1981 Moyle District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

Elections to Moyle District Council were held on 20 May 1981 on the same day as the other Northern Irish local government elections. The election used three district electoral areas to elect a total of 16 councillors.

1981 Moyle District Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
All 16 seats to Moyle District Council 9 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party SDLP UUP Independent Seats won 5 4 3 Seat change 2 1 3   Fourth party Fifth party   Party DUP Ind. Unionist Seats won 2 2 Seat change

Election results

Moyle District Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SDLP	5	2	0	2	31.3	28.4	1,882	5.8
	UUP	4	1	0	1	25.0	13.5	895	4.1
	Independent	3	0	3	3	18.8	18.4	1,222	19.6
	DUP	2	0	0		12.5	15.1	1,005	7.4
	Ind. Unionist	2	0	0		12.5	10.3	681	0.4
	Irish Independence	0	0	0		0.0	7.3	487	New
	Alliance	0	0	0		0.0	7.0	465	4.1

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Moyle District Council election, 1981
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SDLP		UUP		DUP		Others
Area A	56.0	3	0.0	0	0.0	0	44.0	1	4
Area B	0.0	0	25.9	3	30.4	2	43.7	3	8
Area C	42.2	2	9.4	1	8.0	0	40.4	1	4
Total	28.4	5	13.5	4	15.1	2	43.0	5	16

Districts results

Area A

1977: 3 x Independent, 1 x SDLP
1981: 3 x SDLP, 1 x Independent
1977-1981 Change: SDLP (two seats) gain from Independent (two seats)

Moyle Area A - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SDLP	Malachy McSparran	22.12%	477
	Independent	Fergus Wheeler*	21.38%	461
	SDLP	Archie McIntosh*	11.50%	248	264.8	275.24	282.24	298.2	434.3
	SDLP	Gerard Gillan	12.15%	262	266.6	266.84	278.84	380.8	408.34
	Irish Independence	John McKay	11.18%	241	249.1	255.58	277.8	303.64	353.7
	SDLP	Charles Hamill	10.20%	220	229.5	234.06	238.06	241.18
	Independent	Thomas O'Neill	4.45%	96	99.6	102.06	115.12
	Independent	Gerard McCarry	3.85%	83	84.2	84.92	92.08
	Irish Independence	Anna Edwards	3.15%	68	68.2	68.44
Electorate: 2,776   Valid: 2,156 (77.67%)   Spoilt: 46   Quota: 432   Turnout: 2,202 (79.32%)

Area B

1977: 2 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 2 x Independent
1981: 3 x UUP, 2 x DUP, 2 x Independent Unionist, 1 x Independent
1977-1981 Change: UUP gain from Independent

Moyle Area B - 8 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	DUP	James Rodgers	15.44%	445
	Independent	James McShane*	11.97%	345
	Ind. Unionist	Price McConaghy*	13.22%	381
	Ind. Unionist	Mary Morrison*	10.41%	300	310.08	326.4
	UUP	Robert Getty	10.37%	299	299.84	313.1	313.1	316.44	325.44
	DUP	Ronnie McIlvar	8.43%	243	257.28	258.98	258.98	297.4	298.13	298.49	298.49	397.49
	UUP	Hugh Acheson	8.78%	253	254.12	261.6	263.6	267.77	271.45	273.25	275.14	291	305
	UUP	James McAuley	6.70%	193	206.72	217.6	217.6	218.16	236.5	238.3	239.56	274.69	287.69
	Alliance	Maurice McHenry	4.93%	142	142.56	143.75	164.35	164.35	222.72	222.81	223.44	226.09	227.09
	DUP	Andrew Dobbin	4.61%	133	200.48	203.88	203.88	219.58	221.58	222.75	223.38
	Alliance	John Shanks	3.19%	92	94.52	97.58	98.68	99.68
	DUP	Samuel Simpson	1.94%	56	68.6	70.47	70.67
Electorate: 4,438   Valid: 2,882 (64.94%)   Spoilt: 73   Quota: 321   Turnout: 2,955 (66.58%)

Area C

1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
1981: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent
1977-1981 Change: No change

Moyle Area C - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SDLP	Richard Kerr	18.51%	296	304	304	385
	SDLP	Michael O'Cleary	13.88%	222	229	229	272	324
	UUP	Elizabeth Johnston*	9.38%	150	156	246	249	249.8	354.8
	Independent	Archibald McAuley*	14.82%	237	251	255	280	288.8	332.8
	Irish Independence	Eamonn Scally	11.13%	178	184	184	196	198.4	198.4
	Alliance	Hugh Sayers	8.69%	139	160	181	185	185.8
	SDLP	Joseph Donaghy	9.82%	157	170	170
	DUP	Norman Campbell	8.01%	128	132
	Alliance	Thomas Cecil	5.75%	92
Electorate: 2,393   Valid: 1,599 (66.82%)   Spoilt: 48   Quota: 320   Turnout: 1,647 (68.83%)