THE VOTES HAVE been counted, the seats have been claimed and now we can look into how the different parties fared in the campaign for the 63-seat Dublin City Council.

While Fine Gael came out on top with eleven councillors elected, the big takeaways from this week’s election results in Dublin City are the significant drop in support for Fianna Fáil and a surge for the Social Democrats.

The Social Democrats have doubled their number of councillors, going from five to ten. 

Fianna Fáil had been the best represented party on the Council following the 2019 local elections, when they won 11 seats. This time round the party only secured eight.

A notable Fianna Fáil setback is the fact that Dublin’s Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste lost his seat after a 10th count in Ballyfermot-Drimnagh. 

The Green Party also took a hit, going from ten seats to eight. The picture is similar for the Labour Party, which halved its number of councillors, going from eight to four. 

Sinn Féin gained a seat, moving from eight to nine, while People Before Profit remained steady on two. 

Eleven independents were elected this time round, including far-right newcomers Gavin Pepper and Malachy Steenson. Among the eleven are also Pat Dunne of Right To Change and Phillip Sutcliffe of Independent Ireland.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of how the parties fared across the eleven wards in the capital City. 

Artane-Whitehall (6 seats)

In the Artane-Whitehall area, Fianna Fáil’s Racheal Batten held her seat, as did independent councillor John Lyons and Fine Gael’s Declan Flanagan.

Edel Moran of Sinn Féin, along with Jesslyn Henry and Aishling Silke of the Social Democrats are the new faces on the Council in the ward.

Ballyfermot-Drimnagh (5 seats)

Sinn Féin councillor, and EU candidate Daithí Doolan kept his seat on the Council in the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh ward, as did independent Vincent Jackson and People Before Profit’s Hazel de Nortúin.

Philip Sutcliffe of the Independent Ireland group and the Green Party’s Ray Cunningham are the newcomers.

Ballymun-Finglas (6 seats)

Three councillors held onto their seats in the Ballymun-Finglas area. They are Keith Connolly of Fianna Fáil, Anthony Connaghan of Sinn Féin and Social Democrat Mary Callaghan.

Sinn Féin’s Leslie Kane, People Before Profit’s Conor Reddy and independent Gavin Pepper are all new faces on the Council. Pepper is a notable new entry; he has made a name for himself as a far-right, anti-immigration agitator and a regular presence at protests outside asylum seeker accommodation centres.

Cabra-Glasnevin (7 seats)

In Cabra-Glasnevin, three incumbents retained their seats while four newcomers made the cut. 

Independent Cieran Perry, Sinn Féin’s Séamus McGrattan and Fine Gael’s Colm O’Rourke were re-elected.

The newcomers are Feljin Jose of the Green Party, John Stephens of Fianna Fáil, Cat O’Driscoll of the Social Democrats and Fine Gael’s Gayle Ralph. 

Clontarf (6 seats)

Clontarf saw just two new councillors elected after four incumbents kept their seats on the Council.

Fine Gael’s Naoise Ó Muirí, Fianna Fáil’s Deirdre Heney, Catherine Stocker of the Social Democrats and Donna Cooney of the Green Party were all re-elected.

Independent Barry Heneghan and Labour’s Alison Field are the new faces in the Clontarf area.

Donaghmede (5 seats)

In Donaghmede, Tom Brabazon and Daryl Barron of Fianna Fáil, Daryl Barron both held onto their seats, as did Sinn Féin councillor Mícheál MacDonncha.

There are two newcomers in the ward: Paddy Monahan of the Social Democrats and Supriya Singh from Fine Gael. 

Kimmage-Rathmines (6 seats)

Kimmage Rathmines saw major changes to its line-up of councillors, with just one retaining their seat – independent Pat Dunne of the Right To Change group.

The new blood comes in the form of Carolyn Moore of the Green Party, Fiona Connelly of Labour, Fine Gael’s Punam Rane and Patrick Kinsella and Eoin Hayes of the Social Democrats. 

Fianna Fáil’s Deirdre Conroy was another casualty of the Fianna Fáil slump in this area. 

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Pembroke (5 seats)

In the Pembroke area on the southside of Dublin, Green councillor Hazel Chu was re-elected, as were James Geoghegan of Fine Gael and Labour’s Dermot Lacey.

Emma Blain of Fine Gael and Rory Hogan from Fianna Fáil are the newcomers.

North Inner City (7 seats)

In Dublin’s North Inner City, five out of the seven incumbent councillors kept their seats.

They are Ray McAdam of Fine Gael, the Green Party’s Janet Horner – who replaced MEP Ciarán Cuffe, independents Christy Burke and Nial Ring, as well as Sinn Féin’s Janice Boylan.

The most noteworthy new entry is the far-right former solicitor Malachy Steenson, an independent.

The Social Democrats picked up a new seat in the North Inner City with Daniel Ennis.

South West Inner City (5 seats)

In the South West Inner City area, councillors Michael Pidgeon of the Green Party, Darragh Moriarty from Labour and Sinn Féin’s Máire Devine all won re-election. 

Moriarty and Devine were not elected in 2019 but served as replacements. Rebecca Moynihan’s move to the Seanaid saw Moriarty take up her seat on the council in 2020 and former Lord Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh’s resignation, also in 2020, saw Devine take her place. 

The two new faces on the Council in the South West Inner City are Jen Cummins, another new Social Democrat councillor, and Fianna Fáil’s Ammar Ali.

South East Inner City (5 seats)

The South East Inner City area was another ward where the Social Democrats gained a new seat through their candidate Cian Farrell. Another newcomer is Sinn Féin’s Kourtney Kenny.

Green Party councillors Claire Byrne, Fine Gael’s Danny Byrne and longtime independent Mannix Flynn all retained their seats.

If you’re curious about other city councils, we’ve got similar breakdowns of the Cork and Galway results.