2019 Wexford County Council election

A Wexford County Council election was held in County Wexford in Ireland on 24 May 2019 as part of that year's local elections. All 34 councillors were elected for a five-year term of office from 6 local electoral areas (LEAs) by single transferable vote. The 2018 LEA boundary review committee replaced the four LEAs used in the 2014 elections, each of which had more than the seven seat maximum set in the 2018 terms of reference.

2019 Wexford County Council election

24 May 2019
All 34 seats to Wexford County Council 18 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour Party Seats won 12 9 2 Seat change 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Sinn Féin Aontú Independent Seats won 2 1 8 Seat change 3 1 2
Map showing the area of Wexford County Council
Council control after election Fianna Fáil/ Independents

Fianna Fáil gained an additional seat boosting their numbers to 12 overall while also increasing their vote by almost 3%. The party was boosted by the candidature of Malcolm Byrne in Ireland South. However outgoing Cathaoirleach Keith Doyle proved to be a casualty in the Enniscorthy LEA. Fine Gael retained 9 seats overall while Labour returned 2 seats again; this time both from the Wexford LEA. Independents increased their numbers by 2 seats from 6 to 8. The elections were very disappointing for Sinn Féin who lost 3 seats, including 1 to Aontú, to be reduced to just 2 seats in total.

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	12	1	18,066	30.03%	2.63%
	Fine Gael	9		15,095	25.09%	0.49%
	Labour Party	2		5,343	8.88%	0.48%
	Sinn Féin	2	3	4,540	7.55%	4.55%
	Aontú	1	1	1,017	1.69%	1.69%
	Renua	0		1,289	2.14%	2.14%
	People Before Profit	0	1	1,074	1.79%	0.01%
	Inds. 4 Change	0		757	1.26%	1.26%
	Direct Democracy	0		53	0.09%	0.12%
	Independent	8	2	12,929	21.49%	0.99%
Totals		34		60,163	100%

Candidates by LEA

Enniscorthy

Enniscorthy — 6 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	Fine Gael	Kathleen Codd-Nolan[c 1]	13.16%	1,419	1,485	1,539	1,630
	Independent	John O'Rourke	12.01%	1,295	1,366	1,462	1,573
	Fianna Fáil	Barbara-Anne Murphy[c 1]	11.58%	1,249	1,293	1,336	1,449	1,463	1,520
	Fine Gael	Cathal Byrne	11.40%	1,230	1,270	1,332	1,368	1,381	1,419
	Fianna Fáil	Aidan Browne	9.22%	995	1,017	1,052	1,228	1,246	1,362
	Independent	Jackser Owens	9.09%	980	1,038	1,105	1,171	1,178	1,569
	Fine Gael	Paddy Kavanagh[c 1]	8.97%	967	993	1,026	1,152	1,175	1,298
	Sinn Féin	Johnny Mythen[c 1]	7.58%	818	884	928	1,016	1,021
	Fianna Fáil	Keith Doyle[c 1]	7.31%	788	819	863
	Renua	Gerald O'Donoghue	4.86%	524	559
	Inds. 4 Change	Annette Byrne Moran	2.67%	288
	Independent	John 'Texas' Byrne	2.16%	233
Electorate: 21,822   Valid: 10,786   Spoilt: 221   Quota: 1,541   Turnout: 11,007 (50.44%)

Gorey

Gorey — 6 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Fianna Fáil	Malcolm Byrne[c 1]†	25.45%	2,639
	Fine Gael	Anthony Donohoe[c 1]	13.54%	1,404	1,511
	Fianna Fáil	Donal Kenny	10.67%	1,106	1,305	1,314	1,337	1,428	1,441	1,452
	Fine Gael	Diarmuid Devereux	9.69%	1,005	1,185	1,315	1,366	1,529
	Fianna Fáil	Joe Sullivan[c 1]	9.15%	949	1,219	1,236	1,273	1,431	1,446	1,455
	Sinn Féin	Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin[c 1]	9.11%	945	1,023	1,038	1,177	1,297	1,307	1,312
	Independent	Jimmy Fleming	8.47%	878	974	1,011	1,131	1,276	1,285	1,289
	Labour Party	Robert Ireton[c 1]	6.57%	681	801	845	925
	People Before Profit	Cinnamon Blackmore	4.79%	497	550	575
	Fine Gael	Elaine Clarke	2.57%	266	320
Electorate: 19,989   Valid: 10,370   Spoilt: 208   Quota: 1,482   Turnout: 10,578 (52.92%)

Kilmuckridge

Kilmuckridge — 4 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Fianna Fáil	Pip Breen[c 1]	18.12%	1,297	1,298	1,322	1,474
	Fine Gael	Oliver Walsh[c 1]	17.98%	1,287	1,289	1,307	1,360	1,375	1,383	1,544
	Independent	Mary Farrell[c 1]	17.08%	1,223	1,239	1,400	1,533
	Fianna Fáil	Willie Kavanagh[c 2]	15.64%	1,120	1,123	1,157	1,175	1,180	1,187	1,340
	Fine Gael	Edel Gahan	9.26%	663	665	686	738	772	795	937
	Renua	Peter Mernagh	8.58%	614	624	685	736	760	764
	Labour Party	Nicky Wafer	6.64%	475	483	528
	Sinn Féin	Colette Nolan	5.96%	427	436
	Direct Democracy	Jan Van De Ven	0.74%	53
Electorate: 13,701   Valid: 7,159   Spoilt: 117   Quota: 1,432   Turnout: 7,276 (53.11%)

