Six new faces and three recounts as Longford local elections produce plenty of drama

The dust is beginning to settle on the 2024 Local Elections in county Longford.

Three outgoing councillors lost their seats - Colm Murray, Colin Dalton and Gerald Farrell, six new faces captured seats - Padraig McNamara, Niall Gannon and Martin Skelly for Fine Gael and David Cassidy, Kevin Hussey and Sean Mimnagh for Fianna Fáil, three recounts - two in Ballymahon and one in Granard.

These are some of the main points from a long weekend of counting, which eventually ended on Monday night.

In the end, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil were locked at eight seats each, with two independents returned.

It is a gain of two seats for Fianna Fáil from the 2019 outcome, while Fine Gael lost one seat.

Also read: Fine Gael polls 13% higher than Fianna Fáil in Longford local elections as the parties share sixteen seats

Fine Gael topped the poll in all three districts - Paul Ross in Ballymahon, Gerry Hagan in Longford and the highest vote getter in the county in Granard, Garry Murtagh.

There were a number of twists and turns throughout the count. Some perceived outcomes were turned on their head.

The town of Lanesboro undoubtedly delivered the most drama of the count.

At one stage, there were five candidates in the Ballymahon municipal district within 51 votes of each other. Three of them were from Lanesboro or Newtowncashel.

Sitting councillor Gerald Farrell, from the Shannonside town, lost his seat, with Sean Mimnagh of Fianna Fáil replacing him.

Longford #LE24: Mimnagh, Casey, O'Toole and Skelly elected as Colm Murray loses out in Ballymahon

There was a changing of the guard within Fine Gael, with Colm Murray losing his seat and Martin Skelly being the new face elected.

Farrell had called for a recount when he was eliminated by just one vote. However, things did not change for him and the now Independent departed.

Also read: How you voted in Ballymahon municipal district: Two recounts and two big name casualties in gruelling Battle of Ballymahon

Farrell had been a FG councillor (as his father Adie was before him) and that provided one of the subplots of this election.

Four sitting councillors were returned in Ballymahon, although one of those, Mark Casey (Ind) saw a significant decrease in his vote.

LIVE BLOG: Longford voters give their verdict in Local Elections 2024 #LE24 #LocalElections24

There was also a recount in Granard municipal district. That had been called by Fine Gael after David Cassidy was elected for Fianna Fáil ahead of sitting councillor Colin Dalton.

Also read: How you voted in Granard municipal district: Fine Gael secure massive 59% of first preference vote but fail to nail four seats

Again, there was no change to the outcome as Cassidy displaced Dalton.

Also read: “It is very hard to know what went wrong. In my time, North Longford was a heartland for Fianna Fáil”

Cassidy’s comeback saved Fianna Fail blushes in North Longford.

The party returned three councillors in this district in 2014 and this time scraped the last seat. A post mortem is expected and it might not be pretty.

On Sunday, Fine Gael appeared to be heading for four seats out of five in Granard. Turlough McGovern (Ind) held his own.

Longford #LE24: David Cassidy and Padraig McNamara confirmed as final two elected in Granard

In Longford municipal district, no outgoing councillor lost their seat. Fianna Fáil were the winners, with Kevin Hussey taking a seat which was held by Independent Gerry Warnock, before he decided not to run again.

John Browne (FG) retired but Niall Gannon held his seat, albeit with a reduced vote from what Browne achieved in 2019.

Arguably another winner in Longford was stability, with four sitting councillors elected on the first count.

Also read: How you voted in Longford municipal district: Less than 50% turnout as Fianna Fáil quartet elected

There were many candidates running on an independent or left wing platform in Longford, but they made no impact.

Sinn Féin’s James Donnelly was seen as having a chance, but in the end he lost out for the final seat.

The party is still without a councillor in Longford. However, John Rooney polled well in Ballymahon, with over 500 first preferences.

Longford #LE24 latest - final 3 candidates returned in Longford as SF candidate is eliminated

If this election was to be viewed through a General Election prism, then there are gains for both parties.

Sitting FF TD Joe Flaherty can point to strong vote management by his party in Longford and Ballymahon but Granard was a different story.

Senator Micheál Carrigy will be sore from the loss of the party councillor in his own parish, Colin Dalton (he was elected three times himself).

However, Padraig McNamara replaced Dalton, while both Garry Murtagh and Paraic Brady turned in very strong performances.

Vote management arguably let FG down in the Ballymahon district, as Colm Murray lost his seat.

But Paul Ross topped the poll with 1,300 first preferences and Martin Skelly was returned as a new councillor.

Fine Gael held their three seats in the Longford LEA, with Niall Gannon replacing the retired John Browne.

Overall, it was a local election in Longford where people stuck with the tried and trusted candidates.

There is one less independent in the council chamber than 2019.

LIVE BLOG: Longford voters give their verdict in Local Elections 2024 #LE24 #LocalElections24