BEFORE the election, Cllr Paul Hayes (Ind), Kevin Murphy (FG) and John O’Sullivan (FG) had announced they would leave the local authority on their own terms.
Paul stepped down from the Skibbereen electoral area, leaving four sitting councillors keen to retain their seats in the five-seat constituency.
Kevin and John resigned from the Bandon-Kinsale area, leaving four seeking re-election, but in Bantry the four sitting councillors all threw their hats into the ring once again.
Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) and Deirdre Kelly (FF) held on in Skibbereen, but Cllr Karen Coakley (Ind) was eliminated after the third count, while Cllr Declan Hurley (Ind) was eliminated after the seventh count.
Fine Gael reclaimed its seat in Skibbereen when former councillor Noel O’Donovan topped the poll, while first-time candidate Isobel Towse for the Social Democrats was also successfully elected. Another surprise in the Skibbereen area was the election of Daniel Sexton for the Independent Ireland party.
Each of the four sitting councillors were hoping to be returned in the Bantry electoral area, but the co-opted Social Democrat Cllr Chris Heinhold lost out, while Danny Collins (Ind Ire), Caroline Cronin (FG), and the longest serving councillor in West Cork, Patrick Gerard Murphy (FF), were elected, with the independent candidate Finbarr Harrington taking the fourth seat on the seventh count.
In Bandon, Cllr Sean O’Donovan (FF) missed out on the sixth seat, but independent Cllr Alan Coleman topped the poll for the third time.
Gillian Coughlan (FF) and Fine Gael’s Marie O’Sullivan were returned, but the new faces on the block are first time councillors John Collins (Ind Ire), John Michael Foley (FG) and Ann Bambury (SD).
