Westport Town Council
Total poll: 2,444
Valid poll: 2,420
Quota: 243
Number of seats: 9
COUNT ONE
Adams Margaret FF 208
Bourke Dick FF 113
Dever Declan FF 117
Fallon David Lab 14
Flynn Tom FF 53
Gannon Ollie FG 180
Hyland Christy FG 253
Keane Martin IND 287
Keating Dave SF 95
Lavelle Joe IND 86
Martin Keith LAB 132
McAllister Fergus Green 92
McGuire Tereasa FG 235
McLaughlin Michael FG 151
Mulroy Brendan FF 141
Staunton Myles FG 229
Wilson Andy Ind 34
Elected: Martin Keane and Christy Hyland.
Distribution of Keane surplus for the second count.
COUNT TWO
Adams Margaret FF 211 (+3 )
Bourke Dick FF 116 (+ 3 )
Dever Declan FF 119 (+ 2 )
Fallon David Lab 14 (+ 0 )
Flynn Tom FF 54 (+ 1 )
Gannon Ollie FG 186 (+ 6 )
Keating Dave SF 100 (+ 5 )
Lavelle Joe Ind 89 (+ 3 )
Martin Keith Lab 137 (+ 5 )
McAllister Fergus Green 92 (+ 0 )
McGuire Tereasa FG 240 (+ 5 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 156 (+ 5 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 143 (+ 2 )
Staunton Myles FG 233 (+ 4 )
Wilson Andy Ind 34 (+ 0 )
No one elected.
Distribution of Hyland surplus.
COUNT THREE
Adams Margaret FF 211 (+0 )
Bourke Dick FF 117 (+ 1 )
Dever Declan FF 120 (+ 1 )
Fallon David Lab 14 (+ 0 )
Flynn Tom FF 54 (+ 0 )
Gannon Ollie FG 188 (+ 2 )
Keating Dave SF 101 (+ 1 )
Lavelle Joe Ind 89 (+ 0 )
Martin Keith Lab 138 (+ 1 )
McAllister Fergus Green 92 (+ 0 )
McGuire Tereasa FG 242 (+ 2 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 157 (+ 1 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 143 (+0 )
Staunton Myles FG 234 (+ 1 )
Wilson Andy Ind 34 (+ 0 )
No one elected.
Fallon and Wilson eliminated. Distribution of their votes.
COUNT FOUR
Adams Margaret FF 211 (+0 )
Bourke Dick FF 117 (+ 0 )
Dever Declan FF 121 (+ 1 )
Flynn Tom FF 54 (+ 0 )
Gannon Ollie FG 189 (+ 1 )
Keating Dave SF 104 (+3 )
Lavelle Joe Ind 93 (+4 )
Martin Keith Lab 153 (+ 15 )
McAllister Fergus Green 104 (+ 12 )
McGuire Tereasa FG 248 (+ 6 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 159 (+ 2 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 143 (+0 )
Staunton Myles FG 237 (+ 3 )
Elected: Tereasa McGuire.
Tom Flynn eliminated. Distribution of his vote.
COUNT FIVE
Adams Margaret FF 219 (+8 )
Bourke Dick FF 122 (+5 )
Dever Declan FF 128 (+ 7 )
Gannon Ollie FG 192 (+ 3 )
Keating Dave SF 106 (+2 )
Lavelle Joe Ind 94 (+1 )
Martin Keith Lab 158 (+ 5 )
McAllister Fergus Green 107 (+ 3 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 161 (+ 2 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 151 (+8 )
Staunton Myles FG 242 (+ 5 )
No one elected.
Distribution of McGuire surplus.
COUNT SIX
Adams Margaret FF 219 (+0 )
Bourke Dick FF 122 (+0 )
Dever Declan FF 128 (+ 0 )
Gannon Ollie FG 194 (+ 2 )
Keating Dave SF 106 (+0 )
Lavelle Joe Ind 94 (+0 )
Martin Keith Lab 158 (+ 0 )
McAllister Fergus Green 109 (+ 2 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 162 (+ 1 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 151 (+0 )
Staunton Myles FG 242 (+ 0 )
No one elected.
Joe Lavelle eliminated. His votes distributed.
COUNT SEVEN
Adams Margaret FF 226 (+7 )
Bourke Dick FF 133 (+11 )
Dever Declan FF 138 (+10 )
Gannon Ollie FG 198 (+ 4 )
Keating Dave SF 122 (+16 )
Martin Keith Lab 165 (+ 7 )
McAllister Fergus Green 111 (+ 2 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 173 (+ 11 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 161 (+10 )
Staunton Myles FG 248 (+ 6 )
Elected: Myles Staunton.
Fergus McAllister was eliminated. His votes distributed.
COUNT EIGHT
Adams Margaret FF 235 (+9 )
Bourke Dick FF 140 (+7 )
Dever Declan FF 147 (+9 )
Gannon Ollie FG 207 (+ 9 )
Keating Dave SF 131 (+9 )
Martin Keith Lab 193 (+ 28 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 201 (+ 28 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 165 (+4 )
No one elected.
Dave Keating eliminated. His votes distributed.
COUNT NINE
Adams Margaret FF 246 (+11 )
Bourke Dick FF 156 (+16 )
Dever Declan FF 151 (+4 )
Gannon Ollie FG 218 (+ 11 )
Martin Keith Lab 220 (+ 27 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 227 (+ 26 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 170 (+5 )
Elected: Margaret Adams.
