2023 Fermanagh and Omagh District Council election

Main article: 2023 Northern Ireland local elections

2023 Fermanagh and Omagh District Council election

18 May 2023
All 40 council seats 21 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Michelle O'Neill[n 1] Doug Beattie Jeffrey Donaldson Party Sinn Féin UUP DUP Last election 15 9 5 Seats won 21 7 6 Seat change 6 2 1 Popular vote 26,749 7,467 8,580 Percentage 49.24% 13.75% 15.80% Swing 12.43% 2.84% 0.14%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Colum Eastwood Naomi Long Party SDLP Alliance Independent Last election 5 1 4 Seats won 3 2 1 Seat change 2 1 3 Popular vote 4,283 3,248 2,482 Percentage 7.89% 5.98% 4.57% Swing 2.66% 2.06% 5.35%
Fermanagh and Omagh 2023 Council Election Results by DEA (Shaded by plurality of FPVs)
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election Sinn Féin

The 2023 election to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council was held on 18 May 2023, alongside other local elections in Northern Ireland, two weeks after local elections in England.^[1] The Northern Ireland elections were delayed by 2 weeks to avoid overlapping with the coronation of King Charles III.^[2]

Voters returned 40 members to the council via Single Transferable Vote.^[3] In the elections, Sinn Féin took control of the council from no overall control.^[4]

Election results

^[5]

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council Election Result 2023

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Sinn Féin	21	6	0	6	52.50	49.24	26,749	12.43
	UUP	7	0	2	2	17.50	13.75	7,467	2.84
	DUP	6	1	0	1	15.00	15.80	8,580	0.14
	SDLP	3	1	3	2	7.50	7.89	4,283	2.66
	Alliance	2	1	0	1	5.00	5.98	3,248	2.06
	Independent	1	0	3	3	2.50	4.57	2,482	5.35
	TUV	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.71	931	0.36
	Labour Alternative	0	0	1	1	0.0	0.93	504	0.46
Total		40						54,319

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

• The electorate was 87,488 the turnout was 62.89% (55,021) and there were 702 spoiled votes.

Districts summary

Results of the 2023 Fermanagh and Omagh District Council election
by district

District Electoral Area (DEA)	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total cllrs
	Sinn Féin		UUP		DUP		SDLP		Alliance		Independents and others
Enniskillen	34.52	2 1	16.01	2	19.10	1	7.02	0 1	10.15	1 1	13.20	0 1	6
Erne East	52.33	3 1	13.15	1	16.63	1	5.87	1	2.61	0	9.42	0 1	6
Erne North	33.99	2 1	27.06	2	16.94	1	11.03	0 1	5.04	0	5.94	0	5
Erne West	54.19	3 1	15.78	1	9.06	0	11.01	1	3.30	0	6.67	0 1	5
Mid Tyrone	62.77	4	8.04	0 1	12.37	1 1	5.82	1 1	3.64	0	7.36	0 1	6
Omagh	47.14	3 1	7.37	0 1	17.15	1	5.80	0	13.14	1	9.41	1	6
West Tyrone	56.02	4 1	9.99	1	19.50	1	8.99	0 1	5.51	0	0.00	0	6
Total	49.24	21 6	13.75	7 2	15.80	6 1	7.89	3 2	5.98	2 1	7.21	1 4	40

District results

Enniskillen

2019: 2 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Cross-Community Labour Alternative

2023: 2 x UUP, 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin and Alliance gain from SDLP and Cross-Community Labour Alternative

