The 2019 local elections in the Republic of Ireland

Abstract

The 2019 local elections were run in conjunction with European Parliament elections, a constitutional referendum to ease restrictions on divorce, and local plebiscites in Cork city, Limerick and Waterford on the introduction of directly elected mayors. Turnout was 50.2%, the joint lowest in the history of the State. The elections were contested on a mixture of local and national issues and saw Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael consolidate their positions as the two dominant parties in Irish local government, winning a combined total of 534 seats out of 949. The Green Party enjoyed a rise in local authority council membership from 12 to 49 seats while Sinn Féin suffered a 78-seat loss. ‘New Irish’ candidates and women fared quite well by past standards. Campaigning for the mayoral plebiscites was lacklustre and, amidst much confusion and a lack of information, the proposal was narrowly defeated in Cork city and Waterford. It passed in Limerick, where the expectation is that a mayoral election will take place in 2021.