Photo: Elfy4eva · CC BY-SA 4.0Galway City East drew one of the most crowded ballots at the 2024 local elections: 20 candidates for 6 seats
Murrough answers to one council, Galway City Council; Ireland has no town tier. The Galway City East local electoral area elected 6 councillors in June 2024: Independent 2, Fianna Fáil 1, Fine Gael 1, Sinn Féin 1 and Labour Party 1. No party holds a majority on Galway City; Independent has the most seats, 4 of 18, short of the 10 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Galway West has 5 members: Fine Gael 2, Fianna Fáil 1, Sinn Féin 1 and Independent 1.
Murrough’s council and votes, in 4 figures
A crowded ballot
20 candidates stood for 6 seats in Galway City East in June 2024, the 3rd-most contested ballot of 166 by candidates per seat. Local elections ↓
A large budget for its size
Galway City Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,903 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
No majority on Galway City
Independent won the most seats on Galway City Council in June 2024, 4 of 18, short of the 10 a majority needs; it ran 15 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
8,102 of Galway City East’s 18,110 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 45%: the 35th-lowest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Murrough voted ↓
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 Galway City Council
Seats on Galway City Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Independent415 stood
- Fine Gael46 stood
- Fianna Fáil45 stood
- Labour Party33 stood
- Social Democrats23 stood
- Sinn Féin13 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 10 of the 18 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Independent is largest with 4. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 4 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
Murrough 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.
galwaycity.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 Murrough, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Galway City East local electoral areaGalway City East · 6 membersAlan CheeversDeclan McDonnellTerry O'FlahertyShane FordeAisling BurkeHelen Ogbu
- 2Galway City Council18 councillors from 3 local electoral areasIndependent 4 · Fine Gael 4 · Fianna Fáil 4 · Labour Party 3 · Social Democrats 2 · Sinn Féin 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannGalway West · 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 Galway City East
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Alan Cheevers
- Declan McDonnell
- Terry O'Flaherty
- Shane Forde
- Aisling Burke
- Helen Ogbu
Also stood (14): Michael John Crowe (Fianna Fáil), Noel Larkin (Independent Ireland), Michael Tully (Independent), Aisling Keogh (Fine Gael), Justine Delaney Heaslip (Social Democrats), Joyce Mathias (Green Party), Cormac Ó Corcoráin (Aontú), Conor Burke (People Before Profit–Solidarity), Jacinta Gibbons (The Irish People), Susan Feeney (Irish Freedom Party), Denman Rooke (People Before Profit–Solidarity), David Lynch (Independent), Conor Dowd (Independent), Arkadiusz Wozniak (Independent).
Murrough’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alan Cheevers | Fianna Fáil | Galway City East | 1,031 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Declan McDonnell | Independent | Galway City East | 1,009 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Terry O'Flaherty | Independent | Galway City East | 916 | Elected at count 12, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Shane Forde | Fine Gael | Galway City East | 665 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
| Aisling Burke | Sinn Féin | Galway City East | 624 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
| Helen Ogbu | Labour Party | Galway City East | 585 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
3 of the 6 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 3 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Galway City Council’s 3 local electoral areas
Every area of Galway City Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galway City East | 6 | 20 | 18,110 | 44.7% | 1,144 |
| Galway City Central | 6 | 16 | 18,206 | 42.5% | 1,087 |
| Galway City West | 6 | 16 | 18,770 | 47.2% | 1,250 |
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 6 of the 18 seats on Galway City Council
Everyone elected to Galway City Council across its 3 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 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 17.4% |
| Fine Gael | 4 | 1 | 3 | 18.5% |
| Independent | 4 | 1 | 4 | 27.5% |
| Labour Party | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7.8% |
| Social Democrats | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7.2% |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6% |
6 of the 18 councillors are women, 33%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 12 sat on the council before the election and 6 are new to it.
Every member of Galway City Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Cubbard | Independent | Galway City Central | Re-elected |
| Eddie Hoare | Fine Gael | Galway City Central | Re-elected |
| Frank Fahy | Fine Gael | Galway City Central | Re-elected |
| Josie Forde | Fianna Fáil | Galway City Central | New |
| John McDonagh | Labour Party | Galway City Central | New |
| Eibhlín Seoighthe | Social Democrats | Galway City Central | New |
| Alan Cheevers | Fianna Fáil | Galway City East | Re-elected |
| Declan McDonnell | Independent | Galway City East | Re-elected |
| Terry O'Flaherty | Independent | Galway City East | Re-elected |
| Shane Forde | Fine Gael | Galway City East | New |
| Aisling Burke | Sinn Féin | Galway City East | New |
| Helen Ogbu | Labour Party | Galway City East | New |
| Donal Lyons | Independent | Galway City West | Re-elected |
| Clodagh Higgins | Fine Gael | Galway City West | Re-elected |
| John Connolly | Fianna Fáil | Galway City West | Re-elected |
| Alan Curran | Social Democrats | Galway City West | Re-elected |
| Peter Keane | Fianna Fáil | Galway City West | Re-elected |
| Níall McNelis | Labour Party | Galway City West | Re-elected |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Galway City East, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,144. Elected candidates are in bold.
