ONE of the most interesting parts of any election is the geographical breakdown of where first-preference votes come from for each candidate.
Before counting each vote in the local elections, tallies were made of first-preference ballots across West Cork, with data available on all but four polling stations from Dursey Island in the West to the Kinsale area in the east. These tallies are important to politicians because they tell them where in an electoral area they have strong support and where they might need to focus their attention going forward.
Note: tallies are not official counts, and are only used to illustrate the general state of play in each area. They also don't illustrate second, third, fourth preferences and so on.
However, this year, for the first time ever, all of the political parties worked together to produce the tallies and produced a spreadsheet for the media and other anoraks to feast upon. As a result of the local election ballot papers needing to be separated from the Euro ballots, there was more time for the tallyfolk at the barriers to see each paper and so a very accurate set of tallies was produced, as evidenced by the final results which were almost exactly the same in many instances.
The Southern Star can now share these tally breakdowns alongside voter turnout for each polling station, allowing you to see how each candidate performed in your local area. Make sure to pick up a copy of this Thursday's newspaper (June 13th) for full election results, analysis and candidate reactions – subscribe online for ePaper access.
Skibbereen-West Cork
The five candidates elected in the Skibbereen-West Cork local electoral area were Joe Carroll (FF), Deirdre Kelly (FF), Noel O'Donovan (FG), Daniel Sexton (Ind IE), Isobel Towse (SD).
Approximately 98% of boxes were tallied – postal votes were not included.
Bantry-West Cork
The four candidates elected in the Bantry-West Cork local electoral area were Caroline Cronin (FG), Danny Collins (Ind IE), Finbarr Harrington (Ind IE), John Patrick Murphy (FF).
Approximately 90% of boxes were tallied in this area, with boxes from the following polling stations not included: Gerard Murphy's House Kilmichael, Old School House on Heir Island, Patsy Whooley's House Long Island, Whiddy Island. Postal votes were not included.
Bandon-Kinsale
The six candidates elected in the Bandon-Kinsale local electoral area were Alan Coleman (Ind), Ann Bambury (SD), Gillian Coughlan (FF), John Collins (Ind IE), John Michael Foley (FG), Marie O'Sullivan (FG).
Approximately 98% of ballot boxes were tallied here – postal votes are not included.
Voter turnout in each electoral area
Turnout across Ireland is expected to reach 52% – all three local electoral areas in the West Cork Municipal District had a higher-than-average turnout. Use the drop down menus in each chart to see the voter turnout percentages for each polling station.
