Photo: Sebastian “sebrem” B… · CC BY-SA 3.016 candidates stood for 6 seats in Cork City South East, one of the most contested ballots at the 2024 local elections
Local government for Mahon is Cork City Council alone; Ireland has a single tier. The Cork City South East local electoral area elected 6 councillors in June 2024: Fianna Fáil 2, Independent 1, Fine Gael 1, Labour Party 1 and Green Party 1. No party holds a majority on Cork City; Fianna Fáil has the most seats, 9 of 31, short of the 16 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Cork South-Central has 5 members: Fianna Fáil 2, Sinn Féin 1, Fine Gael 1 and Social Democrats 1.
Mahon’s council and votes, in 4 figures
A crowded ballot
16 candidates stood for 6 seats in Cork City South East in June 2024, the 30th-most contested ballot of 166 by candidates per seat. Local elections ↓
A large budget for its size
Cork City Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,614 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
Low turnout
15,848 of Cork City South East’s 34,109 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 46%: the 46th-lowest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Mahon voted ↓
No majority on Cork City
Fianna Fáil won the most seats on Cork City Council in June 2024, 9 of 31, short of the 16 a majority needs; it ran 12 candidates. No party holds a majority on any of the 31 councils, so each council’s business is carried by votes across parties. Who’s in charge ↓
Written from the data on this page: the 2024 count sheets of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Oireachtas members list.
No party holds a majority on Cork City Council
Seats on Cork City Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Fianna Fáil912 stood
- Fine Gael510 stood
- Sinn Féin412 stood
- Independent415 stood
- Labour Party35 stood
- Green Party35 stood
- Social Democrats15 stood
- Independent Ireland12 stood
- People Before Profit–Solidarity13 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 16 of the 31 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Fianna Fáil is largest with 9. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 5 seats. The councillors elect a cathaoirleach each June to chair the council for a year; no open national list names them.
The 31 councils of Ireland
Seats by party as elected, largest party named; this council first.
Local and general election results 2024: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY-SA 4.0); areas matched to towns by TownRatings from Tailte Éireann boundaries and CSO Census 2022 Small Areas (CC BY 4.0).
One council, and the government for the rest
Mahon has no town or county council of its own: Ireland has 31 councils, each the only council for its area.
Housing and homelessness, planning, local and regional roads, parks and libraries, the fire service, bins enforcement and street cleaning, the register of electors, and the Local Property Tax rate it may vary.
corkcity.ie ↗Schools (Department of Education), health (the HSE), national roads (TII), policing (An Garda Síochána) and the Local Property Tax itself (Revenue).
gov.ie ↗Uisce Éireann runs water and sewers; private operators collect most bins under the council’s rules.
Who to ask
Green: the council. Gold: a government department or one of its agencies. Grey: another public body.
From the council to the Dáil
Every elected tier that speaks for Mahon, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Cork City South East local electoral areaCork City South East · 6 membersTerry ShannonMary Rose DesmondKieran McCarthyDes CahillPeter HorganHonore Kamegni
- 2Cork City Council31 councillors from 5 local electoral areasFianna Fáil 9 · Fine Gael 5 · Sinn Féin 4 · Independent 4 · Labour Party 3 · Green Party 3 · Social Democrats 1 · Independent Ireland 1 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannCork South-Central · 5 members
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. TDs: Houses of the Oireachtas Open Data (Oireachtas PSI Licence, CC BY 4.0).
6 councillors represent Cork City South East
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Terry Shannon
- Mary Rose Desmond
- Kieran McCarthy
- Des Cahill
- Peter Horgan
- Honore Kamegni
Also stood (10): Deirdre Forde (Fine Gael), Barry O’Brien (Fine Gael), Chris O’Leary (Sinn Féin), Susan Doyle (Social Democrats), Michelle Cowhey Shahid (Sinn Féin), Lorna Bogue (Independent), Michael O’Riordan (The Irish People), Shannon Wright (Independent), Rachel Hurley Roche (Independent), Tony Field (Independent).
