Fianna Fáil considers options as Fine Gael’s grip on county council broken

Fine Gael’s 23-year dominance on Cork County Council is at an end, with the race on to see if Fianna Fáil will do a deal with Independents and/or Sinn Féin to gain the balance of power.

The new 55-seater council has been increased by seven seats, due to the abolition of 12 town councils, but the government parties, Fine Gael and Labour, lost a total of 11 seats — six and five respectively.

The new chamber will boast 17 Fianna Fáil councillors, 16 Fine Gael, 10 Independents, 10 Sinn Féin, and just two Labour.