Firhouse-Bohernabreena had one of the lowest turnouts at the 2024 local elections

A party needs 21 of the 40 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Independent is largest with 10. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 9 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).

Who to ask

Green: the council. Gold: a government department or one of its agencies. Grey: another public body.

1. 1

   The Firhouse-Bohernabreena local electoral areaFirhouse-Bohernabreena · 5 members
   Alan EdgeBrian LawlorEmma MurphySarah BarnesRóisín Mannion
2. 2

   South Dublin County Council40 councillors from 7 local electoral areas
   Independent 10 · Fine Gael 9 · Fianna Fáil 5 · Sinn Féin 5 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 4 · Labour Party 3 · Social Democrats 2 · Independent Ireland 1 · Irish Freedom Party 1
3. 3

   Dáil ÉireannDublin South-West · 5 members
   Ciarán AhernColm BrophyJohn LahartPaul MurphySeán Crowe

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).

Bohernabreena’s councillors, one by one

3 of the 5 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 2 weren’t on the council before the election.

Seats by party in each of South Dublin County Council’s 7 local electoral areas

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.

19 of the 40 councillors are women, 48%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 28 sat on the council before the election and 12 are new to it.

The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.

Turnout was 40.8%, 11,114 of 27,225 registered voters: the 154th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 11,003 valid votes and 5 seats the quota was 1,834; the count ran to 8 rounds. Alan Edge (Independent), Brian Lawlor (Fine Gael) and Emma Murphy (Fianna Fáil) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 2. Róisín Mannion (Sinn Féin) took the last seat with 1,391 votes at the final count, 77 more than Helen Meany (Social Democrats), on 1,314.

How Bohernabreena voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.

111 candidates stood for 40 seats on South Dublin County Council in June 2024, 2.8 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 41.3%, the 30th-highest of 31 councils. Independent elected 10 of its 25 candidates. 43 of the 111 candidates were women (39%; 31% across the country), and 25 stood without a party. Across all 31 councils, 2,172 candidates stood for 949 seats, 2.3 for each.

Local elections: same source as Who’s in charge, above.

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 Dublin South-West, November 2024

Turnout was 58.7%, 67,381 of 114,832 registered voters: the 26th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 11,138: 66,823 valid votes for 5 seats, counted over 11 rounds. Nobody reached the quota on first preferences, so every seat was filled on transfers. Paul Murphy (People Before Profit–Solidarity) took the last seat with 9,928 votes at the final count, 1,780 more than Alan Edge (Independent), on 8,148.

Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.

Leaving out the HAP programme, that is the 16th-highest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 8% on 2025, when it was €391.9M.

Commercial rates on businesses pay for 37% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2800, the 16th-highest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 5%.

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).

South Dublin County Council has 40 councillors for 301,075 residents: about 7,530 each, the 3rd-highest of 31 councils. The range runs from 9,410 residents per councillor on Dublin City to 1,960 on Leitrim County.

Seats: local elections 2024 (Department of Housing, CC BY-SA 4.0); residents: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).