Newry Mourne and Down: Independents and Alliance surge with voter ‘apathy’ for bigger parties
Two more independents took council seats this time around, up to five, while Alliance enjoyed a substantial updraft in their support, coming close to doubling its seats.
The independents performed very strongly across a number of areas, Jarlath Tinnelly and Gavin Malone topping the polls in Crotlieve and Newry respectively, while Cadogan Enright came second in Downpatrick, Mark Gibbons third in Crotlieve and independent unionist Henry Reilly retaining his seat in Mourne.
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Hide AdJarlath Tinnelly exhibited a startling turn around in fortunes, having been the last councillor elected in 2014 with 740 votes, almost doubling his vote to 1,412 to top the poll this time. His secret, he said, was hard work on the ground and a strong canvassing team.
“But I am also very conscious that there is an apathy towards the bigger parties,” he said. “Independents are very much about dealing with day-to-day things that are happening to people. I think there was too much emphasis on national issues in this election such as Brexit and a united Ireland.”
The two Alliance candidates elected were Patrick Brown, who topped the Rowallane poll with 1,416 votes, and Gregory Bain, who was elected in Slieve Croob. Mr Brown said Alliance had grown from 1,500 votes for three candidates in 2014 to some 5,100 this time out with seven.
“We were very close to having another two candidates elected, with Andrew McMurray falling short by only 30 votes in the Mournes and Helena Young by 44 in Newry,” he said.
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Hide Ad“This time we had seven candidates out, one in each electoral area. We simply had so many members and activists wanting to run.”
The party had been building strength in the area in recent Assembly and Westminster elections, he said.
“The Alliance vote was there, there were enough people there if you do the groundwork and persuade them.”
DUP MLA Jim Wells was pleased that eight unionist seats were retained, though the DUP dropped one to victims’ campaigner and UUP candidate Alan Lewis, who topped the Slieve Croob poll.
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Hide Ad“The major surprise was the performance of the three independents in Crotlieve and Cadogen Enright in Downpatrick,” Mr Wells said. “The anticipated surge of the Sinn Fein vote was not as significant as anticipated, going from 14 seats to 16, and the council remains with no party in overall control.”
SDLP MLA and party chair Colin McGrath noted that his party dropped from 14 to 11 seats. “We did a lot better in 2014 than we expected so this election just settled us down to our natural level,” he said. Turnout was 56.12%, up from 52.10% in 2014.
NEWLY ELECTED COUNCILLORS BY PARTY;
SINN FEIN (16)
Gerry O’Hare
Mickey Ruane
Oonagh Hanlon
Charlie Casey
Valerie Harte
Liz Kimmins
Roisin Howell
Cathy Mason
Terry Hearty
Mickey Larkin
Oonagh Magennis
Roisin Mulgrew
Barra O’Muiri
Willie Clarke
Sean Doran
Leeanne McEvoy
SDLP (11)
Declan McAteer
Karen McKevitt
Gareth Sharvin
John Trainor
Dermot Curran
Michael Savage
Gary John Stokes
Terry Andrews
Hugh Gallagher
Pete Byrne
Laura Devlin
INDEPENDENTS (5)
Mark Gibbons
Jarlath Tinnelly
Cadogan Enright
Gavin Malone
Henry Reilly
UUP (4)
Robert Burgess
Alan Lewis
David Taylor
Harold McKee
DUP (3)
Harry Harvey
William Walker
Glyn Hanna
ALLIANCE (2)
Patrick Brown
Gregory Bain
FIRST PREFERENCE VOTES;
CROTLIEVE:
Jim Boylan (Independent) 788
Michael Carr (SDLP) 808
Mark Gibbons (Independent) ELECTED 1189
Joshua Lowry (UUP) 712
Declan McAteer (SDLP) ELECTED 1175
Wilma McCullough (DUP) 371
Lorcan McGreevy (Alliance) 483
Karen McKevitt (SDLP) ELECTED 1116
Oksana McMahon (Sinn Fein) 809
Gerry O’Hare (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1286
Mickey Ruane (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 812
Jarlath Tinnelly (Independent) ELECTED 1412
Mary Tinnelly (Sinn Fein) 519
DOWNPATRICK:
Alex Burgess (UUP) 345
Dermot Curran (SDLP) ELECTED 940
Macartan Digney (Aontu) 475
Cadogan Enright (Independent) ELECTED 1052
Oonagh Hanlon (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1032
Jamie Kennedy (Green Party NI) 128
Tiernan Laird (Alliance) 375
Jordan Madden (Sinn Fein) 833
James Savage (DUP) 149
Gareth Sharvin (SDLP) ELECTED 1395
John Trainor (SDLP) ELECTED 664
NEWRY:
Charlie Casey (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1230
Valerie Harte (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1045
Liz Kimmins (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1374
Gavin Malone (Independent) ELECTED 2296
Sarah Jane McAllister (Sinn Fein) 784
Ricky McGaffin (UUP) 341
Michael Savage (SDLP) ELECTED 1231
Gary John Stokes (SDLP) ELECTED 878
Helena Young (Alliance) 721
ROWALLANE:
Terry Andrews (SDLP) ELECTED 1211
Patrick Brown (Alliance) ELECTED 1416
Robert Burgess (UUP) ELECTED 842
Emma Cairns (Green Party NI) 182
Marianne Cleary (Sinn Fein) 622
Harry Harvey (DUP) ELECTED 1265
Walter Lyons (UUP) 667
Liam Mulhern (Aontu) 99
Martyn Todd (Independent) 477
William Walker (DUP) ELECTED 985
SLIEVE CROOB:
Gregory Bain (Alliance) ELECTED 863
Hugh Gallagher (SDLP) ELECTED 880
Maynard Hanna (DUP) 868
Tracy Harkin (Aontu) 481
Roisin Howell (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1035
Alan Lewis (UUP) ELECTED 1303
Cathy Mason (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1069
Mark Murnin (SDLP) 796
John Rice (Sinn Fein) 884
SLIEVE GULLION:
Pete Byrne (SDLP) ELECTED 1643
Balazs Gazdag (Alliance) 361
Terry Hearty (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1876
Linda Henry (DUP) 315
Mickey Larkin (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1646
Kate Loughran (SDLP) 1059
Oonagh Magennis (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1622
Roisin Mulgrew (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1362
Barra O’Muiri (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1351
David Taylor (UUP) ELECTED 1287
MOURNES:
Willie Clarke (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1154
Laura Devlin (SDLP) ELECTED 1572
Sean Doran (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1885
Glyn Hanna (DUP) ELECTED 1944
Leeanne McEvoy (Sinn Fein) ELECTED 1097
Harold McKee (UUP) ELECTED 1455
Andrew McMurray (Alliance) 943
Brian Quinn (SDLP) 607
Henry Reilly (Independent) ELECTED 1447