1985 Irish local elections
{{Short description|Nationwide local authority elections}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1985 Irish local elections
| country = Republic of Ireland
| type = parliamentary
| party_colour =
| previous_election = 1979 Irish local elections
| previous_year = 1979
| next_election =
| seats_for_election =
| election_date = 20 June 1985
| turnout= 58.98% {{decrease}}4.62pp
| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Charles Haughey, 1990.jpg|bSize = 113|cWidth = 113|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| colour1 =
| leader1 = Charles Haughey
| leader_since1 = 7 December 1979
| leaders_seat1 =
| party1 = Fianna Fáil
| last_election1 =
| seats1 = 441
| seat_change1 = {{increase}}113
| popular_vote1 = 648,070
| percentage1 = 45.6%
| swing1 = {{increase}}6.5%
| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Garret FitzGerald 1975 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 113|cWidth = 113|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| colour2 =
| leader2 = Garret FitzGerald
| leader_since2 = 1 July 1977
| leaders_seat2 =
| party2 = Fine Gael
| last_election2 =
| seats2 = 287
| seat_change2 = {{decrease}}5
| popular_vote2 = 422,045
| percentage2 = 29.7%
| swing2 = {{decrease}}5.4%
| image3 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Dick Spring, April 1995 02 (cropped).jpg|bSize = 113|cWidth = 113|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 5}}
| colour3 =
| leader3 = Dick Spring
| leader_since3 = 1 November 1982
| leaders_seat3 =
| party3 = Labour Party (Ireland)
| last_election3 =
| seats3 = 60
| seat_change3 = {{decrease}} 15
| popular_vote3 = 109,681
| percentage3 = 7.9%
| swing3 = {{decrease}}4.2%
| image4 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Tomás Mac Giolla (cropped).jpg|bSize = 113|cWidth = 113|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| colour4 =
| leader4 = Tomás Mac Giolla
| leader_since4 = 14 October 1962
| leaders_seat4 =
| party4 = Workers' Party (Ireland)
| last_election4 =
| seats4 = 20
| seat_change4 = {{increase}} 13
| popular_vote4 = 43,006
| percentage4 = 3.0%
| swing4 = {{increase}} 0.3%
| image5 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Gerry Adams, 1997.jpg|bSize = 113|cWidth = 113|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| colour5 =
| leader5 = Gerry Adams
| leader_since5 = 13 November 1983
| leaders_seat5 =
| party5 = Sinn Féin
| last_election5 = N/A
| seats5 = 10
| seat_change5 = {{decrease}} 1
| popular_vote5 = 46,391
| percentage5 = 3.3%
| swing5 = {{increase}} 1.7%
| image6 = {{CSS image crop|Image =Neil Blaney 1990.jpg|bSize = 113|cWidth = 113|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}
| colour6 =
| leader6 = Neil Blaney
| leader_since6 = 1972
| leaders_seat6 =
| party6 = Independent Fianna Fáil
| last_election6 =
| seats6 = 6
| seat_change6 = {{increase}} 2
| popular_vote6 = 11073
| percentage6 = 0.8%
| swing6 = {{nochange}} 0.0%
| image7 =
| colour7 =
| leader7 = Jim Kemmy
| leader_since7 = 1972
| leaders_seat7 =
| party7 = Democratic Socialist Party
| last_election7 =
| seats7 = 3
| seat_change7 = {{increase}} 3
| popular_vote7 = 5,472
| percentage7 = 0.4%
| swing7 = {{increase}} 0.4%
}}
The 1985 Irish local elections were held in all the local government areas on Thursday, 20 June 1985.
There were two tiers of local government areas. The state was divided into local government areas of administrative counties and county boroughs under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898. Within administrative counties, there was a second tier in certain areas of boroughs governed by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 and the 1898 Act, urban districts governed by the 1898 Act, and towns with town commissioners governed by the Towns Improvement (Ireland) Act 1854.
The elections had been postponed from June 1984.{{Cite ISB|title=Local Elections (Specification of Local Election Year) Order 1984|year=1984|number=6|type=si|date=12 January 1984}} This allowed the Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985 to be enacted beforehand. Each local government area was divided into local electoral areas (LEAs) to be elected on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
Administrative changes
Under the Local Government (Reorganisation) Act 1985:{{sfn|DofE|1986|p=vi–viii}}
- the borough of Galway (which previously had a 12-member borough council) ceased to be part of County Galway and became a county borough with its own 15-member city council.
