1985 Irish local elections

The 1985 Irish local elections were held in all the counties, cities and towns of Ireland on 20 June 1985.

1985 Irish local elections

20 June 1985.

First party Second party Third party   Leader Charles Haughey Garret FitzGerald Dick Spring Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Party Leader since 7 December 1979 1 July 1977 1 November 1982 Seats won 441 287 60 Seat change 113 5 15 Popular vote 648,070 422,045 109,681 Percentage 45.6 29.7 4.2% Swing 6.5 5.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   IFF Leader Tomás Mac Giolla Gerry Adams Neil Blaney Party Workers' Party Sinn Féin Independent Fianna Fáil Leader since 14 October 1962 13 November 1983 1972 Last election N/A N/A Seats won 20 10 6 Seat change 20 10 2 Popular vote 43,006 46,391 11073 Percentage 3.0% 3.3% 0.8% Swing 3.0% 3.3%

Results

County, city and town council seats

Party		Seats	±	First pref. votes	% FPV[1][2]	±%
	Fianna Fáil	441	113	648,070	45.6	+6.5
	Fine Gael	287	5	422,045	29.7	-5.4
	Labour Party	60	15	109,681	7.9	-4.2
	Workers' Party	20	New	43,006	3.0	+0.8
	Sinn Féin	10	New	46,391	3.3
	Independent Fianna Fáil	6	2	11073	0.8
	Democratic Socialist	3	New	5,472	0.4	New
	Waterford People's Party^α	1	New	1,681	0.1	New
	Green Alliance	0	New	7,446	0.5	New
	Communist Party	0		593	0.0
	Independent			137,109	9.6	-2.1
Total				1,421,494	100	—

^α "Waterford People's Party" was a local splinter from the Worker's Party. This election was the only election it ever contested as a separate entity, as it subsequent rejoined the Worker's Party.

County and City Councils

Party		Seats	Seats +/-	First Pref. Votes	First Pref. %	% Change from 2004
	Fianna Fáil
	Fine Gael
	Labour Party
	Workers' Party
	Sinn Féin
Others
Total

County councils

Authority		FF		FG		Lab		WP		SF		Ind	Total
Carlow	10		7		3						1		21
Cavan	14		10								1		25
Clare	17		8								7		32
Cork County	24		19		2		1				2		48
Donegal	11		9						1		8		21
Dublin	17		15		5		2				2		41
Galway County	17		9								4		30
Kerry	13		7		3						4		27
Kildare	10		7		5						3		25
Kilkenny	11		10		3						2		26
Laois	14		9		1						1		25
Leitrim	10		8								4		22
Limerick County	18		10										28
Longford	10		9								2		21
Louth	12		8		2				1		3		26
Mayo	15		14								2		31
Meath	17		10								2		29
Monaghan	10		7						1		2		20
Offaly	12		6								3		21
Roscommon	13		8								5		26
Sligo	11		9		1						4		25
Tipperary North	12		6		1						2		21
Tipperary South	14		8		3						1		26
Waterford County	11		10		2								23
Westmeath	13		5		3						2		23
Wexford	11		6		1						3		21
Wicklow	13		5		4		1				1		24
Totals	360		227		39		4		3		71		728

City councils

Authority		FF		FG		Lab		WP		SF	Other
Cork City	13		8		5		2				3
Dublin City	26		13		2		6		1		4
Galway City	6		5		1		1				2
Limerick City	5		6		1						5
Waterford City	5		4		2		2				2

Town councils

Party		Seats	+/-
	Fianna Fáil
	Fine Gael
	Labour Party
	Sinn Féin
Others
Total

References

Sources

• "1985 Local Elections". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
• Local elections, 1985 : election results and transfer of votes in respect of each county, and county borough council : and election statistics relating to all local authorities (PDF). Official publications. Pl.3578. Dublin: Stationery Office. 1986. Retrieved 2 March 2016.

Citations

1. "County by county first preference vote". The Irish Times. 1 July 1991. Retrieved 21 June 2011. The first two digits of the Fine Gael total vote seem to be transposed in error, based on the other figures and percentages.
2. "1985 Local Election". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 29 March 2020.

See also

• Local government in the Republic of Ireland
• Category:Irish local government councils