2014 Cavan County Council election

An election to all 18 seats on Cavan County Council took place on 23 May 2014 as part of the 2014 Irish local elections, a reduction from 25 at the previous election. County Cavan was divided into three local electoral areas 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).

2014 Cavan County Council election

← 2009 23 May 2014 2019 →
All 18 seats on Cavan County Council
First party Second party Third party   Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Sinn Féin Seats won 7 7 4 Seat change 1 6
Map showing the area of Cavan County Council
Cathaoirleach before election Val Smith FG Subsequent Cathaoirleach Shane O'Reilly FF

Administrative changes

The town councils of Belturbet and Cavan were abolished.

Ahead of the 2014 election, County Cavan was redrawn into three electoral areas, a reduction in one from four, and the number of councillors was reduced to 18, from a previous total of 25.^[1]

Analysis

Fianna Fáil had a good election, losing one seat overall compared to 2009. By contrast Fine Gael lost 6 seats and their overall majority. This was one of the few Councils where Sinn Féin did not make gains as the party returned with the same number they had held in 2009.^[1][2]

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	1st pref	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	7	1	12,810	40.48
	Fine Gael	7	6	11,615	36.66
	Sinn Féin	4		5,751	18.17
	Independent	0		1,286	4.06
	Labour	0		187	0.59
Total		18	7	31,649	100.00	—

Results by local electoral area

^ *: Outgoing councillor elected in 2014.

Bailieborough–Cootehill

Bailieborough–Cootehill: 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fianna Fáil	Niamh Smyth[*]†	16.06	1,886
	Fianna Fáil	Clifford Kelly	10.11	1,187	1,199	1,215	1,226	1,387	1,432	1,489	1,494	1,512
	Fianna Fáil	Fergal Curtin[*]	9.41	1,105	1,146	1,159	1,176	1,187	1,276	1,328	1,493	1,543
	Fine Gael	Val Smith[*]	9.32	1,095	1,101	1,122	1,194	1,233	1,260	1,438	1,553	1,596
	Sinn Féin	Charlie Boylan[*]	8.80	1,034	1,038	1,084	1,095	1,123	1,188	1,218
	Sinn Féin	Paddy McDonald[*]	7.48	879	924	959	1,036	1,100	1,185	1,292	1,844
	Fianna Fáil	Francis McDermott	7.44	874	906	923	946	998	1,138	1,369	1,401	1,416
	Fianna Fáil	Don Smith	6.89	809	823	854	862	868
	Fine Gael	John O'Hare[*]	6.21	729	748	779	911	1,038	1,086
	Fine Gael	Carmel Brady	6.12	719	724	747	809	928	1,207	1,531	1,660	1,700
	Fine Gael	David Blake[*]	5.18	608	612	636	706
	Fine Gael	Séan McKiernan Jnr[*]	4.12	484	505	519
	Independent	Harry Henry Reburn	1.46	171	174
	Independent	Val Martin	1.40	165	167
Electorate: 19,701   Valid: 11,745 (59.62%)   Spoilt: 153   Quota: 1,678   Turnout: 11,898 (60.39%)

Ballyjamesduff

Ballyjamesduff: 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Sinn Féin	Noel Connell[*]	16.36	1,753
	Fine Gael	Winston Bennett[*]	14.41	1,544
	Fine Gael	Paddy Smith[*]	13.86	1,485	1,533
	Fianna Fáil	Philip Brady	13.25	1,420	1,458	1,689
	Fianna Fáil	Shane P. O'Reilly[*]	12.69	1,360	1,392	1,423	1,458
	Fine Gael	Paddy O'Reilly[*]	11.66	1,250	1,273	1,544
	Fianna Fáil	Craig Lovett	10.53	1,129	1,182	1,308	1,415
	Fine Gael	Mary Brady	7.25	777	804	804
Electorate: 19,362   Valid: 10,718 (55.36%)   Spoilt: 156   Quota: 1,532   Turnout: 10,874 (56.16%)

Cavan–Belturbet

Cavan–Belturbet: 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	John Paul Feeley[*]	13.67	1,240	1,245	1,267	1,290	1,307
	Sinn Féin	Damien Brady[*]	13.47	1,222	1,236	1,266	1,290	1,314
	Fine Gael	Madeline Argue[*]	12.01	1,089	1,092	1,097	1,264	1,349
	Fianna Fáil	Seán Smith[*]	11.70	1,061	1,064	1,072	1,078	1,116	1,123	1,133	1,331
	Fine Gael	Peter McVitty[*]	11.50	1,043	1,046	1,068	1,133	1,333
	Sinn Féin	Eugene Greenan††	9.51	863	870	888	948	957	961	964	1,106
	Fianna Fáil	Patricia Walsh[*]	8.15	739	741	745	811	823	829	831	890
	Independent	Seamus Fitzpatrick	6.07	551	586	618	637	744	765	787
	Fine Gael	Barry Wilson	5.48	497	501	505	531
	Fine Gael	Jacqui Lewis	3.25	295	296	300
	Labour	Mary Croke	2.06	187	191	201
	Independent	Eamon Murray	1.76	160	190
	Independent	Noreen Briddigkeit Quinn	0.75	68
	Independent	Mickey Lee	0.62	56
Electorate: 17,468   Valid: 9,071 (51.93%)   Spoilt: 137   Quota: 1,296   Turnout: 9,208 (52.71%)

Changes

Co-options

Party		Outgoing	LEA	Reason	Date	Co-optee
	Fianna Fáil	Niamh Smyth	Bailieborough-Cootehill	Elected to the 32nd Dáil at the 2016 general election.	15 March 2016	Sarah O'Reilly[3]
	Sinn Féin	Eugene Greenan	Cavan-Belturbet	Resignation[4]	9 September 2017	Daniel Downey[5]

Changes in affiliation

Name	LEA	Elected as		New affiliation		Date
Sarah O'Reilly	Bailieborough-Cootehill		Fianna Fáil		Aontú	7 December 2018[6]

References

1. McMahon, Aine (24 May 2014). "Fine Gael take two of first four Cavan council seats". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
2. "Cavan County Council Local Elections". Irish Independent. 24 May 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
3. "Cavan's newest Councillor "shocked" to be chosen to take the role". northernsound.ie. 15 March 2016.
4. Lyons, Thomas (26 June 2017). "Shock as Sinn Féin councillor submits his letter of resignation". The Anglo Celt. The Anglo Celt. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
5. Enright, Seamus (30 September 2017). "Sinn Féin to co-opt Downey to council seat". The Anglo Celt. The Anglo Celt. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
6. McConnell, Daniel (7 December 2018). "Fianna Fáil councillor in Cavan to join Peadar Tóibín's new party". Irish Examiner. irish Examiner. Retrieved 30 August 2024.