Photo: patrick connolly · CC BY-SA 2.0Turnout in Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick was among the highest at the 2024 local elections
There is just one council for Errill, Laois County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government. The Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick local electoral area elected 6 councillors in June 2024: Fine Gael 2, Fianna Fáil 2 and Independent 2. No party holds a majority on Laois County; Fianna Fáil has the most seats, 6 of 19, short of the 10 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Laois has 3 members: Independent 1, Fianna Fáil 1 and Fine Gael 1.
Errill’s council and votes, in 3 figures
High turnout
12,126 of Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick’s 21,813 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 56%: the 42nd-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Errill voted ↓
A crowded ballot
15 candidates stood for 6 seats in Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick in June 2024, the 51st-most contested ballot of 166 by candidates per seat. Local elections ↓
Low turnout
38,507 of Laois’s 65,873 registered voters turned out in November 2024, 58%: the 15th-lowest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 60%). Dáil Éireann ↓
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 Laois County Council
Seats on Laois County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Fianna Fáil611 stood
- Fine Gael58 stood
- Independent512 stood
- Sinn Féin27 stood
- Labour Party13 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 10 of the 19 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Fianna Fáil is largest with 6. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 5 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
Errill 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.
laois.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 Errill, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick local electoral areaBorris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick · 6 membersConor BerginPaddy BrackenJames KellyJohn KingOllie ClooneySeamús McDonald
- 2Laois County Council19 councillors from 3 local electoral areasFianna Fáil 6 · Fine Gael 5 · Independent 5 · Sinn Féin 2 · Labour Party 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannLaois · 3 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 Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Conor Bergin
- Paddy Bracken
- James Kelly
- John King
- Ollie Clooney
- Seamús McDonald
Also stood (9): Paddy Buggy (Fine Gael), Brian Phelan (Fianna Fáil), Fintan Cuddy (Fianna Fáil), Lorna Holohan Garry (Sinn Féin), Helen Campion (Sinn Féin), Declan Good (Fianna Fáil), Kevin Drennan (Independent), Fiona Dunne (Green Party), Bryan Corrigan (Labour Party).
Errill’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conor Bergin | Fine Gael | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 1,606 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Paddy Bracken | Fianna Fáil | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 1,452 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | Re-elected |
| James Kelly | Independent | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 1,408 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| John King | Fine Gael | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 1,353 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Ollie Clooney | Independent | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 1,245 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Seamús McDonald | Fianna Fáil | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 1,091 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
6 of the 6 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 0 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Laois County Council’s 3 local electoral areas
Every area of Laois County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | 6 | 15 | 21,813 | 55.6% | 1,712 |
| Graiguecullen-Portarlington | 6 | 12 | 22,233 | 50.5% | 1,586 |
| Portlaoise | 7 | 20 | 24,426 | 48.3% | 1,460 |
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 5 of the 19 seats on Laois County Council
Everyone elected to Laois County 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 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 29% |
| Fine Gael | 5 | 1 | 4 | 25.3% |
| Independent | 5 | 1 | 4 | 23.2% |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | 1 | 2 | 13.9% |
| Labour Party | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3.6% |
5 of the 19 councillors are women, 26%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 17 sat on the council before the election and 2 are new to it.
Every member of Laois County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conor Bergin | Fine Gael | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | Re-elected |
| Paddy Bracken | Fianna Fáil | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | Re-elected |
| James Kelly | Independent | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | Re-elected |
| John King | Fine Gael | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | Re-elected |
| Ollie Clooney | Independent | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | Re-elected |
| Seamús McDonald | Fianna Fáil | Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick | Re-elected |
| Paschal McEvoy | Fianna Fáil | Graiguecullen-Portarlington | Re-elected |
| Aidan Mullins | Sinn Féin | Graiguecullen-Portarlington | Re-elected |
| Ben Brennan | Independent | Graiguecullen-Portarlington | Re-elected |
| Padraig Fleming | Fianna Fáil | Graiguecullen-Portarlington | Re-elected |
| Aisling Moran | Independent | Graiguecullen-Portarlington | Re-elected |
| Vivienne Phelan | Fine Gael | Graiguecullen-Portarlington | New |
| Willie Aird | Fine Gael | Portlaoise | Re-elected |
| Caroline Dwane Stanley | Sinn Féin | Portlaoise | Re-elected |
| John Joe Fennelly | Fianna Fáil | Portlaoise | Re-elected |
| Tommy Mulligan | Independent | Portlaoise | New |
| Catherine Fitzgerald | Fianna Fáil | Portlaoise | Re-elected |
| Barry Walsh | Fine Gael | Portlaoise | Re-elected |
| Marie Tuohy | Labour Party | Portlaoise | Re-elected |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,712. Elected candidates are in bold.
