Photo: Unknown author Unknown author · CC BY-SA 4.0Turnout in Cavan-Monaghan was among the highest at the 2024 general election
Monaghan answers to one council, Monaghan County Council; Ireland has no town tier. The Monaghan local electoral area elected 7 councillors in June 2024: Sinn Féin 3, Fine Gael 2, Fianna Fáil 1 and Independent 1. No party holds a majority on Monaghan County; Sinn Féin has the most seats, 8 of 18, short of the 10 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Cavan-Monaghan has 5 members: Fianna Fáil 2, Sinn Féin 2 and Fine Gael 1.
Monaghan’s council and votes, in 3 figures
High turnout
69,904 of Cavan-Monaghan’s 109,152 registered voters turned out in November 2024, 64%: the 6th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 60%). Dáil Éireann ↓
No majority on Monaghan County
Sinn Féin won the most seats on Monaghan County Council in June 2024, 8 of 18, short of the 10 a majority needs; it ran 10 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 ↓
A large budget for its size
Monaghan County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,490 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 Monaghan County Council
Seats on Monaghan County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Sinn Féin810 stood
- Fine Gael66 stood
- Fianna Fáil38 stood
- Independent17 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 10 of the 18 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Sinn Féin is largest with 8. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Fine Gael is second with 6 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
Monaghan 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.
monaghan.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 Monaghan, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Monaghan local electoral areaMonaghan · 7 membersCathy BennettRaymond AugheySeamus TreanorPauric ClerkinDavid MaxwellSeán ConlonBronagh McAree
- 2Monaghan County Council18 councillors from 3 local electoral areasSinn Féin 8 · Fine Gael 6 · Fianna Fáil 3 · Independent 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannCavan-Monaghan · 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).
7 councillors represent Monaghan
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Cathy Bennett
- Raymond Aughey
- Seamus Treanor
- Pauric Clerkin
- David Maxwell
- Seán Conlon
- Bronagh McAree
Also stood (9): Brian 'Beano' Clerkin (Fianna Fáil), Niamh McCooey (Sinn Féin), Paudge Connolly (Independent), Eamon Treanor (Fianna Fáil), Colin Walker (Independent), Deividas Pauliukonis (Green Party), Denis O'Higgins (Independent), Paddy Grenham (Independent), Jimmy 'Stavrous' Mee (Independent).
Monaghan’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cathy Bennett | Sinn Féin | Monaghan | 1,232 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Raymond Aughey | Fianna Fáil | Monaghan | 1,123 | Elected at count 4, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Seamus Treanor | Independent | Monaghan | 1,078 | Elected at count 4, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Pauric Clerkin | Fine Gael | Monaghan | 1,007 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
| David Maxwell | Fine Gael | Monaghan | 950 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Seán Conlon | Sinn Féin | Monaghan | 861 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Bronagh McAree | Sinn Féin | Monaghan | 774 | 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 Monaghan County Council’s 3 local electoral areas
Every area of Monaghan County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monaghan | 7 | 16 | 19,207 | 51.9% | 1,229 |
| Ballybay-Clones | 5 | 9 | 15,264 | 56.1% | 1,411 |
| Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | 6 | 11 | 18,436 | 54.6% | 1,423 |
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 3 of the 18 seats on Monaghan County Council
Everyone elected to Monaghan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinn Féin | 8 | 3 | 5 | 35.2% |
| Fine Gael | 6 | 0 | 5 | 25.2% |
| Fianna Fáil | 3 | 0 | 3 | 23.9% |
| Independent | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9.1% |
3 of the 18 councillors are women, 17%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 14 sat on the council before the election and 4 are new to it.
Every member of Monaghan County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seamus Coyle | Fianna Fáil | Ballybay-Clones | Re-elected |
| Richard Truell | Fine Gael | Ballybay-Clones | Re-elected |
| Seán Gilliland | Fine Gael | Ballybay-Clones | Re-elected |
| Sinéad Flynn | Sinn Féin | Ballybay-Clones | New |
| Pat Treanor | Sinn Féin | Ballybay-Clones | Re-elected |
| P.j. O'Hanlon | Fianna Fáil | Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | Re-elected |
| Aidan Campbell | Fine Gael | Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | Re-elected |
| Colm Carthy | Sinn Féin | Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | Re-elected |
| Noel Keelan | Sinn Féin | Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | Re-elected |
| Peter Conlon | Fine Gael | Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | Re-elected |
| Paul Gibbons | Sinn Féin | Carrickmacross-Castleblayney | New |
| Cathy Bennett | Sinn Féin | Monaghan | Re-elected |
| Raymond Aughey | Fianna Fáil | Monaghan | Re-elected |
| Seamus Treanor | Independent | Monaghan | Re-elected |
| Pauric Clerkin | Fine Gael | Monaghan | New |
| David Maxwell | Fine Gael | Monaghan | Re-elected |
| Seán Conlon | Sinn Féin | Monaghan | Re-elected |
| Bronagh McAree | Sinn Féin | Monaghan | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Monaghan, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,229. Elected candidates are in bold.
Each party’s share of first preferences in Monaghan
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
Turnout was 51.9%, 9,973 of 19,207 registered voters: the 75th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 9,830 valid votes and 7 seats the quota was 1,229; the count ran to 7 rounds. Cathy Bennett (Sinn Féin) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 6. David Maxwell (Fine Gael) took the last seat with 1,163 votes at the final count, 227 more than Brian 'Beano' Clerkin (Fianna Fáil), on 936.
