Photo: Nigel Thompson · CC BY-SA 2.0Meath County Council runs on one of the smallest budgets per resident of any council
There is just one council for Slane, Meath County Council: Ireland has only one tier of local government. The Laytown-Bettystown local electoral area elected 7 councillors in June 2024: Fine Gael 2, Independent 2, Fianna Fáil 2 and Sinn Féin 1. No party holds a majority on Meath County; Independent has the most seats, 11 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Meath East has 4 members: Sinn Féin 1, Independent 1, Fine Gael 1 and Fianna Fáil 1.
Slane’s council and votes, in 3 figures
A lean budget for its size
Meath County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,170 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
No majority on Meath County
Independent won the most seats on Meath County Council in June 2024, 11 of 40, short of the 21 a majority needs; it ran 21 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
13,605 of Laytown-Bettystown’s 28,991 registered voters turned out in June 2024, 47%: the 53rd-lowest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49%). How Slane 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 Meath County Council
Seats on Meath County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Independent1121 stood
- Fine Gael1117 stood
- Fianna Fáil917 stood
- Sinn Féin614 stood
- Aontú27 stood
- Social Democrats12 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 21 of the 40 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Independent is largest with 11. 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
Slane 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.
meath.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 Slane, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Laytown-Bettystown local electoral areaLaytown-Bettystown · 7 membersSharon TolanGeraldine KeoganStephen McKeePaddy MeadeWayne HardingMaria WhiteCarol Lennon
- 2Meath County Council40 councillors from 6 local electoral areasIndependent 11 · Fine Gael 11 · Fianna Fáil 9 · Sinn Féin 6 · Aontú 2 · Social Democrats 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannMeath East · 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 Laytown-Bettystown
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Sharon Tolan
- Geraldine Keogan
- Stephen McKee
- Paddy Meade
- Wayne Harding
- Maria White
- Carol Lennon
Also stood (9): Séamus Lynch (Sinn Féin), Elaine McGinty (Labour Party), Tom Behan (Fianna Fáil), Peter Whelan (Aontú), Declan O'Neill (Fine Gael), Cathal Mac Réamoinn (Green Party), Raymond Westlake (Independent Ireland), Patrick Smith (Independent), Marjeta Qevani (Independent).
Slane’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharon Tolan | Fine Gael | Laytown-Bettystown | 1,782 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Geraldine Keogan | Independent | Laytown-Bettystown | 1,538 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Stephen McKee | Fianna Fáil | Laytown-Bettystown | 1,499 | Elected at count 9, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Paddy Meade | Fine Gael | Laytown-Bettystown | 1,467 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Wayne Harding | Fianna Fáil | Laytown-Bettystown | 1,278 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Maria White | Sinn Féin | Laytown-Bettystown | 1,059 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | New |
| Carol Lennon | Independent | Laytown-Bettystown | 934 | 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 Meath County Council’s 6 local electoral areas
Every area of Meath County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laytown-Bettystown | 7 | 16 | 28,991 | 46.9% | 1,681 |
| Ashbourne | 6 | 16 | 23,012 | 47.3% | 1,532 |
| Kells | 7 | 14 | 27,565 | 55% | 1,871 |
| Navan | 7 | 18 | 25,710 | 47.4% | 1,496 |
| Ratoath | 7 | 16 | 28,420 | 47% | 1,657 |
| Trim | 6 | 12 | 27,282 | 43.9% | 1,690 |
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.
Of the 40 councillors on Meath County Council, women hold 15
Everyone elected to Meath 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 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 24.4% |
| Independent | 11 | 4 | 10 | 28% |
| Fianna Fáil | 9 | 2 | 8 | 20.9% |
| Sinn Féin | 6 | 2 | 3 | 13.4% |
| Aontú | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6.4% |
| Social Democrats | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.6% |
15 of the 40 councillors are women, 38%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 33 sat on the council before the election and 7 are new to it.