- County Dublin was divided into three electoral counties: Dublin—Belgard (26 members), Dublin—Fingal (24 members) and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (28 members). This was an increase from the 36 seats which had been in Dublin County Council. No separate election was to be held for the borough council of the corporation of Dún Laoghaire, with members elected for designated LEAs in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown to also be the members of the borough council.
- Dublin City Council was increased from 45 to 52 seats
Two Electoral Area Boundary Commissions proposed changes which were implemented by order of the minister:{{Cite ISB|title=County Electoral Areas (Amendment) Order 1985|year=1985|number=109|type=si|date=24 April 1985}}; {{Cite ISB|title=County Electoral Areas (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 1985|year=1985|number=110|type=si|date=24 April 1985}}
- Increases in memberships of councils: Clare (one extra), Cork (two extra), Donegal (one extra), Kerry (one extra), Kildare (four extra), Limerick (one extra), Sligo (one extra) and Wicklow (three extra);
- Galway County Council was reduced from 31 to 30 members.{{Cite ISB|title=Galway County Council (Amendment) Order 1985|year=1985|number=127|type=si|date=7 May 1985}}
Results
=County, city and town council seats=
| class="wikitable" |
| colspan=2 align=center|Party
! Seats ! ± ! {{abbr|1st pref|First preference votes}} ! {{abbr|FPv%|First preference votes percentage}}{{cite news |title=County by county first preference vote |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1991/0701/Pg017.html |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=1 July 1991 |access-date=21 June 2011 |archive-date=24 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024035946/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1991/0701/Pg017.html |url-status=live }} The first two digits of the Fine Gael total vote seem to be transposed in error, based on the other figures and percentages.{{cite web |url=http://irelandelection.com/elections.php?detail=yes&tab=summary&elecid=170&electype=5 |title=1985 Local Election |website=irelandelection.com |access-date=29 March 2020 |archive-date=29 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329053758/http://irelandelection.com/elections.php?detail=yes&tab=summary&elecid=170&electype=5 |url-status=live }} ! ±% |
|---|
| {{Party name with colour|Fianna Fáil}}
| align="right" |441 | align="right" |{{increase}} 113 | align="right" |648,070 | align="right" |45.6 | align="right" |+6.5 |
| {{Party name with colour|Fine Gael}}
| align="right" |287 | align="right" |{{decrease}} 5 | align="right" |422,045 | align="right" |29.7 | align="right" |
| 5.4 |
| {{Party name with colour|Labour Party (Ireland)}}
| align="right" |60 | align="right" |{{decrease}} 15 | align="right" |109,681 | align="right" |7.9 | align="right" |
| 4.2 |
| {{Party name with colour|Workers' Party (Ireland)}}
| align="right" |20 | align="right" |{{increase}}13 | align="right" |43,006 | align="right" |3.0 | align="right" |+0.8 |
| {{Party name with colour|Sinn Féin}}
| align="right" |10 | align="right" |{{decrease}} 1 | align="right" |46,391 | align="right" |3.3 | align="right" |+1.7 |
| {{Party name with colour|Independent Fianna Fáil}}
| align="right" | 6 | align="right" |{{increase}} 2 | align="right" | 11,073 | align="right" | 0.8 | align="right" |0.0 |
| {{Party name with colour|Democratic Socialist Party (Ireland)}}
| align="right" |3 | align="right" |{{increase}} 3 | align="right" |5,472 | align="right" |0.4 | align="right" |New |
| {{Party name with colour|Waterford People's Party}}
| align="right" |1 | align="right" |{{increase}} 1 | align="right" |1,681 | align="right" |0.1 | align="right" |New |
| {{Party name with colour|Donegal Progressive Party}}
| align="right" |1 | align="right" |{{steady}} 0 | align="right" |1,506 | align="right" |0.1 | align="right" |0.0 |
| {{Party name with colour|Green Alliance (Ireland)}}
| align="right" |0 | align="right" |{{steady}} 0 | align="right" |7,446 | align="right" |0.5 | align="right" |New |
| {{Party name with colour|Communist Party of Ireland}}
| align="right" |0 | align="right" |{{steady}} 0 | align="right" |593 | align="right" |0.0 | align="right" |New |
| {{Party name with colour|Independent politician (Ireland)}}
| align="right" | | align="right" | | align="right" |135,603 | align="right" |9.6 | align="right" |
| 2.1 |
| style="font-weight:bold; background:rgb(232,232,232);"
| colspan="2" rowspan="1" | Total | align="right" | | align="right" | | align="right" |1,421,494 | align="right" |100.0 | align="right" |— |
;Note:
Sinn Féin, Independent Fianna Fáil and the Waterford People's Party were not registered political parties.
