Photo: Sarah777 · Public domainOnly 12 candidates stood for Sandyford-Glencullen’s 7 seats at the 2024 local elections
Local government for Stepaside is Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council alone; Ireland has a single tier. The Sandyford-Glencullen local electoral area elected 7 councillors in June 2024: Independent 2, Fine Gael 2, Labour Party 1, Green Party 1 and Fianna Fáil 1. No party holds a majority on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County; Fine Gael has the most seats, 16 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Dublin Rathdown has 4 members: Fine Gael 2, Fianna Fáil 1 and Social Democrats 1.
Stepaside’s council and votes, in 3 figures
A short ballot
12 candidates stood for 7 seats in Sandyford-Glencullen in June 2024, the 17th-least contested ballot of 166 by candidates per seat. Local elections ↓
Low turnout
11,328 of Sandyford-Glencullen’s 25,351 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 45%: the 33rd-lowest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Stepaside voted ↓
No majority on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County
Fine Gael won the most seats on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in June 2024, 16 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs; it ran 17 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 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Seats on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Fine Gael1617 stood
- Green Party66 stood
- Independent518 stood
- Fianna Fáil511 stood
- Labour Party57 stood
- People Before Profit–Solidarity23 stood
- Social Democrats16 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 21 of the 40 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Fine Gael is largest with 16. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Green Party is second with 6 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
Stepaside 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.
dlrcoco.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 Stepaside, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Sandyford-Glencullen local electoral areaSandyford-Glencullen · 7 membersMichael FlemingLettie McCarthyOisín O'ConnorPierce DarganKazi AhmedTom MurphyKevin Daly
- 2Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council40 councillors from 6 local electoral areasFine Gael 16 · Green Party 6 · Independent 5 · Fianna Fáil 5 · Labour Party 5 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 2 · Social Democrats 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannDublin Rathdown · 4 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 Sandyford-Glencullen
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Michael Fleming
- Lettie McCarthy
- Oisín O'Connor
- Pierce Dargan
- Kazi Ahmed
- Tom Murphy
- Kevin Daly
Also stood (5): Elaine Dunne (Fianna Fáil), Shaun Tracey (Sinn Féin), Aoife Murtagh (Social Democrats), Amanda Spiteri (Sinn Féin), Kumar Roopesh Panicker (Independent).
Stepaside’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Fleming | Independent | Sandyford-Glencullen | 3,687 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Lettie McCarthy | Labour Party | Sandyford-Glencullen | 1,869 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Oisín O'Connor | Green Party | Sandyford-Glencullen | 1,140 | Elected at count 3, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Pierce Dargan | Fine Gael | Sandyford-Glencullen | 1,051 | Elected at count 3, on the quota | New |
| Kazi Ahmed | Fine Gael | Sandyford-Glencullen | 807 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Tom Murphy | Fianna Fáil | Sandyford-Glencullen | 623 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Kevin Daly | Independent | Sandyford-Glencullen | 410 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
5 of the 7 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 2 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s 6 local electoral areas
Every area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandyford-Glencullen | 7 | 12 | 25,351 | 44.7% | 1,401 |
| Blackrock | 6 | 14 | 27,471 | 44.7% | 1,739 |
| Dun Laoghaire | 7 | 14 | 36,391 | 43.3% | 1,943 |
| Dundrum | 7 | 14 | 31,022 | 46.6% | 1,789 |
| Killiney-Shankill | 7 | 15 | 32,023 | 42% | 1,659 |
| Stillorgan | 6 | 11 | 24,063 | 44.2% | 1,504 |
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 13 of the 40 seats on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
Everyone elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council across its 6 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 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 33.3% |
| Green Party | 6 | 2 | 4 | 9.5% |
| Fianna Fáil | 5 | 0 | 5 | 11.6% |
| Labour Party | 5 | 3 | 4 | 10.1% |
| Independent | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17.6% |
| People Before Profit–Solidarity | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3.7% |
| Social Democrats | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.6% |
13 of the 40 councillors are women, 33%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 30 sat on the council before the election and 10 are new to it.