Mahon’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Shannon | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South East | 2,157 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Mary Rose Desmond | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South East | 1,897 | Elected at count 12, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Kieran McCarthy | Independent | Cork City South East | 1,752 | Elected at count 9, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Des Cahill | Fine Gael | Cork City South East | 1,748 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Peter Horgan | Labour Party | Cork City South East | 1,205 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
| Honore Kamegni | Green Party | Cork City South East | 1,186 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
4 of the 6 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 2 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Cork City Council’s 5 local electoral areas
Every area of Cork City Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork City South East | 6 | 16 | 34,109 | 46.5% | 2,238 |
| Cork City North East | 6 | 15 | 32,628 | 43.1% | 1,984 |
| Cork City North West | 6 | 13 | 30,018 | 41.7% | 1,753 |
| Cork City South Central | 6 | 15 | 26,020 | 41.5% | 1,528 |
| Cork City South West | 7 | 17 | 36,127 | 45% | 2,006 |
Each of the local electoral areas elects 3 to 7 councillors by single transferable vote: voters number the candidates in order, a candidate who reaches the quota is elected, and spare votes and those of the lowest candidate pass to the next preference. A councillor who leaves is replaced by co-option, usually from the same party, so the names can change without an election.
Councillors: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Women hold 5 of the 31 seats on Cork City Council
Everyone elected to Cork City Council across its 5 local electoral areas in June 2024, by party: how many are women and how many sat on the council before.
| Party | Seats | Women | Re-elected | First preferences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | 9 | 2 | 7 | 24.3% |
| Fine Gael | 5 | 0 | 5 | 18.6% |
| Independent | 4 | 0 | 3 | 11.7% |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | 2 | 2 | 14.1% |
| Green Party | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6% |
| Labour Party | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7.5% |
| Independent Ireland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.9% |
| People Before Profit–Solidarity | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.3% |
| Social Democrats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.4% |
5 of the 31 councillors are women, 16%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 20 sat on the council before the election and 11 are new to it.
Every member of Cork City Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ken O’Flynn | Independent Ireland | Cork City North East | New |
| John Maher | Labour Party | Cork City North East | New |
| Margaret McDonnell | Fianna Fáil | Cork City North East | New |
| Joe Kavanagh | Fine Gael | Cork City North East | Re-elected |
| Ted Tynan | Independent | Cork City North East | Re-elected |
| Oliver Moran | Green Party | Cork City North East | Re-elected |
| Tony Fitzgerald | Fianna Fáil | Cork City North West | Re-elected |
| Damian Boylan | Fine Gael | Cork City North West | Re-elected |
| John Sheehan | Fianna Fáil | Cork City North West | Re-elected |
| Kenneth Collins | Sinn Féin | Cork City North West | Re-elected |
| Michelle Gould | Sinn Féin | Cork City North West | New |
| Brian McCarthy | People Before Profit–Solidarity | Cork City North West | Re-elected |
| Shane O’Callaghan | Fine Gael | Cork City South Central | Re-elected |
| Seán Martin | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South Central | Re-elected |
| Pádraig Rice | Social Democrats | Cork City South Central | New |
| Dan Boyle | Green Party | Cork City South Central | Re-elected |
| Paudie Dineen | Independent | Cork City South Central | Re-elected |
| Fiona Kerins | Sinn Féin | Cork City South Central | Re-elected |
| Terry Shannon | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South East | Re-elected |
| Mary Rose Desmond | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South East | Re-elected |
| Kieran McCarthy | Independent | Cork City South East | Re-elected |
| Des Cahill | Fine Gael | Cork City South East | Re-elected |
| Peter Horgan | Labour Party | Cork City South East | New |
| Honore Kamegni | Green Party | Cork City South East | New |
| Colm Kelleher | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South West | Re-elected |
| Fergal Dennehy | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South West | Re-elected |
| Garret Kelleher | Fine Gael | Cork City South West | Re-elected |
| Laura Harmon | Labour Party | Cork City South West | New |
| Terry Coleman | Fianna Fáil | Cork City South West | New |
| Albert Deasy | Independent | Cork City South West | New |
| Joe Lynch | Sinn Féin | Cork City South West | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Cork City South East, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 2,238. Elected candidates are in bold.
First-preference share by party in Cork City South East
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
Turnout was 46.5%, 15,848 of 34,109 registered voters: the 121st-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 15,665 valid votes and 6 seats the quota was 2,238; the count ran to 12 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. Honore Kamegni (Green Party), 7th on first preferences, won a seat on transfers, overtaking Deirdre Forde (Fine Gael), who was 6th. Peter Horgan (Labour Party) took the last seat with 1,814 votes at the final count, 222 more than Deirdre Forde (Fine Gael), on 1,592.
