The South Dublin County Council, comprised of seven local electoral divisions, will witness a competition amongst 111 contestants for its 40 available positions in the 2024 local elections. Fianna Fáil dominated the last elections in 2019, securing eight openings, with Fine Gael and Sinn Féin following suit with seven and four seats respectively. Independent representatives secured nine positions on the council, serving regions including Clondalkin, Firhouse, Lucan, Palmerstown, Rathfarnham, Templeogue, and Tallaght.
In local discussions, electorates have identified key issues such as accommodation, traffic issues, public misconduct, as well as the state of childcare and health services. Specifically in Tallaght, the proposed location for international protection applicants, namely the St John’s House, is a major topic. Currently, authorities are probing a fire incident at the empty High Street property.
Several councillors who gained their seats in the last elections have moved onto be TDs, including Fine Gael’s Emer Higgins, Green Party’s Francis Noel Duffy, and Sinn Féin’s Mark Ward, with Higgins now a State Minister.
Formerly a member of Sinn Féin, ex-MMA combatant Paddy Holohan will re-contest his position independently after severing ties with Sinn Féin in 2021. This follows a controversial suspension from the party due to offensive podcast remarks regarding underage girls and blackmail, which saw Sinn Féin leadership block his mayoral candidacy despite his reinstatement.
An interesting arena will be Sinn Féin’s performance amidst the loss of three seats previously, further complicated by Holohan’s departure. Meanwhile, former Olympic boxer Kenny Egan, a Fine Gael representative elected in Clondalkin in 2019, has opted out of the re-election in favour of his psychotherapy and public speaking career.
The seats are distributed as follows: Clondalkin holds 7 seats, Firhouse – Bohernabreena 5, Lucan 5, Palmerstown – Fonthill 5, Rathfarnham – Templeogue 7, and Tallaght Central 6.
South Tallaght holds five seats, as shown in the 2019 South Dublin County Council results. Looking towards the 2024 elections, multiple areas come under scrutiny including the European Election, Dublin, MNW, South Ireland, and the EU&I Voter App. Additional locations, including Limerick, featuring a mayoral election, and various local elections in counties such as Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork City and County, DLR, Donegal, Dublin City, Fingal, Galway City and County, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, South Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow are also pertinent.
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