Photo: Roger D Kidd · CC BY-SA 2.0Kildare County Council spends less per resident than most councils
Local government for Athy is Kildare County Council alone; Ireland has a single tier. The Athy local electoral area elected 5 councillors in June 2024: Labour Party 2, Fianna Fáil 2 and Fine Gael 1. No party holds a majority on Kildare County; Fianna Fáil has the most seats, 12 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Kildare South has 4 members: Labour Party 1, Fine Gael 1, Fianna Fáil 1 and Sinn Féin 1.
Athy’s council and votes, in 4 figures
A lean budget for its size
Kildare County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,147 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
A crowded ballot
13 candidates stood for 5 seats in Athy in June 2024, the 41st-most contested ballot of 166 by candidates per seat. Local elections ↓
Low turnout
43,205 of Kildare South’s 74,243 registered voters turned out in November 2024, 58%: the 11th-lowest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 60%). Dáil Éireann ↓
No majority on Kildare County
Fianna Fáil won the most seats on Kildare County Council in June 2024, 12 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs; it ran 14 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 Kildare County Council
Seats on Kildare County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Fianna Fáil1214 stood
- Fine Gael1115 stood
- Social Democrats78 stood
- Labour Party58 stood
- Independent314 stood
- Sinn Féin114 stood
- Independent Ireland15 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 21 of the 40 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Fianna Fáil is largest with 12. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 11 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
Athy 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.
kildarecoco.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 Athy, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Athy local electoral areaAthy · 5 membersAoife BreslinIvan KeatleyBrian DooleyVeralouise BehanMark Leigh
- 2Kildare County Council40 councillors from 8 local electoral areasFianna Fáil 12 · Fine Gael 11 · Social Democrats 7 · Labour Party 5 · Independent 3 · Sinn Féin 1 · Independent Ireland 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannKildare South · 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).
5 councillors represent Athy
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Aoife Breslin
- Ivan Keatley
- Brian Dooley
- Veralouise Behan
- Mark Leigh
Also stood (8): William Carton (Independent Ireland), Thomas Redmond (Sinn Féin), Geraldine Campbell (Sinn Féin), Rachael Wall (Social Democrats), ANThony Casey (Irish Freedom Party), David Owens (Fianna Fáil), Brian. Kenny (Fine Gael), Nichola Maughan (Independent).
Athy’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aoife Breslin | Labour Party | Athy | 2,347 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Ivan Keatley | Fine Gael | Athy | 1,638 | Elected at count 2, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Brian Dooley | Fianna Fáil | Athy | 1,076 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Veralouise Behan | Fianna Fáil | Athy | 967 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Mark Leigh | Labour Party | Athy | 732 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
5 of the 5 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 0 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Kildare County Council’s 8 local electoral areas
Every area of Kildare County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athy | 5 | 13 | 21,249 | 47.4% | 1,658 |
| Celbridge | 4 | 8 | 16,662 | 41.8% | 1,376 |
| Clane | 5 | 13 | 20,665 | 45.1% | 1,537 |
| Kildare | 5 | 13 | 19,042 | 44.2% | 1,382 |
| Leixlip | 3 | 5 | 14,011 | 44.4% | 1,519 |
| Maynooth | 5 | 9 | 20,869 | 45.4% | 1,566 |
| Naas | 7 | 15 | 30,153 | 46.6% | 1,739 |
| Newbridge | 6 | 14 | 25,116 | 46.8% | 1,663 |
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 Kildare County Council
Everyone elected to Kildare County Council across its 8 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 | 12 | 3 | 10 | 21.4% |
| Fine Gael | 11 | 4 | 9 | 28.1% |
| Social Democrats | 7 | 2 | 4 | 13.4% |
| Labour Party | 5 | 3 | 5 | 9.6% |
| Independent | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7.9% |
| Independent Ireland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4% |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.8% |
