2014 Meath County Council election

An election to Meath 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, an increase of 11 seats from 2009.[1]

2014 Meath County Council election

23 May 2014
All 40 seats to Meath County Council 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Fine Gael Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Seats won 13 10 8 Seat change +2 +2 +7   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Independent Labour Party Seats won 9 0 Seat change +4 -4
Map showing the area of Meath County Council
Council control before election Fine Gael Labour Council control after election Fine Gael Independents

Fine Gael remained the largest party, and gained 2 seats when compared to 2009, despite having a lower first preference vote than Fianna Fáil. The party was somewhat insulated by the additional seats allocated to Meath. While Fianna Fáil was the largest party in terms of vote share running too many candidates and transfer leakage, in LEAs like Kells, Ratoath and Trim in particular, saw the party miss out on potential additional seats. By contrast Sinn Féin were the major winners in the elections as the party returned a team of 8 to the new Council. Independents gained 4 additional seats, including Nick Killian, a former Fianna Fáil councillor. Labour lost all of their 4 Council seats in a testament to the anti-Government sentiment.[2]

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Fine Gael	13	+2	14,315	22.82%
	Fianna Fáil	10	+2	17,366	27.68%
	Sinn Féin	8	+7	11,402	18.17%
	Labour Party	0	-4	3,225	5.14%
	People Before Profit	0		333	0.53%
	Direct Democracy	0		253	0.40%
	Workers' Party	0		231	0.37%
	Green Party	0		157	0.25%
	Independent	9	+4	15,456	24.6%
Totals		40	+11	62,738	100%	—

Results by Electoral Area

Ashbourne

Ashbourne - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	Independent	Joe Bonner*	21.41	1,907
	Sinn Féin	Darren O'Rourke	15.79	1,407
	Fianna Fáil	Dr. Claire O'Driscoll	14.35	1,278
	Fine Gael	Suzanne Jamal*	8.28	738	765	771	774	775	778	790	855	1,057	1,183
	Fine Gael	Alan Tobin	7.05	628	732	738	747	755	783	805	816	922	1,126
	Fine Gael	David Harford	5.95	530	552	556	557	560	562	572	616
	Labour Party	Niamh McGowan*	5.35	477	591	601	608	620	649	689	703	755
	Fianna Fáil	Joe Sheridan	5.34	476	495	506	511	512	515	525
	Independent	Sharon Keogan	5.07	452	497	524	530	538	577	759	820	910	990
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Smith†††	5.06	451	555	563	576	584	599	629	840	881	1,001
	Independent	Aisling O'Neill	2.80	249	322	349	367	398	498
	Independent	John King	1.55	138	206	219	229	288
	Independent	Paul Nolan	1.34	101	137	153	168
	Independent	Cathal Loftus	0.85	76	98	104
Electorate: 19,845 (44.89%)   Valid: 8908   Spoilt: 93   Quota: 1,273   Turnout: 9,001 (45.36%)

Kells

Kells - 7 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10	Count 11
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Drew	12.03	1,634	1,638	1,650	1,658	1,727
	Sinn Féin	Michael Gallagher	11.77	1,599	1,607	1,649	1,653	1,686	1,687	1,843
	Sinn Féin	Johnny Guirke	11.50	1,562	1,572	1,607	1,619	1,633	1,633	1,643	1,656	2,068
	Independent	David Gilroy	11.18	1,519	1,551	1,597	1,683	1,706
	Fianna Fáil	Oliver Fox*	8.52	1,158	1,161	1,163	1,173	1,178	1,179	1,237	1,246
	Fine Gael	Sarah Reilly	8.27	1,124	1,147	1,167	1,240	1,338	1,347	1,362	1,363	1,490	1,568	1,598
	Fine Gael	Eugene Cassidy*	8.10	1,100	1,104	1,115	1,188	1,210	1,212	1,301	1,347	1,378	1,394	1,399
	Fine Gael	John V. Farrelly*	8.06	1,095	1,099	1,102	1,158	1,207	1,211	1,245	1,261	1,334	1,373	1,377
	Fianna Fáil	Bryan Reilly*	7.42	1,008	1,010	1,019	1,021	1,079	1,090	1,313	1,327	1,698	1,785
	Fianna Fáil	Ronan Murtagh	4.95	673	674	680	681	686	686
	Labour Party	Brian Collins	2.91	395	420	435	448
	Fine Gael	Aideen Andrews	2.48	337	360	361
	Workers' Party	Seamus McDonagh	1.70	231	234
	Labour Party	Sandy Gallagher	1.10	150
Electorate: 25,923   Valid: 13,585 (52.41%)   Spoilt: 205   Quota: 1,699   Turnout: 13,790 (53.20%)

Laytown-Bettystown

Laytown-Bettystown - 7 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Sinn Féin	Eimear Ferguson	18.14	1,785
	Fianna Fáil	Wayne Harding*	15.60	1,535
	Independent	Sharon Keogan	11.69	1,150	1,265
	Fine Gael	Sharon Tolan	8.51	837	860	868	874	891	1,068	1,090	1,270
	Fine Gael	Paddy Meade	8.01	788	809	888	906	911	1,076	1,099	1,189
	Fianna Fáil	Stephen McKee	7.98	785	811	871	875	880	925	1,015	1,086
	Fianna Fáil	Patricia Heritage	6.36	626	675	760	775	796	813	841	916
	Labour Party	Eoin Holmes*	5.64	555	581	604	622	642	686	722
	Fine Gael	Dermot McCullen	5.16	508	521	529	536	545
	Independent	Tom Kelly	4.81	473	547	553	596	687	710	901	997
	Independent	David Keaveney	3.44	339	433	448	497	592	609
	Direct Democracy	William Lacey	2.57	253	328	331	356
	Independent	Mick Martin	1.48	146	170	178
	Independent	Denis Proctor	0.62	61	75	84
Electorate: 22,959   Valid: 9,841 (42.86%)   Spoilt: 114   Quota: 1,231   Turnout: 9,955 (43.36%)

