# 1997 Fermanagh District Council election

Elections to Fermanagh District Council were held on 21 May 1997 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used four district electoral areas to elect a total of 23 councillors.

## Election results

Fermanagh District Council Election Result 1997 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| UUP | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 39.1 | 40.4 | 11,642 | 0.9 |
| Sinn Féin | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 21.7 | 23.5 | 6,770 | 6.4 |
| SDLP | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 21.7 | 17.3 | 4,976 | 2.0 |
| Ind. Nationalist | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 7.5 | 2,159 | 1.9 |
| DUP | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.7 | 7.4 | 2,123 | 2.1 |
| Independent Socialist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 581 | 1.3 |
| NI Women's Coalition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 319 | New |
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 254 | 0.9 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Fermanagh District Council election, 1997 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | UUP | UUP | Sinn Féin | Sinn Féin | SDLP | SDLP | DUP | DUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Enniskillen | 47.2 | 3 | 16.8 | 1 | 15.3 | 1 | 9.5 | 1 | 11.2 | 1 | 7 |
| Erne East | 36.3 | 2 | 32.8 | 2 | 15.3 | 1 | 4.5 | 0 | 11.1 | 1 | 6 |
| Erne North | 45.6 | 2 | 12.0 | 1 | 24.1 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 1.6 | 0 | 5 |
| Erne West | 32.9 | 2 | 30.2 | 1 | 15.8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 21.1 | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 40.4 | 9 | 23.5 | 5 | 17.3 | 4 | 7.4 | 2 | 11.4 | 3 | 23 |

## District results
### Enniskillen

1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Socialist 1997: 3 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Independent Socialist 1993-1997 Change: No change
Enniskillen - 7 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 |
| | UUP | Samuel Foster* | 26.31% | 2,055 | | | | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Gerry McHugh* | 16.81% | 1,313 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Raymond Ferguson* | 9.84% | 769 | 1,325.4 | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Basil Johnston | 8.77% | 685 | 866.48 | 982.64 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Eamon Flanagan* | 11.87% | 927 | 928.56 | 930.16 | 1,030.48 | | | | |
| | Independent Socialist | Davy Kettyles* | 7.44% | 581 | 588.8 | 594.24 | 672.78 | 679.81 | 732.88 | 811.38 | 1,002.38 |
| | DUP | Joseph Dodds* | 7.44% | 581 | 664.72 | 700.24 | 700.24 | 700.24 | 702.24 | 829.64 | 833.53 |
| | UUP | Ethel Gregg | 2.24% | 175 | 379.88 | 546.92 | 546.92 | 547.11 | 596.71 | 643.79 | 660.02 |
| | SDLP | John Rooney | 3.42% | 267 | 267.52 | 267.84 | 381.69 | 420.64 | 438.34 | 514.05 | |
| | NI Women's Coalition | Margaret McCaffrey | 1.83% | 143 | 144.04 | 144.36 | 180 | 183.99 | 215.99 | | |
| | DUP | Robert Irvine | 2.05% | 160 | 175.6 | 186.48 | 186.48 | 186.48 | 187.48 | | |
| | Alliance | John Haslett | 2.00% | 156 | 164.32 | 166.88 | 170.18 | 170.94 | | | |
| Electorate: 12,960 Valid: 7,812 (60.28%) Spoilt: 117 Quota: 977 Turnout: 7,929 (61.18%) ||||||||||||

### Erne East

1993: 3 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1997: 2 x UUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from UUP
Erne East - 6 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | UUP | Harold Andrews | 14.04% | 1,149 | 1,150 | 1,281 | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Brian McCaffrey | 11.22% | 918 | 944 | 946 | 1,385 | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Ruth Lynch | 13.11% | 1,073 | 1,078 | 1,078 | 1,246 | | | |
| | SDLP | Fergus McQuillan* | 10.96% | 897 | 1,149 | 1,150 | 1,193 | | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Tony McPhillips* | 11.11% | 909 | 961 | 963 | 1,000 | 1,137 | 1,137 | 1,194 |
| | UUP | Cecil Noble* | 11.39% | 932 | 932 | 1,071 | 1,071 | 1,071 | 1,104.3 | 1,104.3 |
| | UUP | Jean McVitty* | 10.83% | 886 | 888 | 962 | 963 | 964 | 1,042.3 | 1,043.3 |
| | Sinn Féin | Hugh O'Reilly | 8.48% | 694 | 699 | 699 | | | | |
| | DUP | Paul Robinson | 4.51% | 369 | 371 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Marie O'Neill | 4.34% | 355 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,446 Valid: 8,182 (78.33%) Spoilt: 141 Quota: 1,169 Turnout: 8,323 (79.68%) |||||||||||

### Erne North

1993: 2 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x DUP 1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP, 1 x Sinn Féin 1993-1997 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP
Erne North - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| | UUP | Caldwell McClaughry* | 16.46% | 998 | 1,028 | | |
| | SDLP | Tommy Gallagher* | 15.39% | 933 | 958 | 1,400 | |
| | DUP | Bert Johnston* | 15.69% | 951 | 1,001 | 1,001 | 1,002 |
| | Sinn Féin | Geraldine Cassidy | 12.04% | 730 | 731 | 783 | 966 |
| | UUP | Bertie Kerr* | 15.12% | 917 | 937 | 939 | 959 |
| | UUP | Tom Elliott | 13.99% | 848 | 863 | 866 | 868 |
| | SDLP | John Dolan | 8.68% | 526 | 537 | | |
| | Alliance | Neville McElderry | 1.62% | 98 | | | |
| | DUP | Jean Jackson | 1.02% | 62 | | | |
| Electorate: 8,516 Valid: 6,063 (71.20%) Spoilt: 98 Quota: 1,011 Turnout: 6,161 (72.35%) ||||||||

### Erne West

1993: 2 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1997: 2 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist 1993-1997 Change: No change
Erne West - 5 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | UUP | Wilson Elliott* | 23.88% | 1,616 | | | | |
| | Ind. Nationalist | Patrick McCaffrey* | 18.47% | 1,250 | | | | |
| | Sinn Féin | Robin Martin* | 17.42% | 1,179 | | | | |
| | SDLP | Gerry Gallagher* | 15.83% | 1,071 | 1,077.6 | 1,183.6 | | |
| | UUP | Derrick Nixon* | 9.04% | 612 | 1,078.8 | 1,088.2 | 1,100.6 | 1,113.6 |
| | Sinn Féin | Stephen Huggett | 12.75% | 863 | 863.9 | 892.2 | 996.8 | 1,025.8 |
| | NI Women's Coalition | Imelda Maguire | 2.60% | 176 | 180.2 | | | |
| Electorate: 8,872 Valid: 6,767 (76.27%) Spoilt: 149 Quota: 1,128 Turnout: 6,916 (77.95%) |||||||||