2024 Kerry County Council election

An election to all 33 seats on Kerry County Council was held on 7 June 2024, as part of the 2024 Irish local elections.^[1] County Kerry is divided into 6 local electoral areas (LEAs) 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).^[2]

2024 Kerry County Council election

← 2019 7 June 2024 2029 →
All 33 seats on Kerry County Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Sinn Féin Seats won 9 6 4 Seat change 1 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Labour Kerry Ind. Alliance Independent Seats won 2 1 11 Seat change 2
Area of Kerry County Council
Council control before election Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Council control after election Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour

On 20 June, one day before the first sitting, Labour agreed to join Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in a power-sharing agreement, which will end in 2029.^[3]

On 21 June, the newly-elected council met for the first time, with Breandán Fitzgerald of Fianna Fáil being appointed Cathaoirleach.^[4]

Results by party

Party		Candidates	Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	11	9	1	16,057	21.43	4.35
	Fine Gael	10	6	1	12,427	16.59	5.29
	Sinn Féin	13	4		10,882	14.53	1.18
	Labour	4	2		3,291	4.39	0.09
	Kerry Ind. Alliance	1	1		1,574	2.10	0.75
	Green	6	0		2,767	3.69	0.60
	Aontú	3	0		1,177	1.57	0.01
	Social Democrats	2	0	New	861	1.15	New
	The Irish People	3	0	New	558	0.74	New
	National Party	1	0	New	393	0.52	New
	Party for Animal Welfare	1	0	New	110	0.15	New
	Independent	22	11	2	24,816	33.13	6.41
Totals		77	33		74,913	100.00

Results by local electoral area

^ *: Outgoing councillor elected in 2019.
^ †: Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2019 election.

Castleisland

Castleisland: 4 seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Independent	Jackie Healy-Rae[*]	29.86%	2,890
	Independent	Charlie Farrelly[*]	18.63%	1,803	2,117
	Fianna Fáil	Fionnán Fitzgerald [*]	15.92%	1,541	1,741	1,794	1,847	2,104
	Fine Gael	Bobby O'Connell[*]	15.15%	1,466	1,628	1,682	1,721	1,910
	Independent	Michelle Keane	10.24%	991	1,106	1,138	1,196	1,382
	Sinn Féin	Deirdre Bell	7.51%	727	851	882	965
	Green	Paul Bowler	1.41%	136	146	147
	Aontú	Cáit Ní Ríordáin	1.29%	125	154	164
Electorate: 15,460   Valid: 9,679   Spoilt: 67   Quota: 1,936   Turnout: 9,746 (63.04%)

Corca Dhuibhne

Corca Dhuibhne: 3 seats^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Fine Gael	Tommy Griffin	22.68%	1,807	1,844	2,041
	Sinn Féin	Robert Brosnan	17.94%	1,429	1,563	1,677	2,131
	Fianna Fáil	Michael O’Shea[*]	16.80%	1,338	1,373	1,435	1,562	1,596
	Green	Peadar Ó Fionnáin	12.85%	1,024	1,143	1,242
	Fianna Fáil	Breandán Fitzgerald[*]	12.73%	1,014	1,110	1,372	1,735	1,866
	Fine Gael	Séamus Cosaí Fitzgerald[*]	9.29%	740	774
	Labour	Mike Kennedy	6.38%	508
Electorate: 12,578   Valid: 7,860   Spoilt: 106   Quota: 1,966   Turnout: 7,966 (66.3%)

Kenmare

Kenmare: 6 seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
	Independent	Johnny Healy-Rae[*]	23.04%	3,441
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Cahill[*]	14.48%	2,162
	Fianna Fáil	Norma Moriarty[*]	12.09%	1,805	1,986	1,990	1,999	2,018	2,024	2,168
	Independent	Podge Foley	7.73%	1,154	1,257	1,270	1,290	1,335	1,343	1,367	1,369	1,495	1,513	1,567	1,845	1,928
	Fine Gael	Teddy O'Sullivan Casey	7.73%	1,154	1,384	1,388	1,427	1,435	1,435	1,439	1,440	1,479	1,486	1,649	1,757	2,017
	Independent	Dan McCarthy[*]	5.55%	829	1,183	1,193	1,255	1,298	1,299	1,376	1,381	1,402	1,431	1,543	1,648	1,832
	Fianna Fáil	Ken O'Sullivan	5.49%	820	932	932	935	950	955	961	961	976	979	1,001
	Fine Gael	Tony Donnelly	5.16%	770	825	829	832	844	846	918	934	949	1,051	1,099	1,143
	Sinn Féin	Damian Quigg	4.01%	599	677	680	683	709	712	732	733	780	1,021	1,105	1,269	1,352
	Green	Cleo Murphy	3.09%	462	482	482	485	491	491	494	494	598	625
	Social Democrats	Tim Clifford	2.91%	434	453	453	455	474	475	479	479
	Sinn Féin	Stephanie O'Shea	2.89%	431	470	476	477	495	496	529	538	569
	Independent	Patrick Lyne	2.49%	372	418	431	438	459	460
	Aontú	Catherina O'Sullivan	1.39%	207	244	278	301
	Independent	Oliver O'Neill	1.06%	158	182	215
	The Irish People	William O'Brien	0.91%	136	145
Electorate: 23,922   Valid: 14,934   Spoilt: 109   Quota: 2,134   Turnout: 15,043 (62.88%)

