Photo: Eric Jones · CC BY-SA 2.0The last seat in Offaly was won by 116 votes
Cloghan is run by Offaly County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government. The Birr local electoral area elected 6 councillors in June 2024: Fianna Fáil 2, Fine Gael 2, Independent 1 and Sinn Féin 1. No party holds a majority on Offaly County; Fianna Fáil has the most seats, 8 of 19, short of the 10 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Offaly has 3 members: Independent 1, Fine Gael 1 and Fianna Fáil 1.
Cloghan’s council and votes, in 4 figures
A close last seat in the Dáil count
At the final count in Offaly, John Clendennen (Fine Gael) had 8,617 votes and Aoife Masterson (Sinn Féin) 8,501: the last seat went by 116, the 2nd-closest of 40. Dáil Éireann ↓
No majority on Offaly County
Fianna Fáil won the most seats on Offaly County Council in June 2024, 8 of 19, 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 lean budget for its size
Offaly County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,222 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
A crowded ballot
15 candidates stood for 6 seats in Birr in June 2024, the 51st-most contested ballot of 166 by candidates per seat. Local elections ↓
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 Offaly County Council
Seats on Offaly County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Fianna Fáil810 stood
- Fine Gael55 stood
- Sinn Féin35 stood
- Independent29 stood
- Independent Ireland11 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 8. 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
Cloghan 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.
offaly.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 Cloghan, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Birr local electoral areaBirr · 6 membersPeter OrmondJohn LeahyJohn ClendennenHugh EganSean MaherAudrey Hennessy-Kennedy
- 2Offaly County Council19 councillors from 3 local electoral areasFianna Fáil 8 · Fine Gael 5 · Sinn Féin 3 · Independent 2 · Independent Ireland 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannOffaly · 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 Birr
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Peter Ormond
- John Leahy
- John Clendennen
- Hugh Egan
- Sean Maher
- Audrey Hennessy-Kennedy
Also stood (9): Barbara Daly (Fianna Fáil), Clare Claffey (Social Democrats), Jonathan O'Meara (Independent), Mike Boylan (Independent), Martin Buckley (Independent), Michael Deegan (Independent), Aubrey Claffey (Aontú), Ekaterina Koneva (Green Party), Garrett Kelly (Independent).
Cloghan’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Ormond | Fianna Fáil | Birr | 1,943 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| John Leahy | Independent | Birr | 1,816 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | Re-elected |
| John Clendennen | Fine Gael | Birr | 1,562 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Hugh Egan | Fine Gael | Birr | 1,171 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | New |
| Sean Maher | Sinn Féin | Birr | 926 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
| Audrey Hennessy-Kennedy | Fianna Fáil | Birr | 829 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
3 of the 6 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 3 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Offaly County Council’s 3 local electoral areas
Every area of Offaly County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birr | 6 | 15 | 22,379 | 54.2% | 1,712 |
| Edenderry | 6 | 10 | 18,340 | 48.5% | 1,251 |
| Tullamore | 7 | 12 | 23,791 | 49.7% | 1,459 |
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 19 councillors on Offaly County Council, women hold 4
Everyone elected to Offaly 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 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 38.9% |
| Fine Gael | 5 | 0 | 4 | 20.5% |
| Sinn Féin | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9.8% |
| Independent | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18.5% |
| Independent Ireland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.1% |
4 of the 19 councillors are women, 21%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 11 sat on the council before the election and 8 are new to it.
Every member of Offaly County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Ormond | Fianna Fáil | Birr | Re-elected |
| John Leahy | Independent | Birr | Re-elected |
| John Clendennen | Fine Gael | Birr | Re-elected |
| Hugh Egan | Fine Gael | Birr | New |
| Sean Maher | Sinn Féin | Birr | New |
| Audrey Hennessy-Kennedy | Fianna Fáil | Birr | New |
| Eddie Fitzpatrick | Fianna Fáil | Edenderry | Re-elected |
| Fergus McDonnell | Independent Ireland | Edenderry | New |
| Claire. Murray . | Fianna Fáil | Edenderry | New |
| Liam Quinn | Fine Gael | Edenderry | Re-elected |
| Noel Cribbin | Fine Gael | Edenderry | Re-elected |
| Claire Murray | Sinn Féin | Edenderry | New |
| Neil Feighery | Fine Gael | Tullamore | Re-elected |
| Frank Moran | Fianna Fáil | Tullamore | Re-elected |
| Sean O'Brien | Independent | Tullamore | Re-elected |
| Tony McCormack | Fianna Fáil | Tullamore | Re-elected |
| Declan Harvey | Fianna Fáil | Tullamore | Re-elected |
| Aoife Masterson | Sinn Féin | Tullamore | New |
| Ollie Bryant | Fianna Fáil | Tullamore | New |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Birr, 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 Birr
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
12,139 of 22,379 registered voters turned out, 54.2%: the 52nd-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). The quota was 1,712: 11,980 valid votes for 6 seats, counted over 12 rounds. Peter Ormond (Fianna Fáil) and John Leahy (Independent) passed the quota on first preferences; transfers filled the other 4. Audrey Hennessy-Kennedy (Fianna Fáil) was 7th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Barbara Daly (Fianna Fáil), 6th on first preferences. Sean Maher (Sinn Féin) took the last seat with 1,282 votes at the final count, 26 more than Clare Claffey (Social Democrats), on 1,256.
