The 2014 Irish local elections were held in all local government areas of the Republic of Ireland on Friday, 23 May 2014, on the same day as the European Parliament election and two by-elections (

Dublin West Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cens ...

and Longford–Westmeath). The poll in the Ballybay–Clones LEA on

Monaghan County Council Monaghan County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Mhuineacháin) is the authority responsible for local government in County Monaghan, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for h ...

was deferred due to the death of a candidate.

Overview

These elections took place after the coming into force of the

Local Government Reform Act 2014 The Local Government Reform Act 2014 (No. 1) is an act of the Oireachtas which provided for a major restructuring of local government in Ireland with effect from the 2014 local elections. It merged some first-tier county and city councils, a ...

, under which city and county councils were contested under substantially redrawn

local electoral area A local electoral area (LEA; ga, Toghlimistéir Áitiúil) is an electoral area for elections to local authorities in Ireland. All elections use the single transferable vote. The Republic of Ireland is divided into 166 LEAs, with an average ...

(LEA) boundaries, including an overall increase of seats to 949, up from 883 in the 2009 local elections. It also saw the abolition of borough and town councils. New

municipal districts A municipal district is an administrative entity comprising a clearly-defined territory and its population. It can refer to a city, a town, a village, a small grouping of them, or a rural area. Brazil In Brazil, municipal districts are, in genera ...

were created within most counties. Generally, a municipal district contains one LEA, though a few districts around larger urban areas contain multiple LEAs. The elections took place a little over three years after the last general election, which led to a government of

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

and the Labour Party. The elections were a major setback for Fine Gael and Labour. Fine Gael lost control of many councils, falling behind

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...

on some. Labour lost more than half of its local authority seats. Fianna Fáil showed a recovery, again becoming the largest party at local level with an increased share of the vote. The party also took control of some councils, while on others it formed alliances with Fine Gael.

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

was the main winner in this election, becoming the third-largest party at local level. There were also major gains for independents and smaller parties. As a result of its disastrous performance, the Labour leader Eamon Gilmore resigned.

Opinion polls

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first. Only polls conducted in the period leading up to the election and immediately afterwards are shown.

Results

Results from the Anti-Austerity Alliance are compared to the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

in the 2009 local elections. Republican Sinn Féin are not a registered party; therefore, their candidates appear on the ballot as Non-Party.

Detailed results by council

Largest parties by council

Footnotes

References

Sources

Citations

External links

Irish local elections, 2014
at Electionsireland.org {{Irish elections Local elections Local elections

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Local elections