# 1981 Moyle District Council election

Elections to Moyle 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 16 councillors.

## Election results

Moyle District Council Election Result 1981 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| SDLP | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 31.3 | 28.4 | 1,882 | 5.8 |
| UUP | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25.0 | 13.5 | 895 | 4.1 |
| Independent | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18.8 | 18.4 | 1,222 | 19.6 |
| DUP | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 12.5 | 15.1 | 1,005 | 7.4 |
| Ind. Unionist | 2 | 0 | 0 | | 12.5 | 10.3 | 681 | 0.4 |
| Irish Independence | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 7.3 | 487 | New |
| Alliance | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 7.0 | 465 | 4.1 |
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary

Results of the Moyle District Council election, 1981 by district :
| Ward | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | % | Cllrs | Total Cllrs |
| Ward | SDLP | SDLP | UUP | UUP | DUP | DUP | Others | Others | | Total Cllrs |
| Area A | 56.0 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 44.0 | 1 | 4 |
| Area B | 0.0 | 0 | 25.9 | 3 | 30.4 | 2 | 43.7 | 3 | 8 |
| Area C | 42.2 | 2 | 9.4 | 1 | 8.0 | 0 | 40.4 | 1 | 4 |
| Total | 28.4 | 5 | 13.5 | 4 | 15.1 | 2 | 43.0 | 5 | 16 |

## Districts results
### Area A

1977: 3 x Independent, 1 x SDLP 1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Independent 1977-1981 Change: SDLP (two seats) gain from Independent (two seats)
Moyle Area A - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SDLP | Malachy McSparran | 22.12% | 477 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Fergus Wheeler* | 21.38% | 461 | | | | | |
| | SDLP | Archie McIntosh* | 11.50% | 248 | 264.8 | 275.24 | 282.24 | 298.2 | 434.3 |
| | SDLP | Gerard Gillan | 12.15% | 262 | 266.6 | 266.84 | 278.84 | 380.8 | 408.34 |
| | Irish Independence | John McKay | 11.18% | 241 | 249.1 | 255.58 | 277.8 | 303.64 | 353.7 |
| | SDLP | Charles Hamill | 10.20% | 220 | 229.5 | 234.06 | 238.06 | 241.18 | |
| | Independent | Thomas O'Neill | 4.45% | 96 | 99.6 | 102.06 | 115.12 | | |
| | Independent | Gerard McCarry | 3.85% | 83 | 84.2 | 84.92 | 92.08 | | |
| | Irish Independence | Anna Edwards | 3.15% | 68 | 68.2 | 68.44 | | | |
| Electorate: 2,776 Valid: 2,156 (77.67%) Spoilt: 46 Quota: 432 Turnout: 2,202 (79.32%) ||||||||||

### Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 2 x Independent 1981: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x Independent 1977-1981 Change: UUP gain from Independent
Moyle Area B - 8 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| | DUP | James Rodgers | 15.44% | 445 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Independent | James McShane* | 11.97% | 345 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Price McConaghy* | 13.22% | 381 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Mary Morrison* | 10.41% | 300 | 310.08 | 326.4 | | | | | | | |
| | UUP | Robert Getty | 10.37% | 299 | 299.84 | 313.1 | 313.1 | 316.44 | 325.44 | | | | |
| | DUP | Ronnie McIlvar | 8.43% | 243 | 257.28 | 258.98 | 258.98 | 297.4 | 298.13 | 298.49 | 298.49 | 397.49 | |
| | UUP | Hugh Acheson | 8.78% | 253 | 254.12 | 261.6 | 263.6 | 267.77 | 271.45 | 273.25 | 275.14 | 291 | 305 |
| | UUP | James McAuley | 6.70% | 193 | 206.72 | 217.6 | 217.6 | 218.16 | 236.5 | 238.3 | 239.56 | 274.69 | 287.69 |
| | Alliance | Maurice McHenry | 4.93% | 142 | 142.56 | 143.75 | 164.35 | 164.35 | 222.72 | 222.81 | 223.44 | 226.09 | 227.09 |
| | DUP | Andrew Dobbin | 4.61% | 133 | 200.48 | 203.88 | 203.88 | 219.58 | 221.58 | 222.75 | 223.38 | | |
| | Alliance | John Shanks | 3.19% | 92 | 94.52 | 97.58 | 98.68 | 99.68 | | | | | |
| | DUP | Samuel Simpson | 1.94% | 56 | 68.6 | 70.47 | 70.67 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 4,438 Valid: 2,882 (64.94%) Spoilt: 73 Quota: 321 Turnout: 2,955 (66.58%) ||||||||||||||

### Area C

1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1981: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent 1977-1981 Change: No change
Moyle Area C - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SDLP | Richard Kerr | 18.51% | 296 | 304 | 304 | 385 | | |
| | SDLP | Michael O'Cleary | 13.88% | 222 | 229 | 229 | 272 | 324 | |
| | UUP | Elizabeth Johnston* | 9.38% | 150 | 156 | 246 | 249 | 249.8 | 354.8 |
| | Independent | Archibald McAuley* | 14.82% | 237 | 251 | 255 | 280 | 288.8 | 332.8 |
| | Irish Independence | Eamonn Scally | 11.13% | 178 | 184 | 184 | 196 | 198.4 | 198.4 |
| | Alliance | Hugh Sayers | 8.69% | 139 | 160 | 181 | 185 | 185.8 | |
| | SDLP | Joseph Donaghy | 9.82% | 157 | 170 | 170 | | | |
| | DUP | Norman Campbell | 8.01% | 128 | 132 | | | | |
| | Alliance | Thomas Cecil | 5.75% | 92 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 2,393 Valid: 1,599 (66.82%) Spoilt: 48 Quota: 320 Turnout: 1,647 (68.83%) ||||||||||