sinn Féin Cllr Maurice Quinlivan was elected as a TD for the constituency of Limerick City at the Irish general election, 2016. John Costelloe was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 21 March 2016.
• ††††††† Limerick City West Fine Gael Cllr Maria Byrne was elected to the Seanad in April 2016. On 22 October 2016 her cousin, Elenora Hogan, was co-opted to fill the vacancy.
• †††††††† Cappamore-Kilmallock Sinn Féin Cllr Lisa-Marie Sheehy resigned from the party and became an Independent on 5 September 2017 citing a hostile and toxic environment and a bullying atmosphere.
• ††††††††† Limerick City North Solidarity Cllr Cian Prendeville resigned for personal reasons on 27 October 2018. Mary Cahillane was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 30 November 2018.

External links

• Official website