Navan

Navan - 7 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	Sinn Féin	Joe Reilly*††	14.02	1,360
	Independent	Francis Deane*	12.30	1,193	1,199	1,210	1,225
	Fianna Fáil	Shane Cassells*†	10.83	1,051	1,056	1,058	1,107	1,136	1,145	1,181	1,183	1,251
	Sinn Féin	Sinead Burke	10.14	984	1,070	1,077	1,122	1,166	1,256
	Fianna Fáil	Tommy Reilly*	9.41	913	924	926	950	981	989	1,003	1,005	1,046	1,110
	Independent	Wayne Forde	7.70	747	756	773	779	838	909	921	939	1,025	1,265
	Fianna Fáil	Padraig Fitzsimons	6.77	657	661	662	685	701	717	732	734	759	810
	Fine Gael	Jim Holloway*	6.44	625	629	634	650	662	674	914	916	1,017	1,106
	Independent	Paddy Pryle	4.62	448	454	470	482	506	573	589	604	667
	Labour Party	Anton McCabe	4.56	442	446	452	465	476	501	526	528
	Fine Gael	John Duffy	3.77	366	367	370	373	384	390
	People Before Profit	Alan Lawes	3.43	333	336	346	353	364
	Independent	Stephen Ball	2.75	267	271	275	278
	Fianna Fáil	Jenny McHugh*	2.31	224	226	229
	Independent	Paul Hagan	0.61	59	60
	Independent	Gerry O'Brien	0.35	34	35
Electorate: 22,088   Valid: 9,703 (43.93%)   Spoilt: 122   Quota: 1,213   Turnout: 9,825 (44.48%)

Ratoath

Ratoath - 7 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Independent	Brian Fitzgerald*	18.84	2,054
	Independent	Nick Killian*	14.88	1,622
	Sinn Féin	Maria O'Kane	9.81	1,070	1,145	1,184	1,221	1,276	1,364
	Fine Gael	Maria Murphy*	8.56	933	1,000	1,004	1,077	1,093	1,191	1,191
	Fianna Fáil	Damien O'Reilly	8.50	927	1,016	1,024	1,040	1,144	1,375
	Fine Gael	Gerry O'Connor	7.90	861	937	944	989	1,002	1,018	1,018
	Fine Gael	Gillian Toole	7.27	793	848	914	928	1,087	1,107	1,107
	Independent	Seán Henry	5.77	629	770	809	874	901	982	982
	Fianna Fáil	Noel Leonard*	5.45	594	669	677	688	728
	Fianna Fáil	P.J. White	5.37	585	625	633	692	764	836
	Fianna Fáil	Deirdre Smith	4.31	470	491	552	578
	Labour Party	William Lacey	1.90	207	236	245
	Green Party	Seán O Buachalla	1.44	157	180	190
Electorate: 24,916   Valid: 10,902 (43.76%)   Spoilt: 110   Quota: 1,363   Turnout: 11,012 (44.20%)

Trim

Trim - 6 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9	Count 10
	Sinn Féin	Caroline Lynch	16.69	1,635
	Fine Gael	Joe Fox*	12.43	1,218	1,227	1,234	1,239	1,264	1,271	1,367	1,421
	Independent	Trevor Golden	10.74	1,052	1,104	1,190	1,307	1,531
	Fine Gael	Enda Flynn	9.84	964	971	975	992	1,006	1,017	1,060	1,066	1,131	1,134
	Fianna Fáil	Vera Flynn	9.46	927	942	946	956	969	982	1,009	1,082	1,125	1,127
	Fianna Fáil	Ronan McKenna	9.0	882	897	905	911	918	923	961	1,182	1,336	1,345
	Fine Gael	Noel French	8.88	870	878	896	901	915	924	959	1,006	1,313	1,320
	Labour Party	James O'Shea	5.77	565	582	603	609	619	634	786	838
	Fianna Fáil	Vincent McHugh	5.23	512	523	529	531	536	545	558
	Labour Party	Tracey McElhinney*	4.43	434	447	453	457	470	494
	Independent	Keith Ellis	2.96	290	316	346	419
	Independent	Dennis O'Rourke	2.30	225	265	282
	Independent	David Keane	2.30	225	247
Electorate: 24,531   Valid: 9,799 (39.95%)   Spoilt: 162   Quota: 1,400   Turnout: 9,961 (40.61%)

References

1. Walsh, Louis (26 May 2014). "Meath Council: Full recount under way in Ratoath". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
2. "Meath County Council Election results". Irish Independent. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.

Post-Election Changes

• † Navan Fianna Fáil Cllr Shane Cassells was elected as a TD for Meath West in the Irish general election, 2016. Padraig Fitzsimons was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 14 March 2016.
• †† Navan Sinn Féin Cllr Joe Reilly died on 1 June 2018 following a long battle with cancer. Edward Fennessy was co-opted to fill the vacancy in September 2018.
• ††† Ashbourne Fianna Fáil Councillor Seán Smith resigned his seat on 12 September 2018 explaining that he and his family were moving to the USA. On 29 November 2018 Conor Tormey was selected to fill the vacancy.

External links

• Official website

Preceded by 2009 Meath County Council election

Meath County Council elections

Succeeded by 2019 Meath County Council election