Killarney

Killarney: 7 seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Independent	Maura Healy-Rae[*]	23.71%	3,385
	Independent	Martin Grady	14.38%	2,053
	Kerry Ind. Alliance	John O'Donoghue	11.02%	1,574	1,812
	Independent	Brendan Cronin	9.97%	1,423	1,699	1,741	1,746	1,756	1,784	1,787
	Fianna Fáil	Niall Kelleher[*]	9.15%	1,307	1,640	1,674	1,681	1,683	1,685	1,748	1,780	1,804
	Independent	Niall O'Callaghan[*]	8.10%	1,156	1,384	1,445	1,451	1,459	1,494	1,499	1,500	1,528	1,544	1,599
	Labour	Marie Moloney[*]	7.31%	1,044	1,252	1,298	1,302	1,306	1,311	1,323	1,334	1,383	1,418	1,575
	Fine Gael	Dermot Healy	4.57%	653	750	767	769	771	773	788	797	803	822	881
	Sinn Féin	Damien Switzer	2.37%	339	409	430	431	434	440	443	446	609	621	667
	Green	Diarmaid Griffin	2.30%	329	359	368	369	371	374	394	402	417	432
	Independent	Iqbal Mahmud	2.13%	304	316	325	325	327	327	335	369	369
	Sinn Féin	Caroline Kenneally	1.74%	248	308	323	324	326	327	332	335
	Independent	Kamaruzzaman Abdul-Kadir	1.29%	184	198	201	201	201	203	210
	Independent	Natalia Krasnenkova	1.02%	146	156	157	157	157	157
	The Irish People	Alan O'Connor	0.71%	101	112	117	117	125
	Independent	William Leen	0.14%	20	28	32	32
	Independent	Diarmuid McGuckin	0.08%	12	17	18	18
Electorate: 23,159   Valid: 14,278   Spoilt: 132   Quota: 1,785   Turnout: 14,410 (62.22%)

Listowel

Listowel: 6 seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fine Gael	Mike Kennelly[*]	15.70%	2,301
	Independent	Liam "Speedy" Nolan	15.16%	2,223
	Fine Gael	Michael Foley[*]	13.93%	2,042	2,131
	Fianna Fáil	Michael Leane	12.05%	1,766	1,777	1,788	1,812	1,818	1,865	1,884	2,213
	Sinn Féin	Tom Barry[*]	11.49%	1,685	1,714	1,746	1,770	1,775	1,843	1,933	2,030	2,051
	Fianna Fáil	Jimmy Moloney[*]	9.35%	1,371	1,416	1,446	1,484	1,500	1,524	1,645	1,725	1,784
	Sinn Féin	Marion Falvey O’Sullivan	8.81%	1,292	1,302	1,315	1,372	1,373	1,503	1,528	1,643	1,681
	Aontú	Sonny Foran	5.76%	845	853	864	898	901	1,026
	Sinn Féin	Thomas Harrington	3.04%	446	448	453	455
	Independent	John O'Sullivan	2.82%	414	420	440	481	486
	Green	Oonagh Comerford	1.13%	165	168	170
	Party for Animal Welfare	Rosemarie Smith	0.75%	110	113	117
Electorate: 25,821   Valid: 14,660   Spoilt: 137   Quota: 2,095   Turnout: 14,797 (57.31%)

