2019 Cork County Council election
An election to all 55 seats on Cork County Council was held on 24 May 2019 as part of the 2019 Irish local elections. County Cork was divided into 10 local electoral areas to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
Administrative changes
The election coincided with a transfer of land around Cork city from the administration of the County Council to that of Cork City Council. Several outgoing county councillors, based in areas transferred to the city, stood in the city council election. Compared to the previous election in 2014, the total number of councillors is unchanged, but following the recommendation of the 2018 Boundary Committee, there were significant changes to the LEAs, taking account of the transfer of land to the city, a maximum of 7 seats per LEA in its terms of reference, and population shifts revealed by the 2016 census.
Analysis
Compared with the 2014 election, Fianna Fáil increased its seat number by 1 to 18 and also polled more votes than Fine Gael. However, Fine Gael gained an additional 4 seats to emerge as the largest party with 20 seats. Both parties benefitted from the collapse of Sinn Féin who only returned with 2 seats, a loss of 8. However, there had been many defections within the party in the years since 2014 and several councillors did not seek re-election. Independents won 10 seats, the same total as in 2014. The Green Party gained 2 seats in the Cobh and Midleton LEAs. After a recount, Holly Cairns won a seat in Bantry–West Cork for the Social Democrats.