# 2019 Wicklow County Council election

An election to all 32 seats on Wicklow County Council took place on 24 May 2019 as part of the 2019 Irish local elections. County Wicklow was divided into 6 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

## Boundary review

Following the recommendations of the 2018 Local Area Boundary Committee Report, the Bray LEA from the 2014 Wicklow County Council election was divided in two, as its 8 seats exceeded the terms of reference of the report of a maximum of seven seats per LEA. All other LEAs retained the same boundaries. The boundary committee recommended that Bray be designated a borough district. This was implemented in the initial statutory instrument, but reversed as being contrary to the terms of the Local Government Act 2001.

## Results by party

Fine Gael increased their seat numbers by 1 to emerge with 9 seats while Fianna Fáil retained 7 seats overall. Fianna Fáil again won 3 seats in Arklow but did secure 2 seats in Baltinglass. However they emerged seatless in both LEAs in Bray. Sinn Féin lost 4 seats to emerge 2 seats overall both in Bray, the base of the TD John Brady. Several party councillors had quit since 2014 and Gerry O'Neill and John Snell were both re-elected as Independents. The Greens gained an additional seat to return with 2 seats. Labour returned to the council with 2 seats in Bray and Wicklow while Jennifer Whitmore won a seat for the Social Democrats in Greystones. While there were a lot of changes Independent numbers reduced by just 1 seat to 9.
| Party | Party | Seats | ± | 1st pref | FPv% | ± |
| | Fine Gael | 9 | 1 | 14,149 | 26.18 | 6.28 |
| | Fianna Fáil | 7 | 0 | 11,924 | 22.06 | 2.16 |
| | Sinn Féin | 2 | 4 | 4,224 | 7.81 | 8.89 |
| | Green | 2 | 1 | 2,698 | 4.99 | 2.59 |
| | Labour | 2 | 2 | 2,504 | 4.63 | 1.53 |
| | Social Democrats | 1 | 1 | 2,861 | 5.29 | New |
| | People Before Profit | 0 | 0 | 811 | 1.50 | 0.55 |
| | Aontú | 0 | 0 | 605 | 1.12 | New |
| | Independent | 9 | 1 | 14,277 | 26.41 | 9.29 |
| Total | Total | 32 | 0 | 54,054 | 100.00 | |

## Retiring incumbents

The following members of Wicklow County Council announced in advance of the poll that they would not be seeking re-election:
| LEA | Departing councillor | Party |
| Baltinglass | Tommy Cullen | Independent |
| Baltinglass | Pat Doran | Fianna Fáil |
| Bray | Christopher Fox | Independent |
| Greystones | Gráinne McLoughlin | Fine Gael |
| Wicklow | Dáire Nolan | Independent |
| Baltinglass | Jim Ruttle | Independent |
| Bray | John Ryan | Fine Gael |
| Bray | Pat Vance | Fianna Fáil |

## Results by local electoral area

^ *: Outgoing councillor elected in 2014. ^ †: Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2014 election.

### Arklow

Arklow - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Pat Kennedy | 24.29% | 2,471 | | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Pat Fitzgerald | 18.23% | 1,854 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Miriam Murphy | 9.26% | 942 | 1,106 | 1,158 | 1,194 | 1,273 | 1,387 | 1,525 |
| | Independent | Peir Leonard | 10.16% | 1,033 | 1,068 | 1,106 | 1,178 | 1,257 | 1,370 | 1,466 |
| | Fine Gael | Sylvester Bourke | 8.77% | 892 | 1,054 | 1,089 | 1,107 | 1,121 | 1,136 | 1,425 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Tommy Annesley | 7.57% | 770 | 1,041 | 1,207 | 1,245 | 1,285 | 1,339 | 1,413 |
| | Independent | Tommy Breen | 6.33% | 644 | 703 | 754 | 792 | 840 | 950 | 1,012 |
| | Fine Gael | Chantel Kanowga | 5.60% | 570 | 803 | 813 | 827 | 843 | 885 | |
| | Sinn Féin | John Kelly | 4.65% | 473 | 527 | 541 | 560 | 581 | | |
| | Independent | Mary McDonald | 2.67% | 272 | 295 | 313 | 331 | | | |
| | Independent | Pat Hoey | 2.47% | 251 | 267 | 283 | | | | |
| Electorate: 17,703 Valid: 10,172 Quota: 1,454 Turnout: 57.5% |||||||||||