Every member of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marie Baker | Fine Gael | Blackrock | Re-elected |
| Conor Dowling | Green Party | Blackrock | New |
| Michael, Clark | Fianna Fáil | Blackrock | Re-elected |
| Maurice Dockrell | Fine Gael | Blackrock | Re-elected |
| Martha Fanning | Labour Party | Blackrock | Re-elected |
| Dan Carson | Fine Gael | Blackrock | New |
| Lorraine Hall | Fine Gael | Dun Laoghaire | Re-elected |
| Tom Kivlehan | Green Party | Dun Laoghaire | Re-elected |
| Jp Durkan | Fine Gael | Dun Laoghaire | New |
| Melisa Halpin | People Before Profit–Solidarity | Dun Laoghaire | Re-elected |
| Mary Fayne | Fine Gael | Dun Laoghaire | Re-elected |
| Justin Moylan | Fianna Fáil | Dun Laoghaire | Re-elected |
| Thomas Joseph | Labour Party | Dun Laoghaire | New |
| Sean Mc Loughlin | Independent | Dundrum | Re-elected |
| Jim O'Leary | Fine Gael | Dundrum | Re-elected |
| Shay Brennan | Fianna Fáil | Dundrum | Re-elected |
| Peter O'Brien | Labour Party | Dundrum | Re-elected |
| Robert Jones | Green Party | Dundrum | New |
| Anna Grainger | Fine Gael | Dundrum | Re-elected |
| Anne Colgan | Independent | Dundrum | Re-elected |
| Carrie Smyth | Labour Party | Killiney-Shankill | Re-elected |
| Jim Gildea | Fine Gael | Killiney-Shankill | Re-elected |
| Frank McNamara | Fine Gael | Killiney-Shankill | Re-elected |
| Hugh Lewis | Independent | Killiney-Shankill | Re-elected |
| Jacqueline Burke | Fine Gael | Killiney-Shankill | New |
| Lauren Tuite | Green Party | Killiney-Shankill | Re-elected |
| Dave O'Keeffe | People Before Profit–Solidarity | Killiney-Shankill | New |
| Michael Fleming | Independent | Sandyford-Glencullen | Re-elected |
| Lettie McCarthy | Labour Party | Sandyford-Glencullen | Re-elected |
| Oisín O'Connor | Green Party | Sandyford-Glencullen | Re-elected |
| Pierce Dargan | Fine Gael | Sandyford-Glencullen | New |
| Kazi Ahmed | Fine Gael | Sandyford-Glencullen | Re-elected |
| Tom Murphy | Fianna Fáil | Sandyford-Glencullen | Re-elected |
| Kevin Daly | Independent | Sandyford-Glencullen | New |
| Barry Saul | Fine Gael | Stillorgan | Re-elected |
| Maeve O'Connell | Fine Gael | Stillorgan | Re-elected |
| Liam Dockery | Fianna Fáil | Stillorgan | Re-elected |
| Eva Elizabeth Dowling | Green Party | Stillorgan | Re-elected |
| John Kennedy | Fine Gael | Stillorgan | Re-elected |
| John Hurley | Social Democrats | Stillorgan | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Sandyford-Glencullen, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,401. Elected candidates are in bold.
Each party’s share of first preferences in Sandyford-Glencullen
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
Turnout was 44.7%, 11,328 of 25,351 registered voters: the 134th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 11,202 valid votes and 7 seats the quota was 1,401; the count ran to 8 rounds. Michael Fleming (Independent) and Lettie McCarthy (Labour Party) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 5. Kevin Daly (Independent), 8th on first preferences, won a seat on transfers, overtaking Elaine Dunne (Fianna Fáil), who was 7th. Kevin Daly (Independent) took the last seat with 1,199 votes at the final count, 175 more than Shaun Tracey (Sinn Féin), on 1,024.
Every candidate, count by count (8 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kevin Daly | Independent | 410 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,199 |
| Kazi Ahmed | Fine Gael | 807 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | 1,518 |
| Tom Murphy | Fianna Fáil | 623 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | 1,425 |
| Oisín O'Connor | Green Party | 1,140 | Elected at count 3, on the quota | 1,401 |
| Pierce Dargan | Fine Gael | 1,051 | Elected at count 3, on the quota | 1,401 |
| Michael Fleming | Independent | 3,687 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,401 |
| Lettie McCarthy | Labour Party | 1,869 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,401 |
| Amanda Spiteri | Sinn Féin | 195 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Kumar Roopesh Panicker | Independent | 174 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Aoife Murtagh | Social Democrats | 379 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Elaine Dunne | Fianna Fáil | 479 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Shaun Tracey | Sinn Féin | 388 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,024 |
How Stepaside voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 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.
