The election results were significant for a number of reasons:
Fine Gael gained 88 seats and became the largest party at local level for the first time ever.
Fianna Fáil lost 135 seats and became the second-largest party nationally, and the third-largest in Dublin.
The
Labour Party increased its seat total by 43 seats, and became the largest party on
Dublin City Council. It also held the most seats on the four Dublin local authorities.
Sinn Féin support remained at almost the same level, gaining 2 seats.
The
Green Party lost 14 seats and had 3 county councillors.
The total number of the Irish electorate eligible to vote in the election was 3,259,253. A total of 1,880,589 first preference votes were cast, representing a turnout of 57.7%.
The
Progressive Democrats and
Independent Fianna Fáil did not compete in the elections. As they competed in the previous elections, totals for vote and seat changes may not total zero. People Before Profit Alliance figures are compared to
Socialist Workers Party figures from the previous local elections.
Following the June 2009 local elections
Fine Gael were the largest political party on 24 councils, the
Labour Party on 4 councils,
Fianna Fáil on 3 councils, Independents on 2 councils and
Sinn Féin on 1 council.
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (2010). Local Elections 2009: Results, Transfer of Votes and Statistics (PDF). Dublin: Stationery Office.
ISBN9781406425109.