# 1981 Strabane District Council election

Elections to Strabane District Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 15 councillors.

## Election results

Strabane District Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Ind. Nationalist | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26.7 | 26.1 | 4,459 | 11.2 |
| DUP | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 26.7 | 25.1 | 4,287 | 11.5 |
| SDLP | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 26.7 | 22.8 | 3,889 | 7.7 |
| UUP | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 20.0 | 20.7 | 3,545 | 8.8 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 326 | 3.0 |
| Anti H-Block | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 296 | New |
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 288 | 1.3 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Strabane District Council election, 1981 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | DUP | DUP | SDLP | SDLP | UUP | UUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 35.4 | 2 | 17.2 | 1 | 25.2 | 1 | 22.2 | 1 | 5 |
| Area B | 30.9 | 2 | 24.3 | 1 | 27.3 | 1 | 17.5 | 1 | 5 |
| Area C | 7.0 | 0 | 27.3 | 2 | 8.5 | 1 | 57.2 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 25.1 | 4 | 22.8 | 4 | 20.7 | 3 | 31.4 | 4 | 15 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Strabane Area A - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Denis McCrory* | 22.11% | 1,320 | | | |
| | DUP | Thomas Kerrigan | 20.46% | 1,221 | | | |
| | SDLP | Mary McCrea | 17.24% | 1,029 | | | |
| | DUP | Robert Anderson | 9.72% | 580 | 581 | 602.6 | 1,070.22 |
| | UUP | Edward Turner* | 13.94% | 832 | 882 | 892.26 | 908.42 |
| | UUP | Ernest Young* | 11.26% | 672 | 738 | 747.36 | 754.62 |
| | DUP | David Baird | 5.28% | 315 | 321 | 497.22 | |
| Electorate: 7,833 Valid: 5,969 (76.20%) Spoilt: 193 Quota: 995 Turnout: 6,162 (78.67%) ||||||||

### Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP
Strabane Area B - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 |
| | SDLP | John Gallagher* | 18.92% | 1,101 | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Francis McConnell* | 17.44% | 1,015 | |
| | UUP | Mary Britton* | 16.91% | 984 | |
| | DUP | Samuel Rogers* | 16.72% | 973 | |
| | DUP | George McIntyre* | 14.21% | 827 | 832 |
| | UUP | Henry Henderson* | 10.43% | 607 | 624 |
| | SDLP | Mary McAleer | 5.38% | 313 | |
| Electorate: 7,050 Valid: 5,820 (82.55%) Spoilt: 177 Quota: 971 Turnout: 5,997 (85.06%) ||||||

### Area C

1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x UUP 1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist gain from SDLP
Strabane Area C - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| | Ind. Nationalist | James O'Kane | 27.52% | 1,459 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | John O'Kane* | 7.89% | 418 | 818.98 | 826.8 | 836.62 | 857.54 | 890.18 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Paul O'Hare | 11.32% | 600 | 659.45 | 666.27 | 670.27 | 682.91 | 688.32 | 836.83 | 902.83 | | | |
| | SDLP | William Flanagan | 10.90% | 578 | 599.73 | 601.14 | 605.14 | 610.55 | 619.78 | 727.29 | 790.16 | 807.96 | 886.96 | |
| | UUP | Robert Fleming* | 8.49% | 450 | 450.82 | 451.82 | 467.23 | 472.23 | 473.23 | 473.23 | 475.64 | 475.94 | 555.35 | 562.35 |
| | DUP | Desmond Monteith | 7.00% | 371 | 371.41 | 371.41 | 377.41 | 385.41 | 394.41 | 394.41 | 394.41 | 394.41 | 397.41 | 399.41 |
| | Anti H-Block | William Gallagher | 5.58% | 296 | 305.84 | 313.84 | 313.84 | 315.84 | 331.25 | 333.25 | 382.89 | 385.49 | 385.49 | |
| | Alliance | Patrick Wallace | 5.43% | 288 | 304.4 | 308.81 | 319.22 | 339.86 | 343.86 | 349.09 | 370.14 | 374.04 | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | John McCrory | 4.66% | 247 | 264.63 | 272.04 | 276.04 | 289.09 | 303.91 | 312.32 | | | | |
| | SDLP | Jane O'Donnell | 5.06% | 268 | 280.3 | 280.71 | 281.71 | 288.94 | 294.94 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Michael Dunne | 2.17% | 115 | 119.92 | 123.92 | 131.92 | 131.92 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | David Fleming | 1.81% | 96 | 108.71 | 109.71 | 110.71 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | William Crichton | 1.36% | 72 | 73.64 | 73.64 | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | John Tracey | 0.81% | 43 | 46.28 | | | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 7,630 Valid: 5,301 (69.48%) Spoilt: 146 Quota: 884 Turnout: 5,447 (71.39%) |||||||||||||||