Every candidate, count by count (12 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Cahill | Fine Gael | 1,748 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 2,119 |
| Honore Kamegni | Green Party | 1,186 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,934 |
| Peter Horgan | Labour Party | 1,205 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,814 |
| Mary Rose Desmond | Fianna Fáil | 1,897 | Elected at count 12, on the quota | 2,269 |
| Kieran McCarthy | Independent | 1,752 | Elected at count 9, on the quota | 2,238 |
| Terry Shannon | Fianna Fáil | 2,157 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | 2,238 |
| Tony Field | Independent | 86 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Rachel Hurley Roche | Independent | 160 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Shannon Wright | Independent | 234 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Michael O’Riordan | The Irish People | 348 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Michelle Cowhey Shahid | Sinn Féin | 619 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Lorna Bogue | Independent | 523 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Barry O’Brien | Fine Gael | 924 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Susan Doyle | Social Democrats | 799 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Chris O’Leary | Sinn Féin | 840 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Deirdre Forde | Fine Gael | 1,187 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,592 |
How Mahon voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Cork City Council, by party: the light bar is candidates, the solid bar those elected.
Share of candidates elected, all of Ireland
Parties with 10 or more candidates across the 31 councils.
76 candidates stood for 31 seats on Cork City Council in June 2024, 2.5 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 43.7%, the 28th-highest of 31 councils. Fianna Fáil elected 9 of its 12 candidates. 26 of the 76 candidates were women (34%; 31% across the country), and 15 stood without a party. Across all 31 councils, 2,172 candidates stood for 949 seats, 2.3 for each.
Turnout in all 31 councils
Local elections: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Mahon is in Cork South-Central
5 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael · Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and at the Department of Transport
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil · Taoiseach
oireachtas.ie ↗Social Democrats
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
oireachtas.ie ↗TDs as the Oireachtas lists them today, with any office they hold; a by-election or a change of party shows here, the 2024 count below does not change.
First preferences in Cork South-Central, November 2024
First-preference share by party in Cork South-Central
63,127 of 105,076 registered voters turned out, 60.1%: the 20th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 10,451: 62,704 valid votes for 5 seats, counted over 18 rounds. Micheal Martin (Fianna Fáil) reached the quota on first preferences alone, and transfers decided the other 4. The last seat went to Padraig Rice (Social Democrats) with 10,242 votes at the final count, 3,591 ahead of Mick Finn (Independent), who had 6,651.
Every candidate, count by count (18 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padraig Rice | Social Democrats | 5,368 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 10,242 |
| Jerry Buttimer | Fine Gael | 4,407 | Elected at count 18, on the quota | 10,917 |
| Donnchadh O Laoghaire | Sinn Féin | 6,947 | Elected at count 16, on the quota | 10,451 |
| Seamus McGrath | Fianna Fáil | 7,794 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 10,451 |
| Micheal Martin | Fianna Fáil | 14,526 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 10,451 |
| Valerie Ward | Independent Ireland | 104 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| John O'Leary | Independent | 58 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Tony Field | Independent | 35 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Graham de Barra | Independent | 217 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Veronica Houlihan | Independent Ireland | 348 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Lorna Bogue | Rabharta | 425 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Paudie Dineen | Independent | 543 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Ted Neville | The National Party | 858 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Shane Patrick Laird | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 876 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Margaret Kenneally | Fianna Fáil | 726 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Una McCarthy | Fine Gael | 2,078 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Monica Oikeh | Green Party | 2,156 | Excluded at count 13 | – |
| Anna Daly | Aontú | 2,273 | Excluded at count 14 | – |
| Michelle Cowhey Shahid | Sinn Féin | 2,714 | Excluded at count 15 | – |
| Laura Harmon | Labour Party | 3,005 | Excluded at count 16 | – |
| Shane O'Callaghan | Fine Gael | 3,664 | Excluded at count 18 | – |
| Mick Finn | Independent | 3,582 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 6,651 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
€1,614 per resident: Cork City Council’s day-to-day budget for 2026
What its 2026 revenue budget pays for, service by service, and where the money comes from.
By service, per resident, 2026
What pays for it, 2026
Shares of what funds the 2026 budget; the tick is all 31 councils together.
Leaving out the HAP programme, that is the 7th-highest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 11% on 2025, when it was €325.1M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 30% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation, 81.4699, applies to the older rateable valuation that Cork City and Cork County still use, so it isn’t compared with the other councils’. The Local Property Tax brings in another 7%.
