CORK COUNCILS:VOTERS IN both Cork city and county turned against Fianna Fáil in significant numbers, with the party losing seats on both Cork City Council and Cork County Council as Labour and Independents proved to be the main winners in both local authorities.
Fianna Fáil saw its vote in Cork city drop by 8.6 per cent to 20.5 per cent, with the party losing four of its 10 councillors. Three former lord mayors, Donal Counihan, Tom O’Driscoll and Damian Wallace, the son of former TD Danny Wallace, were among the casualties.
Fergal Dennehy, son of former TD John Dennehy, also lost his seat, while Cllr Seán Martin, brother of Minister Micheál Martin had to wait until the eighth count to retain his seat in Cork South Central, as Fianna Fáil representation was reduced to one seat in each of the six wards.
Fine Gael’s vote increased by 3.3 per cent to 25.4 per cent but the party failed to add to its total of eight councillors. The loss of its seat in North West was cancelled out by the spectacular poll-topping performance of newcomer Des Cahill in South East.
Labour saw its vote in Cork city increase by 5.3 per cent to 18.6 per cent and while there was satisfaction in seeing all its sitting councillors returned comfortably, its biggest success was in South West where newcomer Ger Gibbons won a second seat for the party.
Sinn Féin increased its vote by just 0.4 per cent to 10.8 per cent but had a resounding seat success, doubling its representation from two to four, with Henry Cremin making it in South West and Thomas Gould taking a seat in North Central.
The other major story in Cork was the success of Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry, who topped the poll in North Central with over 26 per cent of the vote. Workers’ Party veteran Ted Tynan returned to the council after an absence of 27 years in North East.
Independents also did well in the city, with outgoing councillors, Dave McCarthy in North West and former Green Chris O’Leary being joined by local historian Kieran McCarthy in South East and Mick Finn in South Central.
All four Independents along with Sinn Féin are sure to be wooed in the coming days as the pact between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour for the mayoralty looks like coming asunder.
On Cork County Council, Fianna Fáil also suffered a near identical drop in support of 8.5 per cent down to 24.4 per cent and it saw its representation drop from 16 to 12. Cllr Mark O’Keeffe, son of Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe, and Pádraig Martin, brother of Minister for Education Micheál Martin, were among the casualties. Cllr Maurice Ahern, brother of Cork East TD Michael, lost in Midleton.
Cllr Deirdre Forde, who shocked Fianna Fáil when she defected to Fine Gael in March, took a seat on the first count in Carrigaline. Fine Gael had held 25 seats on the outgoing council but ended up losing three seats despite increasing its vote by 2.6 per cent to 39.8 per cent.
Labour enjoyed a 3.2 per cent rise to 13.4 per cent and won two extra seats, with Brendan Leahy in Skibbereen joining surprise winner in Fermoy, Noel McCarthy. Sitting councillors John Gilroy, John Mulvihill, Paula Desmond and Martin Coughlan all held their seats.