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 Kildare County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aoife Breslin | Labour Party | Athy | Re-elected |
| Ivan Keatley | Fine Gael | Athy | Re-elected |
| Brian Dooley | Fianna Fáil | Athy | Re-elected |
| Veralouise Behan | Fianna Fáil | Athy | Re-elected |
| Mark Leigh | Labour Party | Athy | Re-elected |
| David Trost | Fianna Fáil | Celbridge | New |
| Claire O'Rourke | Social Democrats | Celbridge | New |
| Lumi Panaite Fahey | Fine Gael | Celbridge | New |
| Rupert Heather | Labour Party | Celbridge | Re-elected |
| Brendan Wyse | Fine Gael | Clane | Re-elected |
| Pádraig McEvoy | Independent | Clane | Re-elected |
| Aidan Farrelly | Social Democrats | Clane | Re-elected |
| William Durkan | Fine Gael | Clane | New |
| Daragh Fitzpatrick | Fianna Fáil | Clane | Re-elected |
| Suzanne Doyle | Fianna Fáil | Kildare | Re-elected |
| Kevin Duffy | Fine Gael | Kildare | Re-elected |
| Brian O'Loughlin | Fianna Fáil | Kildare | New |
| Pat Balfe | Social Democrats | Kildare | New |
| Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh | Sinn Féin | Kildare | New |
| Joe Neville | Fine Gael | Leixlip | Re-elected |
| Nuala Killeen | Social Democrats | Leixlip | Re-elected |
| Bernard Caldwell | Fianna Fáil | Leixlip | Re-elected |
| Naoise Ó Cearúil | Fianna Fáil | Maynooth | Re-elected |
| Tim Durkan | Fine Gael | Maynooth | Re-elected |
| Angela Feeney | Labour Party | Maynooth | Re-elected |
| Peter Melrose | Social Democrats | Maynooth | New |
| Paul Ward | Fianna Fáil | Maynooth | Re-elected |
| Bill Clear | Social Democrats | Naas | Re-elected |
| Fintan Brett | Fine Gael | Naas | Re-elected |
| Evie Sammon | Fine Gael | Naas | Re-elected |
| Seamie Moore | Independent | Naas | Re-elected |
| Carmel Kelly | Fianna Fáil | Naas | Re-elected |
| Anne Breen | Labour Party | Naas | Re-elected |
| Ger Dunne | Independent Ireland | Naas | New |
| Tracey O'Dwyer | Fine Gael | Newbridge | Re-elected |
| Peggy O'Dwyer | Fine Gael | Newbridge | Re-elected |
| Chris Pender | Social Democrats | Newbridge | Re-elected |
| Noel Heavey | Fianna Fáil | Newbridge | Re-elected |
| Rob Power | Fianna Fáil | Newbridge | Re-elected |
| Tom McDonnell | Independent | Newbridge | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Athy, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,658. Elected candidates are in bold.
Each party’s share of first preferences in Athy
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
10,066 of 21,249 registered voters turned out, 47.4%: the 108th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). The quota was 1,658: 9,944 valid votes for 5 seats, counted over 10 rounds. Aoife Breslin (Labour Party) reached the quota on first preferences alone, and transfers decided the other 4. Mark Leigh (Labour Party) was 6th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of William Carton (Independent Ireland), 5th on first preferences. The last seat went to Veralouise Behan (Fianna Fáil) with 1,474 votes at the final count, 73 ahead of William Carton (Independent Ireland), who had 1,401.
Every candidate, count by count (10 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Leigh | Labour Party | 732 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,586 |
| Brian Dooley | Fianna Fáil | 1,076 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,526 |
| Veralouise Behan | Fianna Fáil | 967 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,474 |
| Ivan Keatley | Fine Gael | 1,638 | Elected at count 2, on the quota | 1,658 |
| Aoife Breslin | Labour Party | 2,347 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,658 |
| Nichola Maughan | Independent | 45 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| David Owens | Fianna Fáil | 328 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| ANThony Casey | Irish Freedom Party | 339 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Brian. Kenny | Fine Gael | 319 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Geraldine Campbell | Sinn Féin | 360 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Rachael Wall | Social Democrats | 353 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Thomas Redmond | Sinn Féin | 537 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| William Carton | Independent Ireland | 903 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,401 |
How Athy voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Kildare 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.
