Longford Oireachtas representatives applaud local election teams

There was no real shake up in the makeup of Longford County Council as the results of the 2024 elections began to firm up.
The two parties who dominated the council continue to vie for who will hold the reins.

Any hopes that Sinn Féin had to get a seat at the table dissipated as the counting in Edgeworthstown Community Centre progressed.

A shaky start for Fianna Fáil in Granard MD ended with a glorious triumph for David Cassidy, and this was further augmented by the party’s strong showing in both Longford and Ballymahon MD.

PICTURES | Tears and cheers, agony and ecstasy at nail biting Longford local elections count

Fine Gael lost a strong council contributor in Colm Murray, the outgoing County Council Cathaoirleach who was co-opted in 2013 as a 24-year-old to take the late Paddy Belton’s seat.

And they also lost Ballinalee-based Cllr Colin Dalton, who was co-opted in 2020 to fill Senator Micheál Carrigy’s seat, but the pain of these losses was eased somewhat by the success of first time candidates Martin Skelly and Padraig McNamara.

The outcome of the local elections had a particular significance for the sitting members of upper houses.

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

For Deputy Joe Flaherty and Senator Micheál Carrigy the support of their party colleagues may have an impact on their general elections chances.

“People are generally happy with a strong, productive, hard-working County Council,” Deputy Flaherty said of the parties showing in the 2024 local election, “The result from Longford LEA is very encouraging for the Fianna Fáil party.”

Also read: 'So much for the slogan we need change’ - Longford people stick with tried and trusted

On the increase in the number of seats held by the party in Longford Municipal District Deputy Flaherty commended the election group: “It's a stellar performance by an incredible team of candidates,” he told the Leader.

Senator Carrigy was equally pleased with the performance of Fine Gael representatives: “We had quality candidates in the field. We put forward 10 candidates with the aim of holding on to what we had. We topped the polls in the three electoral areas, with top class candidates.”

PICTURES | Large crowds crunching the numbers in Longford Local Elections