### Baltinglass

Baltinglass - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Fine Gael | Edward Timmins | 17.62% | 1,875 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Gerry O'Neill | 17.12% | 1,822 | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Patsy Glennon | 14.14% | 1,505 | 1,579 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Vincent Blake | 13.91% | 1,481 | 1,526 | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Avril Cronin | 11.01% | 1,172 | 1,346 | 1,447 | 1,495 | 1,529 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | John Mullen | 10.20% | 1,086 | 1,109 | 1,138 | 1,179 | 1,188 | 1,315 |
| | Sinn Féin | Aidan Kinsella | 7.30% | 777 | 786 | 827 | 870 | 871 | 1,115 |
| | Social Democrats | Dave McGinn | 6.33% | 674 | 690 | 780 | 850 | 854 | |
| | Independent | Lorraine O'Brien | 2.37% | 252 | 265 | 305 | | | |
| Electorate: 19,530 Valid: 10,644 Quota: 1,521 Turnout: 54.5% ||||||||||

### Bray East

Bray East - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| | Green | Steven Matthews | 24.98% | 1,579 | | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Grace McManus | 15.42% | 975 | 1,010 | 1,129 | 1,185 | 1,233 | 1,251 | 1,475 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Aoife Flynn-Kennedy | 8.54% | 540 | 585 | 598 | 638 | 652 | 931 | 961 | 968 | 1,093 |
| | Labour | Anne Ferris | 8.53% | 539 | 606 | 615 | 680 | 727 | 785 | 859 | 892 | 1,007 |
| | Independent | Malachai Duddy | 8.18% | 517 | 553 | 572 | 598 | 706 | 757 | 833 | 878 | 1,006 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Chris Walsh | 7.04% | 445 | 469 | 488 | 520 | 553 | 610 | 629 | 646 | |
| | People Before Profit | Sharon Briggs | 6.22% | 393 | 413 | 468 | 502 | 538 | 554 | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Edward Whelan | 6.85% | 433 | 456 | 459 | 476 | 518 | | | | |
| | Aontú | Brendan Thornhill | 5.36% | 339 | 355 | 379 | 402 | | | | | |
| | Social Democrats | Eamonn Moran | 4.22% | 267 | 307 | 328 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Barry Murphy | 4.67% | 295 | 303 | | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,636 Valid: 6,322 Quota: 1,265 Turnout: 54.3% |||||||||||||

### Bray West

Bray West - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Independent | Joe Behan | 28.87% | 1,880 | | | | | | |
| | Fine Gael | Melanie Corrigan | 22.16% | 1,443 | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Dermot "Daisy" O'Brien | 13.99% | 911 | 1,012 | 1,018 | 1,101 | 1,197 | 1,240 | 1,265 |
| | Independent | Rory O'Connor | 8.77% | 571 | 673 | 696 | 742 | 843 | 984 | 1,175 |
| | Labour | Ian McGahon | 7.86% | 512 | 593 | 607 | 661 | 694 | 793 | 926 |
| | Fine Gael | David Miller | 5.18% | 337 | 406 | 481 | 488 | 503 | 570 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Sárán Fogarty | 5.37% | 350 | 439 | 453 | 461 | 488 | | |
| | Aontú | Oliver O'Brien | 4.08% | 266 | 357 | 360 | 385 | | | |
| | People Before Profit | June Maher | 3.72% | 242 | 286 | 291 | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,548 Valid: 6,512 Quota: 1,303 Turnout: 51.9% |||||||||||