Enniskillen - 6 seats^[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	DUP	Keith Elliott*	13.41%	1,029	1,412
	Alliance	Eddie Roofe	10.15%	779	783	789.8	953.8	1,257.8
	Sinn Féin	Tommy Maguire*	13.34%	1,024	1,024	1,024	1,091	1,135
	UUP	Roy Crawford*	8.69%	667	674	752.2	766.2	784.2	810.12	810.12	1,130.43
	Sinn Féin	Dermot Browne	11.02%	846	846	846	879	1,003	1,057.72	1,074.21	1,077.17	1,077.17
	UUP	Robert Irvine*	7.32%	562	580	673.5	684.5	701.5	720.7	721.67	995.32	1,028.47
	Sinn Féin	Andrea McManus	10.16%	780	780	780	817	884	941.6	961.97	963.97	963.97
	TUV	Donald Crawford	6.63%	509	531	665.3	668.3	680.3	683.18	683.18
	SDLP	Paul Blake*	7.02%	539	539	539	663
	Labour Alternative	Donal O'Cofaigh*	6.57%	504	506	507.7
	DUP	Jill Mahon	5.69%	437
Electorate: 13,642   Valid: 7,676 (56.27%)   Spoilt: 99   Quota: 1,097   Turnout: 7,775 (56.99%)

Erne East

2019: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Independent

Erne East - 6 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Sinn Féin	Sheamus Greene*	20.68%	1,753
	DUP	Paul Robinson*	16.63%	1,410
	Sinn Féin	Thomas O'Reilly*	16.36%	1,387
	Sinn Féin	Noeleen Hayes	15.29%	1,296
	UUP	Victor Warrington*	13.15%	1,115	1,118.08	1,309.46
	SDLP	Garbhan McPhillips*	5.87%	498	747.48	748.46	824.36	855.02	893.94	1,145.86
	Independent	Eamon Keenan*	6.61%	560	719.39	719.81	760.61	764.81	794.35	1,068.17
	Alliance	Richard Bullick	2.61%	221	277.98	278.98	298.78	352.68	363.18
	Independent	Tina McDermott	2.81%	238	307.30	307.44	345.24	348.88	351.82
Electorate: 12,127   Valid: 8,478 (69.91%)   Spoilt: 110   Quota: 1,212   Turnout: 8,588 (70.82%)

Erne North

2019: 2 x UUP, 1 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

2023: 2 x Sinn Féin, 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

Erne North - 5 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Sinn Féin	Debbie Coyle*	21.99%	1,561
	UUP	Diana Armstrong* †	19.61%	1,392
	DUP	David Mahon	13.86%	984	984.24	1,009.44	1,184.20
	Sinn Féin	John Feely	12.00%	852	1,181.76	1,181.76	1,181.76	1,210.76
	UUP	John McClaughry*	7.45%	529	529	673.34	699.58	771.68	1,146.04
	SDLP	John Coyle*	11.03%	783	815.16	818.66	818.66	1,023.54	1,034.48
	TUV	Alex Elliott	5.94%	422	422.24	433.72	453.14	461.42
	Alliance	Eric Bullick	5.04%	358	366.16	370.36	370.36
	DUP	Paul Stevenson*	3.08%	219	219.24	224.70
Electorate: 11,509   Valid: 7,100 (61.69%)   Spoilt: 93   Quota: 1,184   Turnout: 7,193 (62.46%)

Erne West

2019: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from Independent

Erne West - 5 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Sinn Féin	Anthony Feely*	19.68%	1,493
	Sinn Féin	Elaine Brough	17.95%	1,362
	Sinn Féin	Declan McArdle	16.56%	1,256	1,426.40
	SDLP	Adam Gannon*	11.01%	835	869.35	1,005.55	1,053.40	1,313.40
	UUP	Mark Ovens	15.78%	1,197	1,198.35	1,250.35	1,250.95	1,273.95
	DUP	Aaron Elliott	9.06%	687	687.90	692.90	693.05	699.05
	Independent	Paul McColdrick	6.67%	506	517.85	555.15	580.65
	Alliance	Gerard McCusker	3.30%	250	251.95
Electorate: 11,196   Valid: 7,586 (67.76%)   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 1,265   Turnout: 7,652 (68.35%)

