2019 Kilkenny County Council election

A Kilkenny County Council election was held in County Kilkenny, Ireland on 24 May 2019 as part of that year's local elections, with all 24 councillors to be elected for a five-year term of office from 4 local electoral areas (LEAs) by single transferable vote. Following a recommendation of the 2018 Boundary Committee, the boundaries of the LEAs were altered from those used in the 2014 elections.[1][2]

2019 Kilkenny County Council election

24 May 2019
All 24 seats to Kilkenny County Council 13 seats needed for a majority
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Seats won 11 9 2 Seat change 1 2   Party Green Independent Seats won 1 1 Seat change
Map showing the area of Kilkenny County Council
Council control after election TBD

Fianna Fáil gained 1 additional seat to increase their numbers to 11 while also increasing their vote by 4%. Fine Gael gained 2 seats and also increased their vote by 2%. Labour and the Greens retained their previous position but it was a disastrous election for Sinn Féin. The party lost all 3 seats, including Sean Tyrell, the partner of Kathleen Funchion TD and saw a significant drop in their vote-share. Breda Gardner, a sitting Independent, who also contested the Ireland South Constituency unsuccessfully, failed to retain her seat.

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	11	1	15,895	41.11%	3.91%
	Fine Gael	9	2	12,410	32.10%	2.20%
	Labour	2		2,915	7.54%	3.66%
	Green	1		1,485	3.84%	0.34%
	Sinn Féin	0	3	2,458	6.36%	3.54%
	People Before Profit	0		231	0.60%	0.60%
	Independent	1		3,270	8.46%	1.26%
Totals		24		38,664	100%

Candidates by LEA

Callan–Thomastown

Callan–Thomastown — 6 Seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Peter "Chap" Cleere[c 1]	17.85%	1,945
	Fianna Fáil	Matt Doran[c 1]	16.88%	1,839
	Fine Gael	Patrick O'Neill[c 1]	12.84%	1,399	1,436	1,452	1,456	1,482	1,515	1,581
	Fine Gael	Michael Doyle[c 1]	12.65%	1,378	1,490	1,496	1,504	1,528	1,567
	Fine Gael	Joe Lyons	9.56%	1,042	1,047	1,146	1,152	1,220	1,330	1,388
	Fianna Fáil	Deirdre Cullen	7.91%	862	1,020	1,095	1,116	1,151	1,234	1,426
	Independent	Breda Gardner[c 1]	7.54%	821	851	863	886	997	1,070	1,315
	Sinn Féin	David Kennedy[c 1]	6.68%	728	746	759	768	789	838
	Independent	Trish Finegan	3.35%	365	369	392	406
	Independent	John Kelly	3.32%	362	380	392	445	511
	Independent	Michael McGrath	1.04%	113	116	118
	Independent	John Carroll	0.38%	41	44	46
Electorate: 19,643   Valid: 10,895   Spoilt: 182   Quota: 1,557   Turnout: 11,077 (56.39%)

Castlecomer

Castlecomer — 6 Seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fianna Fáil	Pat Fitzpatrick[c 1]	22.21%	2,249
	Fine Gael	Mary Hilda Cavanagh[c 1]	16.66%	1,687
	Fianna Fáil	Michael McCarthy[c 1]	15.71%	1,591
	Fine Gael	John Brennan	11.74%	1,189	1,413	1,493
	Labour	Denis Hynes	10.84%	1,098	1,175	1,190	1,201	1,403
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Delaney	9.73%	985	1,340	1,416	1,520
	Fine Gael	Pat O'Neill	8.09%	819	911	964	980	1,049
	Sinn Féin	Joseph Kavanagh	5.01%	507	561	577	590
Electorate: 19,146   Valid: 10,125   Spoilt: 233   Quota: 1,447   Turnout: 10,358 (54.1%)

Kilkenny

Kilkenny — 7 Seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Fianna Fáil	Andrew McGuinness[c 1]	19.40%	1,860
	Green	Malcolm Noonan[c 1]	15.49%	1,485
	Fianna Fáil	Joe Malone[c 1]	13.26%	1,271
	Fine Gael	David Fitzgerald[c 1]	12.01%	1,151	1,236
	Independent	Eugene McGuinness	8.62%	826	922	932	935	944	965	1,030	1,033	1,075	1,095	1,141
	Fianna Fáil	John Coonan	7.28%	698	929	963	967	991	1,005	1,039	1,053	1,076	1,129	1,230
	Sinn Féin	Sean Tyrrell[c 2]	5.72%	548	616	632	641	649	666	689	691	760	813	836
	Fine Gael	Martin Brett	5.00%	479	550	592	592	602	617	650	662	676	774	955
	Fine Gael	Orla Kelly	3.22%	309	327	370	370	373	382	404	407	431
	Labour	Andrea Cleere	3.14%	301	325	382	384	387	411	426	428	495	582
	Independent	Luke O'Connor	2.46%	236	252	266	273	284	301
	People Before Profit	Stephanie Hanlon	2.41%	231	258	298	300	302	349	370	371
	Independent	Enya Kennedy	1.68%	161	184	210	216	218
	Independent	Noel Gerard Walsh	0.32%	31	33	37
Electorate: 19,337   Valid: 9,587   Spoilt: 155   Quota: 1,199   Turnout: 9,742 (50.38%)

Piltown

Piltown — 5 Seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fine Gael	Pat Dunphy[c 1]	19.60%	1,579
	Labour	Tomás Breathnach[c 1]	18.82%	1,516
	Fine Gael	Fidelis Doherty[c 1]	13.14%	1,059	1,118	1,145	1,147	1,284	1,356
	Fianna Fáil	Eamon Aylward[c 1]	12.57%	1,013	1,065	1,106	1,112	1,164	1,432
	Fianna Fáil	Ger Frisby[c 1]	12.04%	970	984	1,010	1,017	1,143	1,246
	Sinn Féin	Grace Doyle	8.38%	675	690	720	730	859	950
	Fianna Fáil	Rob Duggan	7.60%	612	667	681	686	714
	Fine Gael	John Hayes	3.96%	319	345	363	365
	Independent	Melissa O'Neill[c 1]	2.89%	233	241	253	291
	Independent	Alan Curran	1.01%	81	88	93
Electorate: 16,125   Valid: 8,057   Spoilt: 130   Quota: 1,343   Turnout: 8,187 (50.77%)

Footnotes

1. Outgoing councillor elected in 2014.
2. Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2014 election.

Changes Since 2019 Local Elections

• †Kilkenny Green Party Cllr Malcolm Noonan was elected a TD for Carlow-Kilkenny at the 2020 General Election. Maria Dollard was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 24 February 2020.[3]

References

Citations

1. Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No. 1 (13 June 2018). "Report 2018" (PDF). Government Publications. pp. 52–55, 149. ISBN 978-1-4064-2990-9. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
2. Phelan, John Paul (19 December 2018). "S.I. No. 621/2018 — County of Kilkenny Local Electoral Areas Order 2018". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Retrieved 8 May 2019.
3. https://kilkennynow.ie/tag/maria-dollard/

Sources

• "Kilkenny County Council - Local Election candidates". RTÉ. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
• "2019 Election Website". Kilkenny County Council. Retrieved 19 June 2019.