90 candidates stood for 40 seats on Kildare County Council in June 2024, 2.3 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 45.5%, the 25th-highest of 31 councils. Fianna Fáil elected 12 of its 14 candidates. 35 of the 90 candidates were women (39%; 31% across the country), and 14 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.
Athy is in Kildare South
4 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Labour Party
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael · Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
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 Kildare South, November 2024
First-preference share by party in Kildare South
43,205 of 74,243 registered voters turned out, 58.2%: the 33rd-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). With 42,934 valid votes and 3 seats the quota was 10,734; the count ran to 12 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. Mark Wall (Labour Party) was 4th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fáil), 2nd on first preferences. The last seat went to Mark Wall (Labour Party) with 9,942 votes at the final count, 460 ahead of Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fáil), who had 9,482. The outgoing Ceann Comhairle was returned without a vote, so one seat was not contested.
Every candidate, count by count (12 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh | Sinn Féin | 7,241 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 10,220 |
| Mark Wall | Labour Party | 6,654 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 9,942 |
| Martin Heydon | Fine Gael | 9,262 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 10,734 |
| Leanne O'Neill | Independent | 152 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Edel Doran | Independent Ireland | 123 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Robert Cosgrave | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 498 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Tom McDonnell | Independent | 499 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Monaa K. Sood | Green Party | 585 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Patricia Ryan | Independent | 678 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Willie Carton | Independent Ireland | 955 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| ANThony Casey | Irish Freedom Party | 957 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Melissa Byrne | Aontú | 1,677 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Chris Pender | Social Democrats | 3,157 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Cathal Berry | Independent | 3,007 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Fiona O'Loughlin | Fianna Fáil | 7,489 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 9,482 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Kildare County Council plans to spend €1,147 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 3rd-lowest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 10% on 2025, when it was €260.4M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 27% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2313, the 3rd-lowest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 10%.
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 | €115.5M | €466 | €101.7M | 14% |
| Roads and transport | €51.4M | €207 | €48.6M | 6% |
| Water services | €9M | €36 | €10.2M | -12% |
| Planning and development | €34.3M | €138 | €31.2M | 10% |
| Environment and fire | €29.9M | €121 | €26.4M | 13% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €21.4M | €87 | €19.6M | 9% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €1.5M | €6 | €1.4M | 4% |
| Other services | €22.7M | €92 | €21.3M | 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 Kildare County Council’s 40 councillors speaks for about 6,190 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Kildare County Council has 40 councillors for 247,774 residents: about 6,190 each, the 6th-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 Athy 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.
kildarecoco.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
kildarecoco.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 Athy is run
Which council runs Athy?
The one council for Athy is Kildare County Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Athy have?
The Athy local electoral area elects 5 councillors: Aoife Breslin (Labour Party), Ivan Keatley (Fine Gael), Brian Dooley (Fianna Fáil), Veralouise Behan (Fianna Fáil), Mark Leigh (Labour Party).
Which party has the most seats on Kildare County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Fianna Fáil 12 · Fine Gael 11 · Social Democrats 7 · Labour Party 5 · Independent 3 · Sinn Féin 1 · Independent Ireland 1 of 40 seats; a majority needs 21.
Who are Athy’s TDs?
Kildare South elects 4 TDs: Mark Wall (Labour Party), Martin Heydon (Fine Gael), Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Fianna Fáil) and Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Sinn Féin).
What was the turnout in Athy?
In Athy, 47.4% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Kildare South, 58.2% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Athy?
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 Kildare County spend?
Kildare County Council plans to spend €285.7M 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).