80 candidates stood for 40 seats on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in June 2024, 2 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 44.2%, the 27th-highest of 31 councils. Fine Gael elected 16 of its 17 candidates. 36 of the 80 candidates were women (45%; 31% across the country), and 18 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.
Stepaside is in Dublin Rathdown
4 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Fine Gael
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael · Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
oireachtas.ie ↗Social Democrats
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 Rathdown, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Dublin Rathdown
Turnout was 60.6%, 49,000 of 80,852 registered voters: the 18th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 9,752: 48,759 valid votes for 4 seats, counted over 10 rounds. Neale Richmond (Fine Gael) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 3. Sinéad Gibney (Social Democrats), 5th on first preferences, won a seat on transfers, overtaking Michael Fleming (Independent), who was 4th. Shay Brennan (Fianna Fáil) took the last seat with 8,999 votes at the final count, 997 more than Michael Fleming (Independent), on 8,002.
Every candidate, count by count (10 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shay Brennan | Fianna Fáil | 5,913 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 8,999 |
| Sinéad Gibney | Social Democrats | 4,277 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 10,612 |
| Maeve O'Connell | Fine Gael | 6,375 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 9,752 |
| Neale Richmond | Fine Gael | 10,044 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 9,752 |
| Garrett McCafferty | The National Party | 367 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Kevin Daly | Independent | 253 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Conor Murphy | Independent | 66 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Síomha Ní Aonghusa | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 1,336 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Elaine Mary Dunne | Fianna Fáil | 1,417 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Alan Shatter | Independent | 1,783 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Liam Coughlan | Aontú | 1,808 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Lettie McCarthy | Labour Party | 3,043 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Shaun Tracey | Sinn Féin | 3,551 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Catherine Martin | Green Party | 4,146 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Michael Fleming | Independent | 4,380 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 8,002 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
€1,338 per resident: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown 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 13th-lowest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 12% on 2025, when it was €281.2M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 37% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2140, the 13th-lowest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 8%.
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 | €111.5M | €477 | €89.9M | 24% |
| Roads and transport | €37.6M | €161 | €35.3M | 6% |
| Water services | €8.6M | €37 | €9.8M | -12% |
| Planning and development | €36.8M | €157 | €39.8M | -8% |
| Environment and fire | €43.8M | €187 | €40.4M | 8% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €48.5M | €207 | €44.7M | 8% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €7.4M | €32 | €7.5M | -1% |
| Other services | €19.4M | €83 | €13.7M | 42% |
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 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council’s 40 councillors speaks for about 5,850 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has 40 councillors for 233,860 residents: about 5,850 each, the 7th-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 Stepaside 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.
dlrcoco.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
dlrcoco.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 Stepaside is run
Which council runs Stepaside?
The one council for Stepaside is Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Stepaside have?
The Sandyford-Glencullen local electoral area elects 7 councillors: Michael Fleming (Independent), Lettie McCarthy (Labour Party), Oisín O'Connor (Green Party), Pierce Dargan (Fine Gael), Kazi Ahmed (Fine Gael), Tom Murphy (Fianna Fáil), Kevin Daly (Independent).
Which party has the most seats on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Fine Gael 16 · Green Party 6 · Independent 5 · Fianna Fáil 5 · Labour Party 5 · People Before Profit–Solidarity 2 · Social Democrats 1 of 40 seats; a majority needs 21.
Who are Stepaside’s TDs?
Dublin Rathdown elects 4 TDs: Maeve O'Connell (Fine Gael), Neale Richmond (Fine Gael), Shay Brennan (Fianna Fáil) and Sinéad Gibney (Social Democrats).
What was the turnout in Stepaside?
In Sandyford-Glencullen, 44.7% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Dublin Rathdown, 60.6% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Stepaside?
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 Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County spend?
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council plans to spend €313.6M 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).