Voters will go to the polls to elect almost 1,000 local councillors in Ireland, where Sinn Féin will look to make amends on 2019 when its support dropped by half. Party leaders have said it has been a “pleasant” campaign but also that it has been difficult to read how people will vote. Advertisement There are 949 city and county council seats to be filled across 31 local authorities, which are divided into 166 electoral areas.
The local elections will be a test of strength for parties and independents, and possibly give an insight into who will become candidates in the general election that will be held in the next nine months. Five years ago, Fianna Fáil retained its crown as the largest party in local government, with 279 of the party’s candidates elected after winning 27 per cent of first preference votes. Advertisement Advertisement Sinn Féin’s spokesman on housing Eoin Ó Broin (Brian Lawless/PA) Fine Gael were just behind on 25 per cent, Labour won 5.
7 per cent, the Green Party got 5.5 per cent, the Social Democrats won 2.3 per cent, and Solidarity-People Before Profit was on 1.
9 per cent. Independents won 19.6 per cent of the popular vote in the last local elections.
Sinn Féin lost half their councillors in the 2019 election, with their support falling to 9.5 per cent of first preference votes, giving them 81 councillors. Advertisement Its housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said the result forced the party to regroup and reassess its strategy.
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