Tralee

Tralee: 7 seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	Fianna Fáil	Mikey Sheehy[*]	15.66%	2,114
	Sinn Féin	Deirdre Ferris[†]	11.55%	1,560	1,592	1,612	1,627	1,723
	Labour	Terry O'Brien[*]	11.38%	1,537	1,637	1,721
	Independent	Sam Locke	7.83%	1,057	1,088	1,097	1,119	1,160	1,193	1,323	1,325	1,428	1,549	1,555	1,725
	Sinn Féin	Paul Daly	7.75%	1,046	1,081	1,073	1,089	1,155	1,213	1,258	1,268	1,316	1,436	1,441	1,935
	Fianna Fáil	Anne O'Sullivan	6.07%	819	922	934	937	945	968	978	978	1,059	1,162	1,170	1,220	1,224	1,251
	Fine Gael	Angie Baily	5.97%	806	841	860	866	874	904	923	924	1,201	1,413	1,419	1,480	1,518	1,527
	Independent	Tom McEllistrim	5.73%	774	804	810	831	844	878	986	988	1,059	1,083	1,088	1,150	1,225	1,245
	Sinn Féin	Cathal Foley[†]	5.29%	714	730	735	738	814	850	880	898	971	1,051	1,054
	Fine Gael	Sinéad Donnelly	5.10%	688	713	722	725	743	782	793	794
	Green	Anluan Dunne	4.82%	651	665	680	687	702	824	837	838	899
	Social Democrats	Mistura Oyebamji	3.16%	427	432	456	456	471
	National Party	Jacob Sweeney	2.91%	393	398	401	576	582	590
	Sinn Féin	Paddy Kevane	2.71%	366	370	377	386
	The Irish People	Eddie O'Grady	2.38%	321	323	324
	Labour	Ben Slimm	1.50%	202	211
	Independent	Ame Abdurahman	0.20%	27	27
Electorate: 26,411   Valid: 13,502   Spoilt: 160   Quota: 1,688   Turnout: 13,662 (51.73%)

Campaign

Debates

2024 Kerry County Council election debates
Date	Broadcaster	Moderator(s)	Participants —   Name  Participant    N  Party not invited/did not participate							Notes
			FG	FF	SF	Lab	IND	GP	Aon
23 Apr	Radio Kerry	Jerry O'Sullivan	Tommy Griffin	Breandán Fitzgerald	Robert Brosnan	Mike Kennedy	N	Peadar Ó Fionnáin	N	[7]
29 Apr	Radio Kerry	Jerry O'Sullivan	Michael Foley	Jimmy Moloney	Thomas Harrington	N	Liam "Speedy" Nolan	N	Sonny Foran	[8]
7 May	Radio Kerry	Jerry O'Sullivan	Teddy O’Sullivan Casey	Norma Moriarty	Stephanie O’Shea	N	Podge Foley + Johnny Healy-Rae	N	N

Councillors not standing for re-election

Councillor	Electoral area	First elected	Party		Date announced
Jim Finucane[lower-alpha 1]	Tralee	2009		Fine Gael	12 September 2023[9]
Patrick O'Connor-Scarteen	Kenmare	2009		Fine Gael	3 October 2023[10]
Aoife Thornton	Listowel	2014		Fine Gael	2 February 2024[11]
John Francis Flynn	Killorglin	2014		Fianna Fáil	14 March 2024[12]

Notes

1. Incumbent Cathaoirleach at time of election.

References

1. "Polling Day Orders made for European, local and Limerick mayoral elections". Gov.ie (Press release). Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. 6 April 2024. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
2. "Local elections in Ireland". Citizens Information Board. Archived from the original on 6 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
3. "Labour strike eleventh-hour deal with FG and FF for Kerry County Council control". Irish Independent. 20 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
4. "Breandán Fitzgerald elected Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council". Radio Kerry. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
5. "Election Candidates". Kerry County Council. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
6. "Corca Dhuibhne - Kerry County Council". RTE News. 8 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
7. "Election 2024: An Daingean Electoral Area Debate – April 23rd, 2024". Radio Kerry. 23 April 2024. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
8. "Local Elections 2024: Listowel Electoral Area Debate – April 29th, 2024". Radio Kerry. 29 April 2024. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
9. Crean, Dermot (12 September 2023). "Cllr Jim Finucane Will Not Run For Council At Next Local Elections". Tralee Today. Archived from the original on 16 March 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
10. "Kenmare cllr Patrick O'Connor-Scarteen won't contest next election". Radio Kerry. 3 October 2023. Archived from the original on 20 December 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
11. "Cllr Aoife Thornton will not contest next local elections". Radio Kerry. 2 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2 February 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024.
12. "Cllr John Francis Flynn will not contest next local elections". Radio Kerry. 14 March 2024. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.