Every candidate, count by count (7 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pauric Clerkin | Fine Gael | 1,007 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,218 |
| Bronagh McAree | Sinn Féin | 774 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,195 |
| David Maxwell | Fine Gael | 950 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,163 |
| Seán Conlon | Sinn Féin | 861 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 1,250 |
| Seamus Treanor | Independent | 1,078 | Elected at count 4, on the quota | 1,251 |
| Raymond Aughey | Fianna Fáil | 1,123 | Elected at count 4, on the quota | 1,229 |
| Cathy Bennett | Sinn Féin | 1,232 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,232 |
| Deividas Pauliukonis | Green Party | 94 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Denis O'Higgins | Independent | 65 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Paddy Grenham | Independent | 60 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Jimmy 'Stavrous' Mee | Independent | 13 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Colin Walker | Independent | 178 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Eamon Treanor | Fianna Fáil | 436 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Niamh McCooey | Sinn Féin | 636 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Paudge Connolly | Independent | 624 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Brian 'Beano' Clerkin | Fianna Fáil | 699 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 936 |
How Monaghan voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Monaghan 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.
36 candidates stood for 18 seats on Monaghan County Council in June 2024, 2 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 54.1%, the 11th-highest of 31 councils. Sinn Féin elected 8 of its 10 candidates. 8 of the 36 candidates were women (22%; 31% across the country), and 7 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.
Monaghan is in Cavan-Monaghan
5 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Fianna Fáil
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil · Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment
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 Cavan-Monaghan, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Cavan-Monaghan
69,904 of 109,152 registered voters turned out, 64%: the 6th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 11,542: 69,246 valid votes for 5 seats, counted over 14 rounds. Nobody reached the quota on first preferences, so every seat was filled on transfers. David Maxwell (Fine Gael) was 6th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Pauline Tully (Sinn Féin), 4th on first preferences. The last seat went to Brendan Smith (Fianna Fáil) with 10,886 votes at the final count, 819 ahead of Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú), who had 10,067.
Every candidate, count by count (14 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niamh Smyth | Fianna Fáil | 5,789 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 11,058 |
| Brendan Smith | Fianna Fáil | 6,653 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 10,886 |
| Cathy Bennett | Sinn Féin | 6,904 | Elected at count 13, on the quota | 11,542 |
| Matt Carthy | Sinn Féin | 9,363 | Elected at count 12, on the quota | 11,542 |
| David Maxwell | Fine Gael | 6,199 | Elected at count 10, on the quota | 11,542 |
| Mark Moore | The National Party | 177 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Joseph Duffy | Independent | 122 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Feargal Joseph Deery | Independent | 79 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Jimmy Stavrous Mee | Independent | 27 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Shane Mulligan | Liberty Republic | 507 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Eddie O'Gara | Green Party | 739 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Lester James Gordon | Independent | 921 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Val Martin | Irish Freedom Party | 1,258 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Emma Hendrick | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 967 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Shane P. O'Reilly | Independent Ireland | 3,078 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Carmel Brady | Fine Gael | 4,259 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| T.p. O'Reilly | Fine Gael | 4,328 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Robbie Gallagher | Fianna Fáil | 6,273 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Pauline Tully | Sinn Féin | 6,455 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| Sarah O'Reilly | Aontú | 5,148 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 10,067 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
€1,490 per resident: Monaghan 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 11th-highest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 4% on 2025, when it was €93.8M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 18% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2594, the 11th-highest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 14%.
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 | €15M | €229 | €13.1M | 14% |
| Roads and transport | €30.5M | €468 | €28M | 9% |
| Water services | €7.5M | €114 | €10.1M | -26% |
| Planning and development | €16.5M | €253 | €14.8M | 11% |
| Environment and fire | €11M | €168 | €10.8M | 1% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €8.5M | €130 | €8.5M | 0% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €552K | €8 | €558K | -1% |
| Other services | €8.1M | €125 | €7.9M | 3% |
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).
Monaghan County Council has 18 councillors, one for every 3,630 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Monaghan County Council has 18 councillors for 65,288 residents: about 3,630 each, the 4th-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 Monaghan 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.
monaghan.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
monaghan.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 Monaghan is run
Which council runs Monaghan?
The one council for Monaghan is Monaghan County Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Monaghan have?
The Monaghan local electoral area elects 7 councillors: Cathy Bennett (Sinn Féin), Raymond Aughey (Fianna Fáil), Seamus Treanor (Independent), Pauric Clerkin (Fine Gael), David Maxwell (Fine Gael), Seán Conlon (Sinn Féin), Bronagh McAree (Sinn Féin).
Which party has the most seats on Monaghan County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Sinn Féin 8 · Fine Gael 6 · Fianna Fáil 3 · Independent 1 of 18 seats; a majority needs 10.
Who are Monaghan’s TDs?
Cavan-Monaghan elects 5 TDs: Brendan Smith (Fianna Fáil), Cathy Bennett (Sinn Féin), David Maxwell (Fine Gael), Matt Carthy (Sinn Féin) and Niamh Smyth (Fianna Fáil).
What was the turnout in Monaghan?
In Monaghan, 51.9% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Cavan-Monaghan, 64% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Monaghan?
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 Monaghan County spend?
Monaghan County Council plans to spend €97.6M on day-to-day services in 2026, the most of it on roads and transport.
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).