Derry & Strabane Council Election 2023: SDLP take two seats in Foyleside and People Before Profit retain seat

People Before Profit Councillor Shaun Harkin also retained his seat after exceeding the quota on the 5th Count.

There were cheers from both camps as party representatives, relative sand friends gathered for the announcements at Foyle Arena on Saturday.

When Shaun Harkin’s election was confirmed, those with him began shouting ‘Save Radio Foyle’, following on from journalists at BBC NI going on strike over cuts to jobs and programming on Friday.

The five candidates now elected to represent the people of Foyleside on Derry City & Strabane District Council are: Conor Heaney, Grace Uí Niallais, Shauna Cusack, Shaun Harkin and Lilian Seenoi-Barr.

Counts 2,3, 4

Sinn Fein’s Grace Uí Niallais has become the second Sinn Féin Councillor to be elected in the Foyleside ward.

Grace Uí Niallais now joins running mate Conor Heaney who was elected on the first count in Foyelside after topping the poll.

There are three seats left to be decided in Foyleside with no-one elected on the third and fourth counts.

Three candidates are now very near the quota of 1194. They are Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) 1140.15; Shauna Cusack (SDLP) 1131.35; Lilian Seenoi Barr (SDLP) 1130.30. The other remaining candidate is Stephen McCallion (SDLP) with 734.70.

Aontu candidate Seán Mac Cearáin (Aontú) has been excluded and his votes are now being distributed.

Count 1

Sinn Fein’s Conor Heaney has topped the poll in Foyleside and has become the first Councillor to be elected to represent the people in the five-seater district.

Eight candidates put their names on the ballot in the Foyleside District Electoral Area (DEA).

Turnout was 54.58% and the quota has been set at 1,194 votes to be deemed elected.

The election of Conor Heaney means Sinn Féin have already surpassed their previous council election performance with 12 Councillors now elected to the new Derry City & Strabane District and the party are still in the running to grow further. Last time round in 2019 the party returned 11 Councillors. A second Sinn Fein seat in Ballyarnett looks certain for Grace Uí Niallais who is less than 80 votes shy of the quota on the first count, and the party’s other candidates across the cityside have also polled very strongly with the three counts ongoing.

The votes for the candidates in alphabetical order are: Lilian Seenoi Barr (SDLP) 960, Shauna Cusack (SDLP) 948, Shaun Harkin (People Before Profit) 979, Conor Heaney (Sinn Féin) 1,846, Seán Mac Cearáin (Aontú) 423, Stephen McCallion (SDLP) 626, Danny McCloskey (Alliance) 266 and Grace Uí Niallais (Sinn Féin) 1,115.

In the last local government election in 2019 the SDLP returned two councillors, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit one each, while the last seat went to Independent Sean Carr.

The first preference tallies were as follows: ELECTED - SDLP Mary Durkan 1,231 votes (16.73%); ELECTED – SDLP Shauna Cusack 1,129 votes (15.34%); ELECTED – People Before Profit Shaun Harkin 977 votes (13.28%); ELECTED – Sinn Féin Michael Cooper 888 votes (12.07%); ELECTED – Independent Sean Carr (11.17%); SDLP Lilian Seenoi-Barr 721 votes (9.80%); Sinn Féin Eric McGinley 653 votes (8.87%); Sinn Féin Hayleigh Fleming 632 votes (8.60%); and Alliance John Doherty 305 votes (4.16%).

Of a total Foyleside electorate of 13,233 electors, 7,358 valid votes (55.60%) were cast in May 2019. The quota was set at 1,227 votes.

There were 162 spoilt votes. Turnout was 7,917 (60.37%).

Lilian Seenoi Barr, SDLP.

Lilian Seenoi Barr, a founder and director of the North West Migrants Forum, has been an activist with the SDLP for several years and was selected as chair of the SDLP Derry & Strabane District Executive for a term in in 2019.

She was one of the main organisers of a Black Lives Matters demonstration in Derry in 2020. She contested the local government elections in 2019 in the Foyleside District Electoral Area (DEA) but was unsuccessful receiving 721 votes (9.80%).

She was co-opted onto the council following Mary Durkan's resignation in May 2021. In the last local government election in May 2019 the SDLP's three candidates received 3,081 first preference votes (41.87%) in the Foyleside DEA.

This was the SDLP's best performance in any DEA in the North in 2019. The party's percentage share before transfers equated to 2.5 quotas.

Shauna Cusack, SDLP.

Shauna Cusack has been vocal on anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping and vandalism since she was co-opted onto the old Derry City Council for the Northland District Electoral Area (DEA) in 2013 when SDLP veteran John Tierney stood down.

