1981 Fermanagh District Council election

Elections to Fermanagh District Council, in Northern Ireland, were held on 20 May 1981, the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used five district electoral areas to elect a total of 20 councillors.

1981 Fermanagh District Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →

All 20 seats to Fermanagh District Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party UUP Irish Independence SDLP
Seats won 8 4 4
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 4 Decrease 3

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party DUP Ind. Nationalist Ind. Republican
Seats won 2 1 1
Seat change Increase 2 Steady 0 Increase 1

  Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party
 
Party UUUP Unity Independent
Seats won 0 0 0
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 2 Decrease 1

Election results

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Fermanagh District Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  UUP 8 2 0  2 40.0 34.0 10,395  4.0
  Irish Independence 4 4 0  4 20.0 22.3 6,867 New
  SDLP 4 0 3  3 20.0 17.8 5,436  7.3
  DUP 2 2 0  2 10.0 12.3 3,750  12.3
  Alliance 0 0 0  0 0.0 1.6 477  0.3
  Ind. Nationalist 1 0 0  0 5.0 5.5 1,697  2.9
  Ind. Republican 1 1 0  1 5.0 3.5 1,069  3.5
  Independent Labour 0 0 0  0 0.0 1.2 362  1.2
  Independent 0 0 1  1 0.0 1.7 528  4.5

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

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Results of the Fermanagh District Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
%
Cllrs
Total
Cllrs
UUP IIP SDLP DUP Others
Area A 21.3 2 19.6 1 13.8 0 8.3 0 37.0 1 4
Area B 52.0 2 21.5 1 12.4 0 14.1 1 0.0 0 4
Area C 27.6 1 33.7 1 16.5 1 7.9 0 14.3 1 4
Area D 36.8 2 15.8 0 25.9 1 18.6 1 2.9 0 4
Area E 34.3 2 22.5 1 19.9 1 12.6 0 10.7 0 5
Total 34.0 8 22.3 4 17.8 4 12.3 2 13.6 2 20

Districts results

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Area A

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1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Unity, 1 x Independent
1981: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP, 1 x Independent Republican
1977-1981 Change: IIP gain from Independent, Independent Republican leaves Unity

Fermanagh Area A - 4 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
UUP Jack Leahy* 16.29% 1,075 1,076 1,363      
Irish Independence John McMahon 19.58% 1,292 1,309 1,312 1,312 1,455  
Ind. Republican John McCusker* 16.20% 1,069 1,085 1,086 1,086.36 1,239.44 1,243.44
SDLP Fergus McQuillan 9.52% 628 834 838 838.72 1,005.08 1,025.42
Ind. Nationalist Thomas Murray* 12.87% 849 859 860 860 887 889
DUP Caroline Madill 8.31% 548 549 576 612.9 616.8  
Independent Michael McBarron 8.00% 528 544 546 550.32    
UUP Thomas Johnston 4.99% 329 331        
Electorate: 7,737   Valid: 6,598 (85.28%)   Spoilt: 136   Quota: 1,320   Turnout: 6,734 (87.04%)  

Area B

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1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x UUUP, 1 x SDLP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x IIP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: IIP and DUP gain from UUUP and SDLP

Fermanagh Area B - 4 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
UUP Cecil Noble* 29.30% 1,660          
Irish Independence Anthony Cox 21.47% 1,216          
UUP Norman Brown* 15.75% 892 1,181.85        
DUP Roy Coulter 9.44% 535 583.05 583.14 826.68 828.3 1,136.3
SDLP Thomas Doherty 6.97% 395 395.93 437.06 437.06 746.36 749.36
UUP Cyril Crozier 6.99% 396 551 551.99 575.71 580.8  
SDLP Seamus Carson 5.47% 310 310.93 348.01 350.01    
DUP Margaret Veitch 4.61% 261 276.5 276.5      
Electorate: 6,582   Valid: 5,665 (86.07%)   Spoilt: 109   Quota: 1,134   Turnout: 5,774 (87.72%)  

Area C

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1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Unity, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: Unity joins IIP

Fermanagh Area C - 4 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
Irish Independence Patrick McCaffrey* 19.90% 1,178 1,196  
UUP Wilson Elliott* 15.90% 941 1,215  
Ind. Nationalist Patrick Flanagan* 14.32% 848 901 1,252
SDLP Gerry Gallagher* 13.11% 776 907 1,150
UUP Herbert Corrigan 11.71% 693 861 890
Irish Independence Annie Cavanagh 13.78% 816 818  
DUP George Gott 7.91% 468    
SDLP Patrick McGovern 3.38% 200    
Electorate: 6,653   Valid: 5,920 (88.98%)   Spoilt: 174   Quota: 1,185   Turnout: 6,094 (91.60%)  

Area D

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1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1977-1981 Change: UUP gain from SDLP, UUUP joins DUP

Fermanagh Area D - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UUP Herbert Kerr 19.31% 1,214 1,290            
SDLP John O'Kane 13.41% 843 868 868 869.98 990.98 1,003.98 1,505.98  
DUP Bert Johnston* 14.39% 905 921 1,180 1,181.98 1,183.98 1,187.98 1,194.98 1,197.98
UUP Caldwell McClaughry 17.08% 1,074 1,117 1,124 1,149.74 1,153.74 1,156.74 1,167.4 1,191.4
Irish Independence Gerry O'Donnell 8.65% 544 547 548 548 576 876 992 1,170
SDLP John Cunningham 6.30% 396 414 415 416.98 647.98 752.98    
Irish Independence Patrick Keown 7.13% 448 450 451 451 460      
SDLP Patrick McGrath 6.22% 391 403 403 403        
DUP Mariam Cuthbertson 4.23% 266 270            
Alliance John Haslett 2.85% 179              
Electorate: 7,320   Valid: 6,287 (85.89%)   Spoilt: 84   Quota: 1,258   Turnout: 6,371 (87.04%)  

Area E

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1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x UUUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x IIP
1977-1981 Change: UUP and IIP gain from SDLP and UUUP

Fermanagh Area E - 4 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
UUP Raymond Ferguson* 18.26% 1,116 1,124 1,225          
SDLP James Lunny* 8.49% 519 629 694 790 795 1,294    
Irish Independence Patrick O'Reilly 13.50% 825 836 844 931 931 984 1,558  
UUP Samuel Foster 9.21% 563 570 596 603 996 1,001 1,006 1,041
DUP Nigel Dodds 12.55% 767 768 772 781 813 815 823 837
Irish Independence Edward Bermingham 8.97% 548 552 553 623 624 639    
SDLP James Donnelly* 7.46% 456 512 532 608 609      
UUP Alwin Loane 6.79% 415 421 436 440        
Independent Labour Thomas Campbell 5.92% 362 384 425          
Alliance Marjorie Moore 4.88% 298 313            
SDLP Roy Tarbotton 3.96% 242              
Electorate: 7,934   Valid: 6,111 (77.02%)   Spoilt: 142   Quota: 1,223   Turnout: 6,253 (78.81%)  

References

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  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Fermanagh". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 17 August 2021.