Photo: 瑞丽江的河水 · CC BY-SA 4.0Fingal County Council is one of the most divided councils: the largest party has 7 of 40 seats
There is just one council for Howth, Fingal County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government. The Howth-Malahide local electoral area elected 7 councillors in June 2024: Fianna Fáil 2, Social Democrats 1, Fine Gael 1, Labour Party 1, Independent 1 and Green Party 1. No party holds a majority on Fingal County; Independent has the most seats, 7 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Dublin Bay North has 5 members: Independent 1, Social Democrats 1, Sinn Féin 1, Fine Gael 1 and Fianna Fáil 1.
Howth’s council and votes, in 3 figures
No majority on Fingal County
Independent won the most seats on Fingal County Council in June 2024, 7 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs; it ran 19 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 ↓
Low turnout
21,149 of Howth-Malahide’s 46,575 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 45%: the 42nd-lowest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Howth voted ↓
A lean budget for its size
Fingal County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,309 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
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 Fingal County Council
Seats on Fingal County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Independent719 stood
- Fine Gael79 stood
- Labour Party78 stood
- Fianna Fáil613 stood
- Sinn Féin415 stood
- Social Democrats25 stood
- Aontú24 stood
- People Before Profit–Solidarity26 stood
- Green Party17 stood
- Independents 4 Change11 stood
- The National Party11 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 21 of the 40 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Independent is largest with 7. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 7 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
Howth 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.
fingal.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 Howth, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Howth-Malahide local electoral areaHowth-Malahide · 7 membersJoan HopkinsAoibhinn TormeyCathal HaugheyEoghan O'BrienBrian McDonaghJimmy GuerinDavid Healy
- 2Fingal County Council40 councillors from 7 local electoral areasIndependent 7 · Fine Gael 7 · Labour Party 7 · Fianna Fáil 6 · Sinn Féin 4 · Social Democrats 2 · Aontú 2 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 2 · Green Party 1 · Independents 4 Change 1 · The National Party 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannDublin Bay North · 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).
7 councillors represent Howth-Malahide
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Joan Hopkins
- Aoibhinn Tormey
- Cathal Haughey
- Eoghan O'Brien
- Brian McDonagh
- Jimmy Guerin
- David Healy
Also stood (8): Anthony Lavin (Fine Gael), Margaret Donnellan (Independent), Tara Bailey (Sinn Féin), Margaret Mc Govern (Aontú), Kevin Doherty (Sinn Féin), Jamie McGlue (Independent), Vedh Kannan (Independent), Rachel Raesetja Ndlovu Motesta (Independent).
Howth’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joan Hopkins | Social Democrats | Howth-Malahide | 3,272 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Aoibhinn Tormey | Fine Gael | Howth-Malahide | 2,383 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Cathal Haughey | Fianna Fáil | Howth-Malahide | 2,260 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | New |
| Eoghan O'Brien | Fianna Fáil | Howth-Malahide | 2,139 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Brian McDonagh | Labour Party | Howth-Malahide | 2,114 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Jimmy Guerin | Independent | Howth-Malahide | 1,695 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | Re-elected |
| David Healy | Green Party | Howth-Malahide | 1,591 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
6 of the 7 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 1 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Fingal County Council’s 7 local electoral areas
Every area of Fingal County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howth-Malahide | 7 | 15 | 46,575 | 45.4% | 2,615 |
| Balbriggan | 5 | 13 | 25,174 | 44.3% | 1,838 |
| Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart | 5 | 15 | 19,395 | 32.5% | 1,025 |
| Castleknock | 6 | 10 | 34,239 | 41.7% | 2,016 |
| Ongar | 5 | 14 | 22,871 | 37.9% | 1,426 |
| Rush-Lusk | 5 | 11 | 26,494 | 46.8% | 2,042 |
| Swords | 7 | 13 | 34,071 | 39.1% | 1,640 |
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.
Of the 40 councillors on Fingal County Council, women hold 13
Everyone elected to Fingal County Council across its 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fine Gael | 7 | 2 | 5 | 16.4% |
| Labour Party | 7 | 2 | 6 | 14.3% |
| Independent | 7 | 2 | 6 | 16.4% |
| Fianna Fáil | 6 | 1 | 4 | 17.1% |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11.2% |
| Aontú | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4.5% |
| People Before Profit–Solidarity | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3.9% |
| Social Democrats | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6.5% |
| Green Party | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6% |
| Independents 4 Change | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.3% |
| The National Party | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.5% |
13 of the 40 councillors are women, 33%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 28 sat on the council before the election and 12 are new to it.