Budget per resident, all 31 councils (without the HAP programme)
Show the services as a table, 2025 and 2026
| Service | 2026 | Per resident | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing and building | €147.4M | €658 | €121.2M | 22% |
| Roads and transport | €62.3M | €278 | €58.7M | 6% |
| Water services | €8.4M | €37 | €11.3M | -26% |
| Planning and development | €24M | €107 | €22.2M | 8% |
| Environment and fire | €57.2M | €255 | €53.9M | 6% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €35M | €156 | €33.3M | 5% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €462K | €2 | €452K | 2% |
| Other services | €27.4M | €123 | €24.1M | 14% |
Budgets: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Local Authority Annual Budgets 2025 and 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), revenue account before inter-authority contributions are netted; residents: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).
Each of Cork City Council’s 31 councillors speaks for about 7,230 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Cork City Council has 31 councillors for 224,004 residents: about 7,230 each, the 4th-highest of 31 councils. The range runs from 9,410 residents per councillor on Dublin City to 1,960 on Leitrim County.
Residents per councillor, all 31 councils
Seats: local elections 2024 (Department of Housing, CC BY-SA 4.0); residents: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).
Having a say in how Mahon is run
Check, register or update your address online; the register closes 15 days before a poll (Sundays and holidays aside).
checktheregister.ie ↗Potholes, broken lights, dumping and graffiti, sent to the council.
FixYourStreet.ie ↗Council and municipal district meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
corkcity.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
corkcity.ie ↗Each TD’s contact details are on the Oireachtas members page.
oireachtas.ie ↗The Electoral Commission’s guidance for candidates and how to be nominated.
electoralcommission.ie ↗What this data can and can’t tell you
- Single transferable vote. Voters number candidates in order. The quota is the valid votes divided by one more than the seats, plus one. A candidate over the quota is elected and their surplus passes on; when nobody is over it, the lowest is excluded and their votes pass on, until the seats are filled. The last seats can go to candidates below the quota once too few are left to fill them. First preferences show where support started, not who won.
- Which area. A town is placed in its council, local electoral area and Dáil constituency by where its residents live (Census 2022 Small Areas); an area holding 5% or more of them is listed too. Areas reach beyond the town, so their results are the whole area’s.
- Turnout. Votes cast, spoilt ones included, as a share of the register. Registers carry people who have moved or died, so every turnout reads low by a few points; compare areas, not the figure on its own.
- A close last seat. Shown only when the last candidate elected and the one left standing were both in the final count; the gap is between their votes then. Margins are not shown as headlines unless they are among the closest.
- Not on this page. Audited accounts and debt are published only as PDF statements, so they aren’t on this page. Votes before 2024 aren’t compared: the local electoral areas were redrawn for the 2024 local elections and the Dáil constituencies in 2023, so earlier results don’t cover the same ground. Who chairs each council and who runs it as chief executive aren’t in any open national list; each council names them on its website.
Questions about how Mahon is run
Which council runs Mahon?
The one council for Mahon is Cork City Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Mahon have?
The Cork City South East local electoral area elects 6 councillors: Terry Shannon (Fianna Fáil), Mary Rose Desmond (Fianna Fáil), Kieran McCarthy (Independent), Des Cahill (Fine Gael), Peter Horgan (Labour Party), Honore Kamegni (Green Party).
Which party has the most seats on Cork City Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Fianna Fáil 9 · Fine Gael 5 · Sinn Féin 4 · Independent 4 · Labour Party 3 · Green Party 3 · Social Democrats 1 · Independent Ireland 1 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 1 of 31 seats; a majority needs 16.
Who are Mahon’s TDs?
Cork South-Central elects 5 TDs: Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Sinn Féin), Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael), Micheál Martin (Fianna Fáil), Pádraig Rice (Social Democrats) and Séamus McGrath (Fianna Fáil).
What was the turnout in Mahon?
In Cork City South East, 46.5% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Cork South-Central, 60.1% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Mahon?
Local elections are held every five years, so the next are due in 2029, in May or June. A general election must be held within five years of the last one (November 2024), sooner if the Dáil is dissolved.
What does Cork City spend?
Cork City Council plans to spend €362.2M on day-to-day services in 2026, the most of it on housing and building.
Sources: Local and general election results 2024: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY-SA 4.0); areas matched to towns by TownRatings from Tailte Éireann boundaries and CSO Census 2022 Small Areas (CC BY 4.0). · TDs: Houses of the Oireachtas Open Data (Oireachtas PSI Licence, CC BY 4.0). · Boundaries: Tailte Éireann (CC BY 4.0); population: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).