Every candidate, count by count (12 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audrey Hennessy-Kennedy | Fianna Fáil | 829 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,573 |
| Sean Maher | Sinn Féin | 926 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,282 |
| Hugh Egan | Fine Gael | 1,171 | Elected at count 11, on the quota | 1,712 |
| John Clendennen | Fine Gael | 1,562 | Elected at count 6, on the quota | 1,712 |
| Peter Ormond | Fianna Fáil | 1,943 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,712 |
| John Leahy | Independent | 1,816 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 1,712 |
| Garrett Kelly | Independent | 71 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Aubrey Claffey | Aontú | 191 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Ekaterina Koneva | Green Party | 143 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Michael Deegan | Independent | 380 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Martin Buckley | Independent | 429 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Mike Boylan | Independent | 483 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Jonathan O'Meara | Independent | 554 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Barbara Daly | Fianna Fáil | 879 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Clare Claffey | Social Democrats | 603 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,256 |
How Cloghan voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Offaly 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.
37 candidates stood for 19 seats on Offaly County Council in June 2024, 1.9 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 50.9%, the 19th-highest of 31 councils. Fianna Fáil elected 8 of its 10 candidates. 9 of the 37 candidates were women (24%; 31% across the country), and 9 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.
Cloghan is in Offaly
3 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
Independent
oireachtas.ie ↗Fine Gael
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
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 Offaly, November 2024
First-preference share by party in Offaly
37,634 of 62,931 registered voters turned out, 59.8%: the 21st-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). With 37,385 valid votes and 3 seats the quota was 9,347; the count ran to 7 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. John Clendennen (Fine Gael) took the last seat with 8,617 votes at the final count, 116 more than Aoife Masterson (Sinn Féin), on 8,501.
Every candidate, count by count (7 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony McCormack | Fianna Fáil | 6,349 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 9,151 |
| John Clendennen | Fine Gael | 6,580 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 8,617 |
| Carol Nolan | Independent | 8,282 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | 9,347 |
| Maureen Ward | Aontú | 317 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Pippa Hackett | Green Party | 925 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Keisha Taylor | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 576 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Mike Boylan | Independent | 546 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Fergus McDonnell | Independent Ireland | 2,074 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Claire Murray | Fianna Fáil | 2,564 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Eddie Fitzpatrick | Independent | 2,961 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Aoife Masterson | Sinn Féin | 6,211 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 8,501 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Offaly County Council plans to spend €1,222 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 8th-lowest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 6% on 2025, when it was €96.6M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 25% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2308, the 8th-lowest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 12%.
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 | €27M | €324 | €25M | 8% |
| Roads and transport | €23.9M | €288 | €23.3M | 3% |
| Water services | €5M | €60 | €5.5M | -10% |
| Planning and development | €14.6M | €175 | €13.5M | 8% |
| Environment and fire | €13.5M | €162 | €12.8M | 6% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €7.3M | €87 | €6.9M | 6% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €596K | €7 | €651K | -8% |
| Other services | €10.3M | €124 | €9.1M | 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).
Offaly County Council has 19 councillors, one for every 4,380 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Offaly County Council has 19 councillors for 83,150 residents: about 4,380 each, the 10th-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 Cloghan 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.
offaly.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
offaly.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 Cloghan is run
Which council runs Cloghan?
The one council for Cloghan is Offaly County Council: Ireland has a single tier of local government.
How many councillors does Cloghan have?
The Birr local electoral area elects 6 councillors: Peter Ormond (Fianna Fáil), John Leahy (Independent), John Clendennen (Fine Gael), Hugh Egan (Fine Gael), Sean Maher (Sinn Féin), Audrey Hennessy-Kennedy (Fianna Fáil).
Which party has the most seats on Offaly County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Fianna Fáil 8 · Fine Gael 5 · Sinn Féin 3 · Independent 2 · Independent Ireland 1 of 19 seats; a majority needs 10.
Who are Cloghan’s TDs?
Offaly elects 3 TDs: Carol Nolan (Independent), John Clendennen (Fine Gael) and Tony McCormack (Fianna Fáil).
What was the turnout in Cloghan?
In Birr, 54.2% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Offaly, 59.8% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Cloghan?
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 Offaly County spend?
Offaly County Council plans to spend €102.1M 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).