No major casualties in Clondalkin or Fonthill Palmerstown

Clondalkin

IN THE Clondalkin seven-seater, Francis Timmons (Ind) topped the poll and exceeded the quota (1,601) with 1,988 first preference votes.

First elected in 2014, Timmons won the second seat in Clondalkin in 2019, reports Maurice Garvey.

Also elected in order of seats were William Carey (SF), Darragh Adelaide (PBP), Linda DeCourcy (II), Trevor Gilligan (FF), Eoin O’Broin (SocDems), and Shirley O’Hara (FG).

Green Party Cllr Laura Donaghy, a former Deputy Mayor of SDCC, missed out.

Two first-time candidates were elected in Clondalkin – Adelaide and DeCourcy, who represents Independent Ireland.

Gilligan (40) was first elected as a 20-year old in 2004 and is now the longest serving elected representative on SDCC.

Turnout in Clondalkin was 40.6 per cent, with the majority (20.9 per cent) of first preference votes going to Independents.

Shane Moynihan (centre) feeling the pressure with Cllr Alan Hayes keeping a close eye on the Palmerstown-Fonthill count

Lucan

Independent Paul Gogarty secured the first seat in Lucan, exceeding the quota (1,926) with an impressive 2,671 first preference votes.

Gogarty also topped the poll in Lucan for the 2019 local elections.

The former Green Party TD has been an Independent since 2014 and is known for engaging with residents on social media in relation to local issues and runs a personal website to provide information on matters of interest in the community.

Lucan is a five-seater, and securing second seat was Vicki Casserly (FG) with 1,574 first preference votes, followed by Caroline Brady (FG) Liona O’Toole (Ind), and Joanna Tuffy (Lab).

The big casualty in Lucan was Sinn Fein’s Derren O Bradaigh, who was a Cllr in the Palmerstown-Fonthill area since 2020, but contested Lucan for LE24 as his party was running four candidates in Palmerstown-Fonthill.

Turnout in Lucan was 45.5 per cent with the vast majority of first preference votes (41.9 per cent) going to Independents.

Palmerstown-Fonthill

In Palmerstown-Fonthill, Shane Moynihan (FF) topped the poll with 1,348 first preference votes and secured a seat on the tenth count.

Not far behind was Alan Hayes (Ind) who secured a seat on the 12th count and had 1,335 first preference votes.

The remaining three seats in this five-seater were won by newcomer Niamh Fennell (SF), Madeleine Johansson (PBP/S) and Glen Moore (IFP) who won a first seat for the Irish Freedom Party.

Sinn Féin ran four candidates in Palmerstown-Fonthill which was an attempt by the party to build on momentum from elections in 2019/20, momentum which has stalled over the last couple of years.

Derren Ó Brádaigh, who was a councillor in this constituency after being co-opted following Lisa Colman’s resignation in 2020, ran in Lucan instead but failed to win a seat there in LE24.

Turnout in Palmerstown-Fonthill was 37.8 per cent.

The majority of first preference votes (25.2 per cent) went to Independents, followed by 22.2 per cent for Sinn Féin, but first preference votes were split amongst their four candidates.