She was subsequently elected to the new Derry City and Strabane District Council in the Foyleside DEA in 2014 when she received 740 first preference votes (11.62%).

She increased this to 1,129 first preference votes (15.34%) in 2019 when she polled second only to her running mate Mary Durkan.

In the last local government election in May 2019 the SDLP's three candidates received 3,081 first preference votes (41.87%) in the Foyleside DEA. This was the SDLP's best performance in any DEA in the North in 2019. The party's percentage share before transfers equated to 2.5 quotas.

Shaun Harkin, People Before Profit.

Shaun Harkin, People Before Profit. Shaun Harkin, a well-known activist and writer, has been a high-profile member of the Socialist Workers' Network and the People Before Profit Alliance (PBPA) in Derry for several years.

He was particularly focused on workers' rights and workers' pay during the last mandate of Derry City and Strabane District Council and proposed a Workers’ Rights and Social Justice Week and the Council's Emergency Hardship Fund.

He ran unsuccessfully for People Before Profit in Foyle in the Westminster elections of 2017 and 2019 and again in the Foyle Assembly election in 2022. He was elected as a PBP councillor in the Foyleside District Electoral Area (DEA) in PBP's breakthrough election locally in 2019 when the party returned two councillors - Harkin in Foyleside and Eamonn McCann in the Moor DEA.

In that election he received 977 votes (13.28%) and was the third highest polling candidate in the DEA.

Conor Heaney, Sinn Féin.

Conor Heaney was formerly a Special Advisor to Michelle Gildernew when she was Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development and acted in the same role to Michelle O’Neill when she held that role.

From 2013 he was a Special Advisor to Martin McGuinness in the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM). And from 2016 he was Special Advisor to Infrastructure Minister Chris Hazzard.

He was part of the Sinn Fein negotiating team during the Stormont House and Fresh Start agreements. He was one of two Sinn Féin candidates who stood in the Faughan District Electoral Area (DEA) in 2019.

He received 324 first preference votes (4.54%) He was co-opted onto Derry City and Strabane District Council in March 2021 as Mickey Cooper's replacement in the Foyleside District Electoral Area (DEA).

In the last local government election in May 2019 Sinn Féin's three candidates received 2,173 first preference votes (29.54%) in the Foyleside DEA, a percentage share before transfers that translated into 1.8 quotas.

Seán Mac Cearáin, Aontú.

Seán Mac Cearáin, a retired lecturer who worked for 35 years in the North West Institute for Further and Higher Education (NWIFHE) and North West Regional College (NWRC), is well-known in Irish language, music and sporting circles.

He is an Irish language speaker, language and cultural officer for Na Magha Hurling Club and a fiddle player. This is Mr. Mac Cearáin's first electoral outing and the first time Aontú have contested the Foyleside constituency. The party was officially launched only a few months prior to the 2019 local government elections.

Stephen McCallion, SDLP.

Stephen McCallion is a senior teacher in St. Patrick's Primary School in Pennyburn, Derry and Strabane SDLP treasurer, an avid Derry City FC fan, member of the board of the Ryan McBride Foundation and former chair of the Derry City Social Club.

This is his first electoral outing. In the last local government election in May 2019 the SDLP's three candidates received 3,081 first preference votes (41.87%) in the Foyleside DEA.

This was the SDLP's best performance in any DEA in the North in 2019. The party's percentage share before transfers equated to 2.5 quotas.

Danny McCloskey, Alliance.

Danny McCloskey has been a Specialist Operator in Seagate Technologies for 28 years but before that qualified in social care and caring and worked with disadvantaged young people and adults with disabilities and addiction issues.

He previously stood for the Alliance party in the Ballyarnett District Electoral Area (DEA) in the 2014 and 2019 elections to Derry City and Strabane District Council.

In 2014 he received 139 first preference votes (1.81%) and in 2019 he more than doubled this to 340 votes (3.55%). In the 2019 elections John Doherty ran for Alliance in the Foyleside DEA and received 305 votes (4.16%).

Grace Uí Niallais, Sinn Féin.

Grace Uí Niallais, a former retail manager, works as an Irish language Business Development Officer at An Gaelaras and has acted as interim C.E.O. for Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin and is on the Board Of Governors of a local Gaelscoil.

She is a first-time election candidate. In the last local government election in May 2019 Sinn Féin's three candidates received 2,173 first preference votes (29.54%) in the Foyleside DEA, a percentage share before transfers that translated into 1.8 quotas.