Mid Tyrone

2019: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent

2023: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP

2019–2023 Change: DUP and SDLP gain from UUP and Independent

Mid Tyrone - 6 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Sinn Féin	Pádraigín Kelly*	18.98%	1,621
	Sinn Féin	Roisin Devine Gallagher	17.14%	1,464
	Sinn Féin	Anne Marie Fitzgerald*	14.10%	1,204	1,535.68
	Sinn Féin	Patrick Withers*	12.55%	1,072	1,097.20	1,359.52
	DUP	Shirley Hawkes	12.37%	1,057	1,057.48	1,057.48	1,061.44	1,071.44	1,071.44	1,667.44
	SDLP	Bernard McGrath	5.82%	497	505.88	517.40	619.92	786.60	825.00	891.24	1,087.24
	Independent	Emmet McAleer*	7.36%	629	646.28	656.84	739.12	812.76	843.00	867.92	946.92
	UUP	Rosemary Barton*	8.04%	687	687.00	687.24	689.00	735.24	737.88
	Alliance	Matthew Beaumont	3.64%	311	313.88	319.40	371.76
Electorate: 13,083   Valid: 8,542 (65.29%)   Spoilt: 119   Quota: 1,221   Turnout: 8,661 (66.20%)

Omagh

2019: 2 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

2023: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from UUP

Omagh - 6 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Sinn Féin	Barry McElduff*	20.22%	1,342
	DUP	Errol Thompson*	17.15%	1,138
	Sinn Féin	Catherine Kelly	15.27%	1,013
	Sinn Féin	Marty McColgan	11.65%	773	1,073.44
	Alliance	Stephen Donnelly*	13.14%	872	899.84	903.92	958.92
	Independent	Josephine Deehan*	7.07%	469	492.20	494.58	545.49	582.01	601.81	940.60
	UUP	Matthew Bell*	7.37%	489	489.29	668.13	673.47	674.79	675.23	695.14
	SDLP	Brenda Mellon	5.80%	385	410.81	412.34	437.67	520.61	561.97
	Independent	Kathy Dunphy	1.21%	80	85.22	85.90
	Socialist Party	Amy Ferguson	1.13%	75	76.74	77.08
Electorate: 13,279   Valid: 6,636 (49.97%)   Spoilt: 103   Quota: 949   Turnout: 6,739 (50.75%)

West Tyrone

2019: 3 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP

2023: 4 x Sinn Féin, 1 x DUP, 1 x UUP

2019–2023 Change: Sinn Féin gain from SDLP

West Tyrone - 6 seats^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	DUP	Mark Buchanan*	19.50%	1,619
	Sinn Féin	Glenn Campbell*	15.41%	1,279
	UUP	Allan Rainey*	9.99%	829	1,232.38
	Sinn Féin	Ann-Marie Donnelly*	13.60%	1,129	1,129.81	1,174.81	1,209.74
	Sinn Féin	Colette McNulty	13.84%	1,149	1,151.43	1,163.43	1,171.20
	Sinn Féin	Stephen McCann*	13.17%	1,093	1,093.00	1,112.00	1,153.16
	SDLP	Mary Garrity*	8.99%	746	750.32	1,044.45	1,049.77
	Alliance	Joyce Donnelly	5.51%	457	465.91
Electorate: 12,652   Valid: 8,301 (65.61%)   Spoilt: 112   Quota: 1,186   Turnout: 8,413 (66.50%)

† Co-options

Date co-opted	Electoral Area	Party		Outgoing	Co-optee	Reason
21 October 2024	Erne North		UUP	Diana Armstrong	Rosemary Barton	Armstrong was co-opted to the Northern Ireland Assembly.[8]

Notes

1. The leader of Sinn Féin is Mary Lou McDonald, who sits as a TD in the Irish Dáil Éireann for Dublin Central. O'Neill is the leader of the party in Northern Ireland.

References

1. "Local government elections in Northern Ireland". www.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
2. "NI council election moved to avoid coronation clash". BBC News. 21 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
3. Henderson, Roisin (16 May 2023). "Everything you need to know about the local election". The Fermanagh Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
4. Coyle, Conor (20 May 2023). "Your full list of new councillors elected in Fermanagh and Omagh". BelfastLive. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
5. "Fermanagh and Omagh result - Northern Ireland Council Elections 2023". BBC News. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
6. "Election Results 2023". Fermanagh & Omagh District Council.
7. "Northern Ireland council election: List of all the candidates in the May 2023 poll". Belfast Live. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
8. "New Councillor - Erne North District Electoral Area".