Main Points Local Election Count James Geoghegan and Hazel Chu are the first councillors elected in Dublin. Connemara North is the first LEA to complete its count with four sitting councillors returned. Independent Thomas Welby is the first councillor elected in the local elections 2024, taking a seat on Galway County Council. Sinn Féin will add to its 80 seats in 2019 but by far fewer than expected. Pearse Doherty says “there will be a lot of disappointment”.
He said a trend for people not to vote all the way down “could also be a sign of weariness in terms of the length of the ballot papers”. Tallies show Luke Ming Flanagan and Fine Gael’s Maria polling well in Midlands-North-West. Barry Andrews of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty are also polling well in Dublin. Limerick Mayoral Election John Moran, the former secretary general at the Department of Finance running as an Independent, is the early front runner.