FG and Labour pile up big gains in local elections

FINE Gael’s dominance of the local elections was confirmed last night when the party’s tally of city and county council seats broke through the 330 mark – over 120 more than Fianna Fáil.

With counting almost complete, just four of the 883 council seats remained to be filled. Fine Gael had won 339 by that point, an increase of 46 since the last local elections in 2004.

Fianna Fáil, by contrast, had just 217 seats, compared with the 302 won five years ago. Labour had 131 seats, up from 101 in 2004, while Sinn Féin were on 54, the same number the party won last time out.