New Ross

New Ross —6 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Independent	Patrick Gerard Barden	16.92%	1,980
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Sheehan[c 1]	15.58%	1,824
	Fianna Fáil	John Fleming[c 1]	11.90%	1,393	1,457	1,468	1,473	1,492	1,541	1,582	1,650
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Whelan[c 1]	11.07%	1,296	1,333	1,348	1,359	1,381	1,415	1,462	1,765
	Independent	Anthony Connick[c 1]	9.44%	1,105	1,143	1,170	1,219	1,267	1,403	1,550	1,644
	Fine Gael	Brídín Murphy	7.92%	927	980	986	997	1,005	1,105	1,177	1,542
	Fine Gael	Willie Fitzharris[c 1]	7.26%	850	898	905	916	924	968	1,007
	Independent	John Dwyer	6.72%	787	805	819	876	900	949	1,140	1,164
	Sinn Féin	Marie Doyle[c 2]	4.98%	583	604	610	697	709	769
	Labour Party	Bridín Moloney	4.19%	490	505	508	563	573
	People Before Profit	Susan Jennifer Breen	2.73%	319	329	340
	Renua	Dorota Kulesza	1.29%	151	154
Electorate: 22,001   Valid: 11,705   Spoilt: 251   Quota: 1,673   Turnout: 11,956 (54.34%)

Rosslare

Rosslare — 5 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Independent	Ger Carthy[c 1]	24.74%	2,317
	Fine Gael	Frank Staples[c 1]	16.57%	1,552	1,720
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Wallace	9.81%	919	942	946	952	1,041	1,090
	Fianna Fáil	Lisa McDonald[c 2]	9.71%	910	1,057	1,076	1,112	1,169	1,252	1,620
	Fine Gael	Jim Moore[c 1]	9.45%	885	1,027	1,065	1,120	1,266	1,361	1,539	1,562
	Sinn Féin	Mick Roche[c 1]	8.96%	839	912	964	983	1,015	1,150	1,250	1,258
	Aontú	Jim Codd	8.30%	777	858	892	907	1,024	1,114	1,295	1,322
	Fine Gael	Paul Codd	5.27%	494	527	529	535
	Inds. 4 Change	Jane Johnstone	5.01%	469	533	578	581	611
	Independent	Terry Lawton	2.19%	205	229
Electorate: 17,103   Valid: 9,367   Spoilt: 153   Quota: 1,562   Turnout: 9,520 (55.66%)

Wexford

Wexford — 7 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8	Count 9
	Labour Party	George Lawlor[c 1]	21.92%	2,362
	Fine Gael	John Hegarty[c 1]	12.53%	1,350
	Independent	Leonard Kelly	10.34%	1,114	1,239	1,259	1,297	1,362
	Fianna Fáil	Garry Laffan	8.62%	929	973	978	995	998	1,038	1,106	1,106	1,354
	Sinn Féin	Tom Forde[c 2]	8.61%	928	1,002	1,005	1,028	1,072	1,085	1,103	1,107	1,159
	Labour Party	Maura Bell	7.63%	822	1,071	1,075	1,092	1,107	1,180	1,337	1,339	1,493
	Independent	Davy Hynes[c 1]	7.02%	756	866	874	921	977	1,008	1,069	1,077	1,225
	Fianna Fáil	Colin Murphy	6.05%	652	727	729	750	757	776	832	832
	Labour Party	Joe Ryan	4.76%	513	734	736	740	762	805	895	895	989
	Fine Gael	Ger Walsh	3.88%	418	456	457	458	469	647
	Fine Gael	Angela Reville	3.51%	378	434	435	442	447
	People Before Profit	Tony Walsh[c 2]	2.39%	258	268	273	282
	Aontú	Elaine Cole	2.23%	240	246	252
	Independent	Mícheál Ó Drisceol	0.52%	56	62
Electorate: 22,044   Valid: 10,776   Spoilt: 169   Quota: 1,348   Turnout: 10,945 (49.65%)

Footnotes

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

Changes Since 2019 Local Elections

• †Gorey Fianna Fáil Cllr Malcolm Byrne was elected to the Dáil at the Wexford November 2019 by-election. Andrew Bolger was co-opted to fill the vacancy on 20 January 2020.[1]

References

Sources

• "Wexford County Council - Local Election candidates". RTÉ. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
• Local Electoral Area Boundary Committee No. 1 (13 June 2018). "Report 2018" (PDF). Government Publications. pp. 118–121, 166. ISBN 978-1-4064-2990-9. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
• Phelan, John Paul (19 December 2018). "S.I. No. 637/2018 — County of Wexford Local Electoral Areas Order 2018". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Retrieved 8 May 2019.
• "Local Elections 2019: Results". Wexford County Council. Retrieved 19 June 2019.

1. https://wexfordtoday.com/2020/01/20/welcome-for-councils-youngest-member-andrew-bolger/