Each party’s share of first preferences in Galway City East
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
8,102 of 18,110 registered voters turned out, 44.7%: the 132nd-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 8,001 valid votes and 6 seats the quota was 1,144; the count ran to 14 rounds. Nobody reached the quota on first preferences, so every seat was filled on transfers. Helen Ogbu (Labour Party) was 7th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Michael John Crowe (Fianna Fáil), 4th on first preferences. The last seat went to Shane Forde (Fine Gael) with 936 votes at the final count, 16 ahead of Michael John Crowe (Fianna Fáil), who had 920.
Every candidate, count by count (14 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helen Ogbu | Labour Party | 585 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,105 |
| Aisling Burke | Sinn Féin | 624 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 988 |
| Shane Forde | Fine Gael | 665 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 936 |
| Terry O'Flaherty | Independent | 916 | Elected at count 12, on the quota | 1,144 |
| Declan McDonnell | Independent | 1,009 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 1,148 |
| Alan Cheevers | Fianna Fáil | 1,031 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 1,144 |
| Conor Dowd | Independent | 58 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Arkadiusz Wozniak | Independent | 10 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| David Lynch | Independent | 70 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Denman Rooke | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 87 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Susan Feeney | Irish Freedom Party | 113 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Cormac Ó Corcoráin | Aontú | 154 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Conor Burke | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 129 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Jacinta Gibbons | The Irish People | 127 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Joyce Mathias | Green Party | 287 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Aisling Keogh | Fine Gael | 332 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Michael Tully | Independent | 352 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Justine Delaney Heaslip | Social Democrats | 303 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Noel Larkin | Independent Ireland | 413 | Excluded at count 13 | – |
| Michael John Crowe | Fianna Fáil | 736 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 920 |
How Murrough voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Galway 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.
52 candidates stood for 18 seats on Galway City Council in June 2024, 2.9 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 44.8%, the 26th-highest of 31 councils. Independent elected 4 of its 15 candidates. 17 of the 52 candidates were women (33%; 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.
Murrough is in Galway West
5 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Fine Gael · Minister for Education and Youth
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Independent · Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael
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 Galway West, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Galway West
Turnout was 58.5%, 60,652 of 103,713 registered voters: the 28th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 10,047: 60,277 valid votes for 5 seats, counted over 16 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. Noel Grealish (Independent) took the last seat with 9,649 votes at the final count, 900 more than Noel Thomas (Independent Ireland), on 8,749.
Every candidate, count by count (16 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noel Grealish | Independent | 6,887 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 9,649 |
| John Connolly | Fianna Fáil | 7,192 | Elected at count 14, on the quota | 10,047 |
| Hildegarde Naughton | Fine Gael | 6,011 | Elected at count 14, on the quota | 10,047 |
| Mairéad Farrell | Sinn Féin | 8,164 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 10,047 |
| Catherine Connolly | Independent | 6,747 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 10,047 |
| Patrick Feeney | Independent | 52 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Doran McMahon | Irish Freedom Party | 450 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Aj Cahill | The Irish People | 469 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Maisie McMaster | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 905 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Pádraig Lenihan | Aontú | 1,233 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Pauline O'Reilly | Green Party | 1,839 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Mike Cubbard | Independent | 2,219 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Helen Ogbu | Labour Party | 1,973 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Gráinne Seoige | Fianna Fáil | 2,929 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Eibhlín Seoighthe | Social Democrats | 2,172 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Seán Kyne | Fine Gael | 5,335 | Excluded at count 14 | – |
| Noel Thomas | Independent Ireland | 5,700 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 8,749 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Galway City Council plans to spend €1,903 per resident in 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 2nd-highest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 12% on 2025, when it was €144.1M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 28% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2369, the 2nd-highest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 6%.
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 | €76.2M | €903 | €65.4M | 17% |
| Roads and transport | €16.5M | €195 | €16.7M | -1% |
| Water services | €1.9M | €23 | €2.1M | -9% |
| Planning and development | €18.2M | €215 | €15.3M | 19% |
| Environment and fire | €17.7M | €209 | €15.9M | 11% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €23.8M | €283 | €21.9M | 9% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €455K | €5 | €419K | 9% |
| Other services | €6.5M | €76 | €6.4M | 1% |
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).
Galway City Council has 18 councillors, one for every 4,690 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Galway City Council has 18 councillors for 84,414 residents: about 4,690 each, the 15th-lowest 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 Murrough 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.
galwaycity.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
galwaycity.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 Murrough is run
Which council runs Murrough?
The one council for Murrough is Galway City Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Murrough have?
The Galway City East local electoral area elects 6 councillors: Alan Cheevers (Fianna Fáil), Declan McDonnell (Independent), Terry O'Flaherty (Independent), Shane Forde (Fine Gael), Aisling Burke (Sinn Féin), Helen Ogbu (Labour Party).
Which party has the most seats on Galway City Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Independent 4 · Fine Gael 4 · Fianna Fáil 4 · Labour Party 3 · Social Democrats 2 · Sinn Féin 1 of 18 seats; a majority needs 10.
Who are Murrough’s TDs?
Galway West elects 5 TDs: Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael), John Connolly (Fianna Fáil), Mairéad Farrell (Sinn Féin), Noel Grealish (Independent) and Seán Kyne (Fine Gael).
What was the turnout in Murrough?
In Galway City East, 44.7% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Galway West, 58.5% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Murrough?
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 Galway City spend?
Galway City Council plans to spend €161.2M 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).