### Greystones

Greystones - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| | Social Democrats | Jennifer Whitmore | 19.58% | 1,920 | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Tom Fortune | 14.23% | 1,396 | 1,453 | | | | | | |
| | Green | Lourda Scott | 11.42% | 1,120 | 1,244 | 1,253 | 1,312 | 1,337 | 1,371 | 1,613 | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Gerry Walsh | 10.54% | 1,034 | 1,068 | 1,070 | 1,073 | 1,100 | 1,248 | 1,334 | 1,348 |
| | Independent | Mags Crean | 8.19% | 803 | 902 | 915 | 955 | 982 | 991 | 1,226 | 1,308 |
| | Fine Gael | Derek Mitchell | 11.05% | 1,084 | 1,133 | 1,139 | 1,146 | 1,152 | 1,180 | 1,256 | 1,274 |
| | Fine Gael | Alice O'Donnell | 10.22% | 1,002 | 1,084 | 1,088 | 1,093 | 1,095 | 1,119 | 1,177 | 1,200 |
| | Sinn Féin | Nicola Lawless | 4.35% | 427 | 442 | 444 | 459 | 476 | 493 | | |
| | Labour | Anna Waithira Burke | 3.78% | 371 | 397 | 401 | 423 | 442 | 465 | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Elaine Wills | 2.90% | 284 | 303 | 309 | 311 | 317 | | | |
| | Independent | Charlie Keddy | 1.94% | 190 | 192 | 194 | 203 | | | | |
| | People Before Profit | Pyper Ludlow | 1.79% | 176 | 187 | 189 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 18,414 Valid: 9,807 Quota: 1,402 Turnout: 53.3% ||||||||||||

### Wicklow

Wicklow - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Fine Gael | Shay Cullen | 21.58% | 2,287 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | John Snell | 18.65% | 1,976 | | | | | | |
| | Fianna Fáil | Gail Dunne | 12.36% | 1,310 | 1,388 | 1,462 | 1,477 | 1,571 | | |
| | Fine Gael | Irene Winters | 9.75% | 1,033 | 1,354 | 1,388 | 1,406 | 1,491 | 1,502 | 1,532 |
| | Labour | Paul O'Brien | 10.21% | 1,082 | 1,138 | 1,223 | 1,240 | 1,331 | 1,340 | 1,486 |
| | Independent | Mary Kavanagh | 7.36% | 780 | 811 | 897 | 973 | 1,069 | 1,081 | 1,241 |
| | Fianna Fáil | Anne Gregory | 7.69% | 815 | 944 | 968 | 980 | 1,031 | 1,053 | 1,217 |
| | Sinn Féin | Muireann Dalton | 6.24% | 661 | 688 | 733 | 739 | 790 | 793 | |
| | Independent | Jimmy O'Shaughnessy | 4.34% | 460 | 576 | 671 | 690 | | | |
| | Independent | Dáire Fitzgerald | 1.82% | 193 | 208 | 227 | | | | |
| Electorate: 20,545 Valid: 10,597 Quota: 1,514 Turnout: 51.6% |||||||||||

### Footnotes

* 1 2 3 See change below.

## Results by gender

2019 Wicklow County Council election Candidates by gender :
| Gender | Number of candidates | % of candidates | Elected councillors | % of councillors |
| Men | 37 | 59.7% | 20 | 62.5% |
| Women | 25 | 40.3% | 12 | 37.5% |
| TOTAL | 62 | | 32 | |

## Changes after the 2019 election
### Co-options

| Party | Outgoing | LEA | Reason | Date | Co-optee |
| Green | Steven Matthews | Bray East | Elected to the 33rd Dáil for the Wicklow constituency at the 2020 general election | 25 February 2020 | Erika Doyle |
| Social Democrats | Jennifer Whitmore | Greystones | Elected to 33rd Dáil for the Wicklow constituency at the 2020 general election | 25 February 2020 | Jodie Neary |
| Independent | Mags Crean | Greystones | Resignation in May 2022 | 14 June 2022 | Stephen Stokes |
| Social Democrats | Jodie Neary | Greystones | Resignation in November 2022 | December 2022 | Mark Barry |
| Sinn Féin | Grace McManus | Bray East | Resignation in October 2023 | January 2024 | Mick Ryan |