Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0Kerry had one of the highest turnouts at the 2024 general election
Local government for Tarbert is Kerry County Council alone; Ireland has a single tier. The Listowel local electoral area elected 6 councillors in June 2024: Fine Gael 2, Fianna Fáil 2, Independent 1 and Sinn Féin 1. No party holds a majority on Kerry County; Independent has the most seats, 11 of 33, short of the 17 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Kerry has 5 members: Independent 2, Fianna Fáil 2 and Sinn Féin 1.
Tarbert’s council and votes, in 3 figures
High turnout
78,999 of Kerry’s 120,868 registered voters turned out in November 2024, 65%: the 4th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 60%). Dáil Éireann ↓
High turnout
14,797 of Listowel’s 25,821 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 57%: the 27th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Tarbert voted ↓
A large budget for its size
Kerry County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,585 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 Kerry County Council
Seats on Kerry County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Independent1122 stood
- Fianna Fáil911 stood
- Fine Gael610 stood
- Sinn Féin413 stood
- Labour Party24 stood
- Kerry Independent Alliance11 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 17 of the 33 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Independent is largest with 11. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fianna Fáil 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).
One council, and the government for the rest
Tarbert 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.
ciarrai.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 Tarbert, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Listowel local electoral areaListowel · 6 membersMike KennellyLiam Speedy NolanMichael FoleyMichael LeaneTom BarryJimmy Moloney
- 2Kerry County Council33 councillors from 6 local electoral areasIndependent 11 · Fianna Fáil 9 · Fine Gael 6 · Sinn Féin 4 · Labour Party 2 · Kerry Independent Alliance 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannKerry · 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 Listowel
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Mike Kennelly
- Liam Speedy Nolan
- Michael Foley
- Michael Leane
- Tom Barry
- Jimmy Moloney
Also stood (6): Marion Falvey O'Sullivan (Sinn Féin), Sonny Foran (Aontú), Thomas Harrington (Sinn Féin), John O'Sullivan (Independent), Oonagh Comerford (Green Party), Rosemarie Smith (Party for Animal Welfare).
Tarbert’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Kennelly | Fine Gael | Listowel | 2,301 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Liam Speedy Nolan | Independent | Listowel | 2,223 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | New |
| Michael Foley | Fine Gael | Listowel | 2,042 | Elected at count 2, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Michael Leane | Fianna Fáil | Listowel | 1,766 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | New |
| Tom Barry | Sinn Féin | Listowel | 1,685 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Jimmy Moloney | Fianna Fáil | Listowel | 1,371 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
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 Kerry County Council’s 6 local electoral areas
Every area of Kerry County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listowel | 6 | 12 | 25,821 | 57.3% | 2,095 |
| Castleisland | 4 | 8 | 15,460 | 63% | 1,936 |
| Corca Dhuibhne | 3 | 7 | 12,578 | 63.3% | 1,966 |
| Kenmare | 6 | 16 | 23,922 | 62.9% | 2,134 |
| Killarney | 7 | 17 | 23,159 | 62.2% | 1,785 |
| Tralee | 7 | 17 | 26,411 | 51.7% | 1,688 |
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 33 seats on Kerry County Council
Everyone elected to Kerry 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 11 | 1 | 9 | 33.1% |
| Fianna Fáil | 9 | 2 | 7 | 21.4% |
| Fine Gael | 6 | 1 | 3 | 16.6% |
| Sinn Féin | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14.5% |
| Labour Party | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4.4% |
| Kerry Independent Alliance | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.1% |
6 of the 33 councillors are women, 18%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 24 sat on the council before the election and 9 are new to it.
Every member of Kerry County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackie Healy-Rae | Independent | Castleisland | Re-elected |
| Charlie Farrelly | Independent | Castleisland | Re-elected |
| Fionnán Fitzgerald | Fianna Fáil | Castleisland | Re-elected |
| Bobby O'Connell | Fine Gael | Castleisland | Re-elected |
| Tommy Griffin | Fine Gael | Corca Dhuibhne | New |
| Robert Brosnan | Sinn Féin | Corca Dhuibhne | New |
| Breandán Fitzgerald | Fianna Fáil | Corca Dhuibhne | Re-elected |
| Johnny Healy-Rae | Independent | Kenmare | Re-elected |
| Michael Cahill | Fianna Fáil | Kenmare | Re-elected |
| Norma Moriarty | Fianna Fáil | Kenmare | Re-elected |
| Teddy O'Sullivan Casey | Fine Gael | Kenmare | New |
| Podge Foley | Independent | Kenmare | New |
| Dan McCarthy | Independent | Kenmare | Re-elected |
| Maura Healy-Rae | Independent | Killarney | Re-elected |
| Martin Grady | Independent | Killarney | Re-elected |
| John O Donoghue | Kerry Independent Alliance | Killarney | Re-elected |
| Brendan Cronin | Independent | Killarney | Re-elected |
| Niall Kelleher | Fianna Fáil | Killarney | Re-elected |
| Niall Botty O'Callaghan | Independent | Killarney | Re-elected |
| Marie Moloney | Labour Party | Killarney | Re-elected |
| Mike Kennelly | Fine Gael | Listowel | Re-elected |
| Liam Speedy Nolan | Independent | Listowel | New |
| Michael Foley | Fine Gael | Listowel | Re-elected |
| Michael Leane | Fianna Fáil | Listowel | New |
| Tom Barry | Sinn Féin | Listowel | Re-elected |
| Jimmy Moloney | Fianna Fáil | Listowel | Re-elected |
| Mikey Sheehy | Fianna Fáil | Tralee | Re-elected |
| Deirdre Ferris | Sinn Féin | Tralee | Re-elected |
| Terry O'Brien | Labour Party | Tralee | Re-elected |
| Sam Locke | Independent | Tralee | Re-elected |
| Paul Daly | Sinn Féin | Tralee | New |
| Anne O'Sullivan | Fianna Fáil | Tralee | New |
| Angie Baily | Fine Gael | Tralee | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Listowel, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 2,095. Elected candidates are in bold.