Each party’s share of first preferences in Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
12,126 of 21,813 registered voters turned out, 55.6%: the 42nd-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 11,979 valid votes and 6 seats the quota was 1,712; the count ran to 10 rounds. Nobody reached the quota on first preferences, so every seat was filled on transfers. Seamús McDonald (Fianna Fáil) was 7th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Paddy Buggy (Fine Gael), 6th on first preferences. The last seat went to Seamús McDonald (Fianna Fáil) with 1,460 votes at the final count, 176 ahead of Paddy Buggy (Fine Gael), who had 1,284.
Every candidate, count by count (10 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John King | Fine Gael | 1,353 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,711 |
| Ollie Clooney | Independent | 1,245 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,650 |
| Seamús McDonald | Fianna Fáil | 1,091 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,460 |
| Paddy Bracken | Fianna Fáil | 1,452 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 1,753 |
| James Kelly | Independent | 1,408 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 1,740 |
| Conor Bergin | Fine Gael | 1,606 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 1,712 |
| Bryan Corrigan | Labour Party | 99 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Fiona Dunne | Green Party | 121 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Kevin Drennan | Independent | 192 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Declan Good | Fianna Fáil | 278 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Helen Campion | Sinn Féin | 419 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Fintan Cuddy | Fianna Fáil | 566 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Brian Phelan | Fianna Fáil | 585 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Lorna Holohan Garry | Sinn Féin | 453 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Paddy Buggy | Fine Gael | 1,111 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,284 |
How Errill voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Laois 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.
47 candidates stood for 19 seats on Laois County Council in June 2024, 2.5 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 53.1%, the 14th-highest of 31 councils. Fianna Fáil elected 6 of its 11 candidates. 14 of the 47 candidates were women (30%; 31% across the country), and 12 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.
Errill is in Laois
3 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 ↗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 Laois, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Laois
Turnout was 58.5%, 38,507 of 65,873 registered voters: the 29th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 9,570: 38,276 valid votes for 3 seats, counted over 8 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. The last seat went to Brian Stanley (Independent) with 9,512 votes at the final count, 2,947 ahead of Maria McCormack (Sinn Féin), who had 6,565.
Every candidate, count by count (8 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Stanley | Independent | 6,782 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 9,512 |
| Sean Fleming | Fianna Fáil | 8,123 | Elected at count 8, on the quota | 10,693 |
| William Aird | Fine Gael | 9,269 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | 9,619 |
| Jason Lynch | Independent | 170 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Austin Stack | Fianna Fáil | 502 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Pauline Flanagan | Independent | 578 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Rosie Palmer | Green Party | 747 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Mary Hande | Aontú | 1,038 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Ken Mooney | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 745 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Elaine Mullally | Independent | 2,438 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Aisling Moran | Independent | 2,970 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Maria McCormack | Sinn Féin | 4,914 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 6,565 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
€1,441 per resident: Laois 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 14th-highest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 7% on 2025, when it was €123.7M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 12% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2328, the 14th-highest 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 | €41.5M | €452 | €38.4M | 8% |
| Roads and transport | €31.3M | €341 | €31.1M | 1% |
| Water services | €4M | €44 | €4.7M | -15% |
| Planning and development | €15.2M | €166 | €13.5M | 13% |
| Environment and fire | €15.3M | €167 | €13.9M | 10% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €9.1M | €99 | €8.5M | 7% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €910K | €10 | €928K | -2% |
| Other services | €15.4M | €168 | €12.5M | 23% |
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).
Laois County Council has 19 councillors, one for every 4,840 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Laois County Council has 19 councillors for 91,877 residents: about 4,840 each, the 12th-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 Errill 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.
laois.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
laois.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 Errill is run
Which council runs Errill?
The one council for Errill is Laois County Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Errill have?
The Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick local electoral area elects 6 councillors: Conor Bergin (Fine Gael), Paddy Bracken (Fianna Fáil), James Kelly (Independent), John King (Fine Gael), Ollie Clooney (Independent), Seamús McDonald (Fianna Fáil).
Which party has the most seats on Laois County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Fianna Fáil 6 · Fine Gael 5 · Independent 5 · Sinn Féin 2 · Labour Party 1 of 19 seats; a majority needs 10.
Who are Errill’s TDs?
Laois elects 3 TDs: Brian Stanley (Independent), Sean Fleming (Fianna Fáil) and William Aird (Fine Gael).
What was the turnout in Errill?
In Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick, 55.6% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Laois, 58.5% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Errill?
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 Laois County spend?
Laois County Council plans to spend €132.9M 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).