Every member of Fingal County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Murphy | Independent | Balbriggan | Re-elected |
| Brendan Ryan | Labour Party | Balbriggan | Re-elected |
| Tom O'Leary | Fine Gael | Balbriggan | Re-elected |
| Gráinne Maguire | Independent | Balbriggan | Re-elected |
| Malachy Quinn | Sinn Féin | Balbriggan | New |
| Mary McCamley | Labour Party | Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart | Re-elected |
| Jk Onwumereh | Fianna Fáil | Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart | Re-elected |
| Breda Hanaphy | Sinn Féin | Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart | Re-elected |
| John Burtchaell | People Before Profit–Solidarity | Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart | Re-elected |
| Patrick Quinlan | The National Party | Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart | New |
| Ted Leddy | Fine Gael | Castleknock | Re-elected |
| John Walsh | Labour Party | Castleknock | Re-elected |
| Siobhan Shovlin | Fine Gael | Castleknock | Re-elected |
| Ellen Troy | Aontú | Castleknock | New |
| Ruth Coppinger | People Before Profit–Solidarity | Castleknock | New |
| Eimear Carbone-Mangan | Fianna Fáil | Castleknock | New |
| Joan Hopkins | Social Democrats | Howth-Malahide | Re-elected |
| Aoibhinn Tormey | Fine Gael | Howth-Malahide | Re-elected |
| Cathal Haughey | Fianna Fáil | Howth-Malahide | New |
| Eoghan O'Brien | Fianna Fáil | Howth-Malahide | Re-elected |
| Brian McDonagh | Labour Party | Howth-Malahide | Re-elected |
| Jimmy Guerin | Independent | Howth-Malahide | Re-elected |
| David Healy | Green Party | Howth-Malahide | Re-elected |
| Tania Doyle | Independent | Ongar | Re-elected |
| Angela Donnelly | Sinn Féin | Ongar | Re-elected |
| Kieran Dennison | Fine Gael | Ongar | Re-elected |
| Tom Kitt | Fianna Fáil | Ongar | Re-elected |
| Gerard Sheehan | Aontú | Ongar | New |
| Robert O'Donoghue | Labour Party | Rush-Lusk | Re-elected |
| Corina Johnston | Labour Party | Rush-Lusk | New |
| Cathal Boland | Independent | Rush-Lusk | Re-elected |
| Eoghan Dockrell | Fine Gael | Rush-Lusk | New |
| Paul Mulville | Social Democrats | Rush-Lusk | Re-elected |
| Dean Mulligan | Independents 4 Change | Swords | Re-elected |
| Darragh Butler | Fianna Fáil | Swords | Re-elected |
| Luke Corkery | Fine Gael | Swords | New |
| Joe Newman | Independent | Swords | Re-elected |
| Darren Jack Kelly | Independent | Swords | New |
| James Humphreys | Labour Party | Swords | Re-elected |
| Marian Buckley | Sinn Féin | Swords | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Howth-Malahide, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 2,615. Elected candidates are in bold.
First-preference share by party in Howth-Malahide
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
21,149 of 46,575 registered voters turned out, 45.4%: the 125th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). The quota was 2,615: 20,917 valid votes for 7 seats, counted over 8 rounds. Joan Hopkins (Social Democrats) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 6. David Healy (Green Party) was 8th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Anthony Lavin (Fine Gael), 6th on first preferences. David Healy (Green Party) took the last seat with 2,154 votes at the final count, 46 more than Anthony Lavin (Fine Gael), on 2,108.
Every candidate, count by count (8 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eoghan O'Brien | Fianna Fáil | 2,139 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 2,490 |
| David Healy | Green Party | 1,591 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 2,154 |
| Brian McDonagh | Labour Party | 2,114 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 2,628 |
| Cathal Haughey | Fianna Fáil | 2,260 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | 2,615 |
| Jimmy Guerin | Independent | 1,695 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | 2,615 |
| Aoibhinn Tormey | Fine Gael | 2,383 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | 2,637 |
| Joan Hopkins | Social Democrats | 3,272 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 2,615 |
| Kevin Doherty | Sinn Féin | 331 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Jamie McGlue | Independent | 253 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Vedh Kannan | Independent | 80 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Rachel Raesetja Ndlovu Motesta | Independent | 50 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Margaret Mc Govern | Aontú | 896 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Tara Bailey | Sinn Féin | 956 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Margaret Donnellan | Independent | 1,130 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Anthony Lavin | Fine Gael | 1,767 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 2,108 |
How Howth voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Fingal County 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.
