ANALYSIS: Local Elections 2024 yield votes of confidence in the last Thurles council

The buzz in the count centre on Saturday in Thurles did not influence the pace of results. 

But, late in the night, results came thick and fast. In Thurles, three councillors were elected on the first count. 

Jim Ryan (Independent) topped the poll with 2,435 votes, retaining his seat.

This was a huge surprise when one considers that Cllr Ryan was elected in the seventh count five years ago with 1,683 votes.

No surprises, Micheál Lowry, Independent but part of the Lowry group, followed closely with 2,435 votes.

Cllr Lowry topped the poll in 2019 with 1,710 votes. Fianna Fáil’s Sean Ryan retained his seat with 1,683 votes.

In 2019, he was elected in the seventh count with 1,547 votes. 

It is worth noting that by the numbers, there wasn’t much difference between the electorate for Thurles in 2024 compared to 2019. 

The electorate this year was 16,791, and the valid poll was 9,313.

In 2019, the electorate was 16,447 people, and there was a valid poll of 9,816.But this year, all three elected on the first count had significantly increased their vote.

CAPTION: Sean Ryan after being deemed elected following a bumper count

And, of course, there was no Seamus Hanafin this time around. 

Counting continued on Sunday morning with the redistribution of transfers. 

Kay Cahill Skehan was elected in the second count with 1,777 votes and benefited from Jim Ryan’s transfers. 

Ms Cahill is a first-time candidate and sister of popular Tipperary TD Jackie Cahill.

She ran on a campaign of care of older people, education and the progression of the Littleton Labyrinth. 

The latter two make her a compatible second with her party colleague and incumbent Sean Ryan who is a teacher and a long-time advocate for the labyrinth project. 

The former is perhaps a reflection of the growing older population in Thurles noted in the recent Local Area Plan last year.

Finally, Fine Gael candidate Peggy Ryan took the fifth seat in the fourth count, with 1,640 votes.   Ms Ryan is not quite a re-elect in the same way as her colleagues, but no newcomer either.

Peggy Ryan was co-opted onto the council in 2021 when her brother Peter resigned his seat.

Six months later, she was elected as the district Cathaoirleach and the first woman to hold the position. 

Ms Ryan has also been the chair of the council’s women’s caucus. 

Her victory was of course Sinn Féin’s Dan Harty’s loss.

Which was always going to be the case in the Thurles LEA. 

With five seats and six candidates, it was a bit like musical chairs. When the music stopped there was one candidate left standing.

Mr Harty campaigned primarily on social and affordable housing. 

He finished 1,376 votes, just 177 below the 1,553 quota. 

THURLES COUNCIL

Thurles’s contribution to the next Municipal District Council is five councillors.

The party breakdown is two independents, two Fianna Fáil and one Fine Gael. 

Kay Cahill Skehan’s win means Fianna Fáil retain the seat, and the district council remains the same party-wise on the Thurles side. 

The other side is Roscrea and Templemore, who hold four seats on the council.

The next job is, of course, to elect the Cathaoirleach, and then the work will presumably continue on Thurles’ road projects,

lobbying for the bypass and the eco and tourism projects in Littleton. 

But it will be interesting to see if the old councillors in the new council learned much on the doorsteps that will change the course for Thurles.