Every member of Meath County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Bonner | Independent | Ashbourne | Re-elected |
| Amanda Smith | Independent | Ashbourne | Re-elected |
| Suzanne Jamal | Fine Gael | Ashbourne | Re-elected |
| Alan Tobin | Fine Gael | Ashbourne | Re-elected |
| Conor Tormey | Fianna Fáil | Ashbourne | Re-elected |
| Helen Meyer | Sinn Féin | Ashbourne | Re-elected |
| Sarah Reilly | Fine Gael | Kells | Re-elected |
| Eugene Cassidy | Fine Gael | Kells | Re-elected |
| Sean Drew | Fianna Fáil | Kells | Re-elected |
| Mike Bray | Fianna Fáil | Kells | Re-elected |
| Michael Gallagher | Sinn Féin | Kells | Re-elected |
| David Gilroy | Independent | Kells | Re-elected |
| Peter Caffrey | Sinn Féin | Kells | New |
| Sharon Tolan | Fine Gael | Laytown-Bettystown | Re-elected |
| Geraldine Keogan | Independent | Laytown-Bettystown | Re-elected |
| Stephen McKee | Fianna Fáil | Laytown-Bettystown | Re-elected |
| Paddy Meade | Fine Gael | Laytown-Bettystown | Re-elected |
| Wayne Harding | Fianna Fáil | Laytown-Bettystown | Re-elected |
| Maria White | Sinn Féin | Laytown-Bettystown | New |
| Carol Lennon | Independent | Laytown-Bettystown | New |
| Eddie Fennessy | Sinn Féin | Navan | Re-elected |
| Emer Tóibín | Aontú | Navan | Re-elected |
| Francis Deane | Independent | Navan | Re-elected |
| Pádraig Fitzsimons | Fianna Fáil | Navan | Re-elected |
| Linda Nelson Murray | Fine Gael | Navan | New |
| Alan Lawes | Independent | Navan | Re-elected |
| Yemi Adenuga | Fine Gael | Navan | Re-elected |
| Gillian Toole | Independent | Ratoath | Re-elected |
| Maria Murphy | Fine Gael | Ratoath | Re-elected |
| Brian Fitzgerald | Independent | Ratoath | Re-elected |
| Caroline O'Reilly | Fianna Fáil | Ratoath | Re-elected |
| Nick Killian | Independent | Ratoath | Re-elected |
| Gerry O'Connor | Fine Gael | Ratoath | Re-elected |
| Fionnan Blake | Sinn Féin | Ratoath | New |
| Noel French | Independent | Trim | Re-elected |
| Joe Fox | Fine Gael | Trim | Re-elected |
| Aisling Dempsey | Fianna Fáil | Trim | Re-elected |
| Dave Boyne | Aontú | Trim | New |
| Padraig Coffey | Fianna Fáil | Trim | New |
| Ronan Moore | Social Democrats | Trim | Re-elected |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Laytown-Bettystown, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,681. Elected candidates are in bold.
First-preference share by party in Laytown-Bettystown
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
Turnout was 46.9%, 13,605 of 28,991 registered voters: the 114th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 13,445 valid votes and 7 seats the quota was 1,681; the count ran to 11 rounds. Sharon Tolan (Fine Gael) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 6. Carol Lennon (Independent) took the last seat with 1,358 votes at the final count, 295 more than Elaine McGinty (Labour Party), on 1,063.
Every candidate, count by count (11 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carol Lennon | Independent | 934 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,358 |
| Maria White | Sinn Féin | 1,059 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 1,921 |
| Wayne Harding | Fianna Fáil | 1,278 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 1,726 |
| Stephen McKee | Fianna Fáil | 1,499 | Elected at count 9, on the quota | 1,681 |
| Geraldine Keogan | Independent | 1,538 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 1,681 |
| Paddy Meade | Fine Gael | 1,467 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | 1,681 |
| Sharon Tolan | Fine Gael | 1,782 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,681 |
| Patrick Smith | Independent | 105 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Marjeta Qevani | Independent | 51 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Raymond Westlake | Independent Ireland | 207 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Cathal Mac Réamoinn | Green Party | 357 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Declan O'Neill | Fine Gael | 430 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Peter Whelan | Aontú | 625 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Tom Behan | Fianna Fáil | 640 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Séamus Lynch | Sinn Féin | 744 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Elaine McGinty | Labour Party | 729 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,063 |
How Slane voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Meath 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.
