Local Elections 2024 - Bad day for Sinn Féin as Government parties poll better than expected

While Sinn Féin will increase its seats at the local council level, the party will not do as well as expected in the Local Elections.

The idea that Sinn Féin will “inevitably” be in the next Government was “shattered” by their performance in the local elections, Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe has proclaimed.

Fine Gael sources were “delighted” and “relieved” as the party looks set to perform better than expected in the Local Elections as counting continues on Sunday.

One senior source said on Saturday night: “Weeks ago people were saying we’d be wiped out”.

READ MORE: Ireland Local Election results LIVE as first councillors elected and Sinn Fein narrative 'shattered'

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In a voice message to an internal Fine Gael WhatsApp group, heard by the Irish Mirror, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was “encouraged” by the party’s performance.

One Fine Gael source said: "This was Simon Harris’s first electoral test from the Taoiseach’s office and he’s energised our party and shown the fight back starts here. The election has shown the electorate is not believing Sinn Féin’s hype but is giving Simon Harris a chance to deliver as he has promised to do.”

It is likely that while Fine Gael could make gains in Dublin, it could lose seats elsewhere in the country.
Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Newstalk on Saturday that Fianna Fáil could be the “biggest losers”.

Despite fears of a Green washout, the party managed to hold its own on Saturday as counting got underway. In Dublin, Michael Pidgeon and Claire Byrne topped the votes. Former Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu was elected for the Greens in Pembroke on the first count. “Some people may have predicted a wipeout. It is far from that,” Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said.

One of the biggest talking points of the day, however, was the performance of Sinn Féin, particularly in Cabra-Glasnevin, where party leader Mary Lou McDonald lives. Some four candidates ran in this Local Electoral Area. Of these, tallies showed one candidate polling at 2%, two polling at 4% and current councillor Seamus McGrattan at 6%. In the same tallies, both Fine Gael candidates were polling at 9%.

Sources in other political parties stated last night that it appears that after running too few candidates in the 2020 general election, they “ran too many” in this election. Tallies from across Dublin showed Sinn Féin’s vote on 11%, up just 1% on the 2019 local election results. Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane stated on Saturday that the party had “obviously” hoped to do better.

Fine Gael, meanwhile, was tallying at 19% across Dublin, also up 1% on the 2019 elections. Fianna Fáil was down 4% with tallies putting the party on 14%. It is expected that Fine Gael may be the largest party in local government when the counting is finished across the country. A buoyant Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe stated that the results had “shattered” narratives.

“Overall, the portrayal that some have offered of Fine Gael as a tired party – that narrative, that claim, has been shattered by the results that we’re seeing potentially coming through at the moment,” he said. “And the other narrative that there’s anything inevitable about Sinn Fein being in government – that’s been shattered too.”

The Labour Party were happy with the early tallies across Dublin, which showed them topping the poll in the Rush/Lusk area.

More independent candidates are expected to be elected across the country throughout the rest of the weekend. The first councillor elected on Saturday was Independent Thomas Welby in Galway. Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said last night [sat] that he was confident his party was in contention for a number of seats.

Tallies and early counts showed support for independent candidates, some of whom have been branded “anti-immigrant” or “far-right”. This included online commentator Gavin Pepper who performed well on the early tallies in Ballymun-Finglas.

Counting in the European Elections will get underway on Sunday. However, the first results are not expected until 10pm as the results cannot be announced until voting has concluded across the bloc. Tallies taken at count centres, however, did show the early state of play.

In Dublin, there were mixed fortunes depending on where tallies were being conducted. It was predicted on Saturday that Fianna Fáil’s Barry Andrews will keep his seat, while Regina Doherty will keep the Fine Gael seat being vacated by Frances Fitzgerald.

Independent Ireland’s Niall Boylan also appeared to be polling well in some areas, as was People-Before-Profit’s Bríd Smith. Labour’s Aodhan Ó Riordain was also performing well, with the party holding out hope that he could be in with a chance. Green Party MEP Ciaran Cuffe and Independents 4 Change’s Clare Daly were both tallying better than expected.

There were questions, however, about how Sinn Féin’s votes were shaping up. While Lynn Boylan and Daithi Doolan were performing well in different areas, they were not necessarily transferring votes to each other.

In Midlands-North-West, sources told the Irish Mirror that Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen was performing on the unofficial tallies. He was ahead in Laois, Offaly and Westmeath and behind Independent Ireland’s Ciaran Mullooly in Longford and Westmeath. Another source said that Mr Mullooly was outperforming incumbent Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan.

It is also understood sitting MEP Maria Walsh was “very strong” in parts of the West, with her running mate Nina Carberry doing better than expected in the west. There were no tallies forthcoming from the Ireland South constituency. Counting in the Local and European elections will continue across the country on Sunday.

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