91 candidates stood for 40 seats on Fingal County Council in June 2024, 2.3 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 41.8%, the 29th-highest of 31 councils. Independent elected 7 of its 19 candidates. 34 of the 91 candidates were women (37%; 31% across the country), and 19 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.
Howth is in Dublin Bay North
5 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Independent
oireachtas.ie ↗Social Democrats
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael
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 Dublin Bay North, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Dublin Bay North
66,092 of 110,574 registered voters turned out, 59.8%: the 22nd-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). With 65,568 valid votes and 5 seats the quota was 10,929; the count ran to 14 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. Barry Heneghan (Independent) was 8th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Deirdre Heney (Fianna Fáil), 5th on first preferences. Tom Brabazon (Fianna Fáil) took the last seat with 8,919 votes at the final count, 1,307 more than Deirdre Heney (Fianna Fáil), on 7,612.
Every candidate, count by count (14 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Heneghan | Independent | 3,602 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 9,203 |
| Tom Brabazon | Fianna Fáil | 6,854 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 8,919 |
| Naoise Ó Muirí | Fine Gael | 5,955 | Elected at count 14, on the quota | 11,574 |
| Denise Mitchell | Sinn Féin | 9,012 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 11,042 |
| Cian O'Callaghan | Social Democrats | 9,738 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | 10,929 |
| Jamie McGlue | Independent | 252 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Diarmaid Ó Conaráin | Independent | 185 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Stephen Doyle | Independent | 104 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Kevin Coyle | Independent | 547 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Brian Garrigan | Independent | 747 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Paul Christopher Fitzsimons | Irish Freedom Party | 1,116 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| John Lyons | Independent | 1,829 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| David Healy | Green Party | 2,107 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Bernard Mulvany | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 2,046 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Michael Burke | Independent | 1,379 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| James Morris | Aontú | 2,460 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Shane Folan | Labour Party | 2,921 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Mícheál Mac Donncha | Sinn Féin | 3,892 | Excluded at count 13 | – |
| Aoibhinn Tormey | Fine Gael | 5,313 | Excluded at count 14 | – |
| Deirdre Heney | Fianna Fáil | 5,509 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 7,612 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
€1,309 per resident: Fingal County 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 10th-lowest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 11% on 2025, when it was €388.9M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 41% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.1868, the 10th-lowest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 5%.
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 | €159.8M | €484 | €135.8M | 18% |
| Roads and transport | €47M | €142 | €44M | 7% |
| Water services | €15.3M | €46 | €18.9M | -19% |
| Planning and development | €40.1M | €121 | €36.2M | 11% |
| Environment and fire | €59.4M | €180 | €54.8M | 8% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €84.7M | €256 | €73.7M | 15% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €2.2M | €7 | €1.9M | 15% |
| Other services | €24.9M | €75 | €23.6M | 6% |
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 Fingal County Council’s 40 councillors speaks for about 8,260 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Fingal County Council has 40 councillors for 330,506 residents: about 8,260 each, the 2nd-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 Howth 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.
fingal.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
fingal.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 Howth is run
Which council runs Howth?
Howth is run by Fingal County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government.
How many councillors does Howth have?
The Howth-Malahide local electoral area elects 7 councillors: Joan Hopkins (Social Democrats), Aoibhinn Tormey (Fine Gael), Cathal Haughey (Fianna Fáil), Eoghan O'Brien (Fianna Fáil), Brian McDonagh (Labour Party), Jimmy Guerin (Independent), David Healy (Green Party).
Which party has the most seats on Fingal County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Independent 7 · Fine Gael 7 · Labour Party 7 · Fianna Fáil 6 · Sinn Féin 4 · Social Democrats 2 · Aontú 2 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 2 · Green Party 1 · Independents 4 Change 1 · The National Party 1 of 40 seats; a majority needs 21.
Who are Howth’s TDs?
Dublin Bay North elects 5 TDs: Barry Heneghan (Independent), Cian O'Callaghan (Social Democrats), Denise Mitchell (Sinn Féin), Naoise Ó Muirí (Fine Gael) and Tom Brabazon (Fianna Fáil).
What was the turnout in Howth?
In Howth-Malahide, 45.4% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Dublin Bay North, 59.8% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Howth?
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 Fingal County spend?
Fingal County Council plans to spend €433.4M 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).