First-preference share by party in Listowel
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
Turnout was 57.3%, 14,797 of 25,821 registered voters: the 27th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). The quota was 2,095: 14,660 valid votes for 6 seats, counted over 9 rounds. Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael) and Liam Speedy Nolan (Independent) reached the quota on first preferences alone, and transfers decided the other 4. The last seat went to Jimmy Moloney (Fianna Fáil) with 1,784 votes at the final count, 103 ahead of Marion Falvey O'Sullivan (Sinn Féin), who had 1,681.
Every candidate, count by count (9 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Barry | Sinn Féin | 1,685 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 2,051 |
| Jimmy Moloney | Fianna Fáil | 1,371 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,784 |
| Michael Leane | Fianna Fáil | 1,766 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | 2,095 |
| Michael Foley | Fine Gael | 2,042 | Elected at count 2, on the quota | 2,095 |
| Mike Kennelly | Fine Gael | 2,301 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 2,095 |
| Liam Speedy Nolan | Independent | 2,223 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 2,095 |
| Oonagh Comerford | Green Party | 165 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Rosemarie Smith | Party for Animal Welfare | 110 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Thomas Harrington | Sinn Féin | 446 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| John O'Sullivan | Independent | 414 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Sonny Foran | Aontú | 845 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Marion Falvey O'Sullivan | Sinn Féin | 1,292 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,681 |
How Tarbert voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Kerry 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.
77 candidates stood for 33 seats on Kerry County Council in June 2024, 2.3 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 59.4%, the 3rd-highest of 31 councils. Independent elected 11 of its 22 candidates. 19 of the 77 candidates were women (25%; 31% across the country), and 22 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.
Tarbert is in Kerry
5 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Independent
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
oireachtas.ie ↗Independent
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil · Minister for Children, Disability and Equality
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
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 Kerry, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Kerry
Turnout was 65.4%, 78,999 of 120,868 registered voters: the 4th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). With 78,495 valid votes and 5 seats the quota was 13,083; the count ran to 13 rounds. Michael Healy-Rae (Independent) reached the quota on first preferences alone, and transfers decided the other 4. The last seat went to Michael Cahill (Fianna Fáil) with 10,932 votes at the final count, 757 ahead of Billy O Shea (Fine Gael), who had 10,175.
Every candidate, count by count (13 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Cahill | Fianna Fáil | 8,266 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 10,932 |
| Norma Foley | Fianna Fáil | 10,302 | Elected at count 13, on the quota | 13,654 |
| Danny Healy-Rae | Independent | 8,603 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 13,239 |
| Pa Daly | Sinn Féin | 11,647 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 13,083 |
| Michael Healy-Rae | Independent | 18,596 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 13,083 |
| Mary Fitzgibbon | Independent | 469 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| John O Leary | Independent | 34 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Brandon Begley | Irish Freedom Party | 738 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Cian Prendiville | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 1,012 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Thomas Mc Ellistrim | Independent Ireland | 983 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Stephanie O Shea | Sinn Féin | 1,114 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Michelle Keane | Independent | 1,530 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Linda Gordon Kelleher | Fianna Fáil | 2,024 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Mike Kennedy | Labour Party | 1,826 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Catherina O Sullivan | Aontú | 1,437 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Cleo Murphy | Green Party | 1,982 | Excluded at count 13 | – |
| Billy O Shea | Fine Gael | 7,932 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 10,175 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Kerry County Council plans to spend €1,585 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 10th-highest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 10% on 2025, when it was €226.6M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 22% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2450, the 10th-highest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. 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 | €68.8M | €439 | €59.4M | 16% |
| Roads and transport | €59.6M | €381 | €56.2M | 6% |
| Water services | €14.5M | €93 | €16.1M | -10% |
| Planning and development | €33.1M | €212 | €26.9M | 23% |
| Environment and fire | €30.4M | €194 | €26.9M | 13% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €12.9M | €83 | €12.1M | 7% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €3.2M | €20 | €3.4M | -7% |
| Other services | €26M | €166 | €25.7M | 2% |
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 Kerry County Council’s 33 councillors speaks for about 4,740 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Kerry County Council has 33 councillors for 156,458 residents: about 4,740 each, the 16th-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 Tarbert 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.
ciarrai.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
ciarrai.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 Tarbert is run
Which council runs Tarbert?
Tarbert is run by Kerry County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government.
How many councillors does Tarbert have?
The Listowel local electoral area elects 6 councillors: Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael), Liam Speedy Nolan (Independent), Michael Foley (Fine Gael), Michael Leane (Fianna Fáil), Tom Barry (Sinn Féin), Jimmy Moloney (Fianna Fáil).
Which party has the most seats on Kerry County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Independent 11 · Fianna Fáil 9 · Fine Gael 6 · Sinn Féin 4 · Labour Party 2 · Kerry Independent Alliance 1 of 33 seats; a majority needs 17.
Who are Tarbert’s TDs?
Kerry elects 5 TDs: Danny Healy-Rae (Independent), Michael Cahill (Fianna Fáil), Michael Healy-Rae (Independent), Norma Foley (Fianna Fáil) and Pa Daly (Sinn Féin).
What was the turnout in Tarbert?
In Listowel, 57.3% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Kerry, 65.4% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Tarbert?
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 Kerry County spend?
Kerry County Council plans to spend €248.5M 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).