Staunton’s surplus distributed.
COUNT TEN
Bourke Dick FF 156 (+0 )
Dever Declan FF 151 (+0 )
Gannon Ollie FG 221 (+ 3 )
Martin Keith Lab 220 (+ 0 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 228 (+1 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 170 (+0 )
No one elected.
Declan Dever eliminated. His votes distributed.
COUNT ELEVEN
Bourke Dick FF 194 (+38 )
Gannon Ollie FG 244 (+ 23 )
Martin Keith Lab 233 (+ 13 )
McLaughlin Michael FG 243 (+15 )
Mulroy Brendan FF 205 (+35 )
Elected: Ollie Gannon and Michael McLaughlin.
Keith Martin and Brendan Mulroy elected without reaching the quota.
Reflecting the blue skies above Knockranny House Hotel on Saturday, where the Westport Town Council election count was taking place, the party colour of Fine Gael also dominated ballot papers as Fine Gael swept to a historic town council victory — taking five seats out of nine — with Fianna Fáil clawing back two seats and one seat being gained for Independents and Labour. The most dramatic change in fortune for one candidate was Sinn Fein’s Councillor Dave Keating, who last time topped the first count with 277 votes and this time lost his seat with a final tally of 131.
During the 10-hour count, 17 candidates (five Fine Gael, five Fianna Fáil, three Independents, two Labour, one Sinn Féin and one Green ) battled it out for a seat, with all seats filled on the 11th count.
Early indications from the tally predicted a clear victory for Independent Martin Keane, who topped the polls and was elected on the first count with 287 votes, 44 votes above the quota and 102 more first preference votes than he achieved in the 2004 town council election.
The most recent Cathaoirlaeach of the town council — who has now been elected to the town council on four occasions — said following his victory that he will represent and work for the “betterment” of the youth, the lonely and less well-off and urged his fellow elected councillors to ensure there would be “no political division” in the council but instead “one voice for one community”.
Fine Gael’s Christy Hyland was also elected on the first count with 253 first preference votes. The former garda exclaimed that it was a “great day for democracy”. Party colleague Tereasa McGuire also polled strongly in the first count with 235 votes, followed by Myles Staunton with 229 votes and Fianna Fáil’s Margaret Adams with 208 first preference votes (45 fewer than her 2004 first preference votes ).
Bottom of the first count was Labour candidate Dave Fallon with 14 votes. He was eliminated after the third count after he failed to gain any transfers. Fallon was followed by Independent Andy Wilson, with 34 votes. McGuire was elected on the fourth count with transfers from Keane, Hyland, Fallon and Wilson. The Fine Gael councillor said, “democracy has been honoured”.
By the end of the fifth and sixth count Staunton was one vote short of being elected but gained six votes following the elimination of Independent candidate Joe Lavelle; who finished with 94 votes. Staunton said that it was a “brave thing for anyone to put their name on a ballot paper” and said that after the “razzmatazz” the nine councillors have a “very serious challenge” ahead to keep the town of Westport’s reputation in tact with no finances to do so.
Fianna Fáil’s Margaret Adams was elected following Staunton on the ninth count, when she reached 246 votes after Dave Keating’s votes were distributed following his elimination. Adams said that after 35 years she “was proud to stand here” to represent the people of Westport.
The last four seats were filled on the 11th count, with Fine Gael’s Ollie Gannon (244 ) and Michael McLaughlin (243 ) next in succession to be elected. McLaughlin said, “I definitely pulled that one out of the hat” and hoped, “I will do those who elected me proud”.
Labour’s Keith Martin and Fianna Fáil’s Brenda Mulroy, who failed to meet the quota (as they did in 2004 ) with 233 and 205 votes respectively, were then elected as they were the last remaining candidates.
One shock fatality of the count was Sinn Fein’s Dave Keating who last time topped the polls but this time around received 95 on the first count and was eliminated after the eighth count. Cllr Keating bowed out by saying that it was a pleasure to have served the people of Westport and he was commended by his fellow town councillors for his past contributions to the town.
Fianna Fáil were annihilated, with three candidates failing to gain a seat, one of them being outgoing Cllr Declan Dever who received 117 first preference votes and tallied 151 after the ninth count. Dever, who had left the country by the end of the count, was represented by a family member, who thanked all those who voted for him. His party colleagues and those who worked alongside him on the town council paid tribute to Dever’s work throughout the past number of years.
The two other Fianna Fáil candidates, Dick Bourke and Tom Flynn, failed to pick up a seat. Flynn was eliminated after the fourth round with 54 votes, only picking up one vote after the first round, while Bourke beat Dever with 194 votes but was eliminated on the 11th count.
The only Green party candidate, Fergus McAllister, was eliminated after the seventh count with 111 votes. McAllister started with 92 first preference votes and gained the majority of transfers from Wilson’s and Fallon’s distribution.
A total of 2,444 votes were cast out of the 3,731 electorate; 24 of the 2,444 votes were spoiled.
Westport Town Council
Myles Staunton FG
Tereasa McGuire FG
Ollie Gannon FG
Christy Hyland FG
Michael McLoughlin FG
Margaret Adams FF
Brendan Mulroy FF
Keith Martin Lab
Martin Keane Ind
FG-5, FF-2, Lab-1, Ind-1