92 candidates stood for 40 seats on Meath County Council in June 2024, 2.3 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 48%, the 23rd-highest of 31 councils. Independent elected 11 of its 21 candidates. 33 of the 92 candidates were women (36%; 31% across the country), and 21 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.
Slane is in Meath East
4 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Independent
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael · Minister for Defence; Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil · Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and at the Department of Defence
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 Meath East, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Meath East
Turnout was 59.7%, 50,321 of 84,272 registered voters: the 23rd-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 9,997: 49,983 valid votes for 4 seats, counted over 13 rounds. Nobody reached the quota on first preferences, so every seat was filled on transfers. Gillian Toole (Independent) took the last seat with 8,953 votes at the final count, 3,471 more than Sharon Tolan (Fine Gael), on 5,482.
Every candidate, count by count (13 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillian Toole | Independent | 4,459 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 8,953 |
| Thomas Byrne | Fianna Fáil | 6,403 | Elected at count 13, on the quota | 10,525 |
| Darren O'Rourke | Sinn Féin | 8,175 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 9,997 |
| Helen McEntee | Fine Gael | 9,957 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | 10,006 |
| Raymond Westlake | Independent | 72 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Barbara Reid | Liberty Republic | 119 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Carolyn Fahy | Party for Animal Welfare | 207 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Charles Patrick Bobbett | Independent | 186 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Sivakumar Murugadoss | Independent | 135 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Jean Murray | The National Party | 652 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Ruadháin Bonham | Green Party | 845 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Clara McCormack | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 1,380 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Eilish Balfe | Labour Party | 2,048 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Joseph Bonner | Independent | 2,771 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Maria White | Sinn Féin | 2,894 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Caroline O'Reilly | Fianna Fáil | 3,223 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Emer Tóibín | Aontú | 3,281 | Excluded at count 13 | – |
| Sharon Tolan | Fine Gael | 3,176 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 5,482 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
€1,170 per resident: Meath 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 4th-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 €232.1M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 24% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2132, the 4th-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 | €80.8M | €366 | €70.9M | 14% |
| Roads and transport | €69M | €313 | €62.4M | 11% |
| Water services | €8.8M | €40 | €10.8M | -19% |
| Planning and development | €32M | €145 | €28M | 14% |
| Environment and fire | €34.2M | €155 | €28.4M | 20% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €15.4M | €70 | €14.6M | 6% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €1.1M | €5 | €1.5M | -26% |
| Other services | €17.5M | €79 | €15.5M | 13% |
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).
Meath County Council has 40 councillors, one for every 5,520 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Meath County Council has 40 councillors for 220,826 residents: about 5,520 each, the 8th-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 Slane 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.
meath.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
meath.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 Slane is run
Which council runs Slane?
Slane is run by Meath County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government.
How many councillors does Slane have?
The Laytown-Bettystown local electoral area elects 7 councillors: Sharon Tolan (Fine Gael), Geraldine Keogan (Independent), Stephen McKee (Fianna Fáil), Paddy Meade (Fine Gael), Wayne Harding (Fianna Fáil), Maria White (Sinn Féin), Carol Lennon (Independent).
Which party has the most seats on Meath County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Independent 11 · Fine Gael 11 · Fianna Fáil 9 · Sinn Féin 6 · Aontú 2 · Social Democrats 1 of 40 seats; a majority needs 21.
Who are Slane’s TDs?
Meath East elects 4 TDs: Darren O'Rourke (Sinn Féin), Gillian Toole (Independent), Helen McEntee (Fine Gael) and Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fáil).
What was the turnout in Slane?
In Laytown-Bettystown, 46.9% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Meath East, 59.7% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Slane?
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 Meath County spend?
Meath County Council plans to spend €258.8M 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).