= Counties and cities =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; padding-left:1em"
!align="left"|Authority !style="background-color: {{party color|Fianna Fáil}}; width: 3px;" | |FF !style="background-color: {{party color|Fine Gael}}; width: 3px;" | |FG !style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (Ireland)}}; width: 3px;" | |Lab !style="background-color: {{party color|Workers' Party (Ireland)}}; width: 3px;" | |WP !style="background-color: {{party color|Sinn Féin}}; width: 3px;" | |SF !style="background-color: {{party color|Independent politician}}; width: 3px;" | !align="left"|Total |
| align="left"|Carlow
|colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|7 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |21 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Cavan |colspan="2"|14 |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |25 |
| align="left"|Clare
|colspan="2"|17 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|7 |32 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Cork City |colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|3 |31 |
| align="left"|Cork County
|colspan="2"|24 |colspan="2"|19 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |48 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Donegal |colspan="2"|11 |colspan="2"|9 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"|8 |29 |
| align="left"|Dublin City
|colspan="2"|26 |colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"|6 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"|4 |52 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Dublin–Belgard |colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |26 |
| align="left"|Dublin–Fingal
|colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|7 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |24 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown |colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|11 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |28 |
| align="left"|Galway City
|colspan="2"|6 |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |15 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Galway County |colspan="2"|17 |colspan="2"|9 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|4 |30 |
| align="left"|Kerry
|colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|7 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|4 |27 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Kildare |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|7 |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|3 |25 |
| align="left"|Kilkenny
|colspan="2"|11 |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |26 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Laois |colspan="2"|14 |colspan="2"|9 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |25 |
| align="left"|Leitrim
|colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|4 |22 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Limerick City |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"|6 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|5 |17 |
| align="left"|Limerick County
|colspan="2"|18 |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |28 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Longford |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|9 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |21 |
| align="left"|Louth
|colspan="2"|12 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"|3 |26 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Mayo |colspan="2"|15 |colspan="2"|14 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |31 |
| align="left"|Meath
|colspan="2"|17 |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |29 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Monaghan |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|7 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"|2 |20 |
| align="left"|North Tipperary
|colspan="2"|12 |colspan="2"|6 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |21 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Offaly |colspan="2"|12 |colspan="2"|6 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|3 |21 |
| align="left"|Roscommon
|colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|5 |26 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Sligo |colspan="2"|11 |colspan="2"|9 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|4 |25 |
| align="left"|South Tipperary
|colspan="2"|14 |colspan="2"|8 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |26 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Waterford City |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"|4 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |15 |
| align="left"|Waterford County
|colspan="2"|11 |colspan="2"|10 |colspan="2"|2 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |23 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Westmeath |colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"|3 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|2 |23 |
| align="left"|Wexford
|colspan="2"|11 |colspan="2"|6 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|3 |21 |
| bgcolor="F3F3FF"
|align="left"|Wicklow |colspan="2"|13 |colspan="2"|5 |colspan="2"|4 |colspan="2"|1 |colspan="2"| |colspan="2"|1 |24 |
| class="sortbottom" style="font-weight:bold; background:rgb(232,232,232);"
|align=left|Totals |colspan=2|437 |colspan=2|283 |colspan=2|58 |colspan=2|20 |colspan=2|4 |colspan=2|81 |783 |
References
=Sources=
- {{cite web
|url=http://electionsireland.org/results/local/1985local.cfm
|title=1985 Local Elections
|work=ElectionsIreland.org
|access-date=12 September 2008
}}
- {{cite book|title=Local elections, 1985 : election results and transfer of votes in respect of each county, and county borough council : and election statistics relating to all local authorities|url=http://opac.oireachtas.ie/AWData/Library3/Library2/DL035931.pdf|access-date=2 March 2016|series=Official publications|volume=Pl.3578|year=1986|publisher= Stationery Office|location=Dublin |ref={{harvid|DofE|1986}}}}
=Citations=
{{reflist}}