1981 Strabane District Council election

Local govt election in Northern Ireland

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

1981 Strabane District Council election | <- 1977 | 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) | 1985 ->

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All 15 seats to Strabane District Council
8 seats needed for a majority
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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|  |  |
Party  | SDLP | DUP | Independent Nationalist
Seats won  | 4  | 4  | 4
Seat change  |  1  |  2  |  1

* * *

| Fourth party  |
|  |
Party  | UUP |
Seats won  | 3  |
Seat change  |  2  |

Elections to Strabane 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 15 councillors.

## Election results[edit]

Strabane District Council Election Result 1981[1] Party  | Seats  | Gains  | Losses  | Net gain/loss  | Seats %  | Votes %  | Votes  | +/−

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| Independent Nationalist | 4  | 1  | 0  | 1 | 26.7  | 26.1 | 4,459 | 11.2
| DUP | 4  | 2  | 0  | 2 | 26.7  | 25.1  | 4,287  | 11.5
| SDLP | 4  | 0  | 1  | 1 | 26.7  | 22.8  | 3,889  | 7.7
| UUP | 3  | 0  | 2  | 1 | 20.0  | 20.7  | 3,545  | 8.8
| Independent | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0.0  | 1.9  | 326  | 3.0
| Anti H-Block | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0.0  | 1.7  | 296  | New
| Alliance | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0.0  | 1.7  | 288  | 1.3

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

## Districts summary[edit]

Results of the Strabane District Council election, 1981
by district[1] Ward  | %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| %
| Cllrs
| Total
Cllrs

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|
|
|
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DUP | SDLP | UUP | Others
Area A  | 35.4  | 2  | 17.2  | 1  | 25.2  | 1  | 22.2  | 1  | 5
Area B  | 30.9  | 2  | 24.3  | 1  | 27.3  | 1  | 17.5  | 1  | 5
Area C  | 7.0  | 0  | 27.3  | 2  | 8.5  | 1  | 57.2  | 2  | 5
Total | 25.1  | 4  | 22.8  | 4  | 20.7  | 3  | 31.4  | 4  | 15

## Districts results[edit]

### Area A[edit]

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Strabane Area A \- 5 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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|
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4
| Independent Nationalist | Denis McCrory*  | 22.11%  | 1,320 |  |  |
| DUP | Thomas Kerrigan | 20.46%  | 1,221 |  |  |
| SDLP | Mary McCrea | 17.24%  | 1,029 |  |  |
| DUP | Robert Anderson | 9.72%  | 580  | 581  | 602.6  | 1,070.22
| UUP | Edward Turner*  | 13.94%  | 832  | 882  | 892.26  | 908.42
| UUP | Ernest Young*  | 11.26%  | 672  | 738  | 747.36  | 754.62
| DUP | David Baird  | 5.28%  | 315  | 321  | 497.22  |
Electorate: 7,833  Valid: 5,969 (76.20%)  Spoilt: 193  Quota: 995  Turnout: 6,162 (78.67%)

### Area B[edit]

1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x DUP, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Strabane Area B \- 5 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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1 | 2
| SDLP | John Gallagher*  | 18.92%  | 1,101 |
| Independent Nationalist | Francis McConnell*  | 17.44%  | 1,015 |
| UUP | Mary Britton*  | 16.91%  | 984 |
| DUP | Samuel Rogers*  | 16.72%  | 973 |
| DUP | George McIntyre*  | 14.21%  | 827  | 832
| UUP | Henry Henderson*  | 10.43%  | 607  | 624
| SDLP | Mary McAleer  | 5.38%  | 313  |
Electorate: 7,050  Valid: 5,820 (82.55%)  Spoilt: 177  Quota: 971  Turnout: 5,997 (85.06%)

### Area C[edit]

1977: 3 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1981: 2 x SDLP, 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x UUP
1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist gain from SDLP

Strabane Area C \- 5 seats[2] Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count

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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
| Independent Nationalist | James O'Kane | 27.52%  | 1,459 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent Nationalist | John O'Kane*  | 7.89%  | 418  | 818.98  | 826.8  | 836.62  | 857.54  | 890.18 |  |  |  |  |
| SDLP | Paul O'Hare | 11.32%  | 600  | 659.45  | 666.27  | 670.27  | 682.91  | 688.32  | 836.83  | 902.83 |  |  |
| SDLP | William Flanagan | 10.90%  | 578  | 599.73  | 601.14  | 605.14  | 610.55  | 619.78  | 727.29  | 790.16  | 807.96  | 886.96 |
| UUP | Robert Fleming*  | 8.49%  | 450  | 450.82  | 451.82  | 467.23  | 472.23  | 473.23  | 473.23  | 475.64  | 475.94  | 555.35  | 562.35
| DUP | Desmond Monteith  | 7.00%  | 371  | 371.41  | 371.41  | 377.41  | 385.41  | 394.41  | 394.41  | 394.41  | 394.41  | 397.41  | 399.41
| Anti H-Block | William Gallagher  | 5.58%  | 296  | 305.84  | 313.84  | 313.84  | 315.84  | 331.25  | 333.25  | 382.89  | 385.49  | 385.49  |
| Alliance | Patrick Wallace  | 5.43%  | 288  | 304.4  | 308.81  | 319.22  | 339.86  | 343.86  | 349.09  | 370.14  | 374.04  |  |
| Independent Nationalist | John McCrory  | 4.66%  | 247  | 264.63  | 272.04  | 276.04  | 289.09  | 303.91  | 312.32  |  |  |  |
| SDLP | Jane O'Donnell  | 5.06%  | 268  | 280.3  | 280.71  | 281.71  | 288.94  | 294.94  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | Michael Dunne  | 2.17%  | 115  | 119.92  | 123.92  | 131.92  | 131.92  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | David Fleming  | 1.81%  | 96  | 108.71  | 109.71  | 110.71  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | William Crichton  | 1.36%  | 72  | 73.64  | 73.64  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Independent | John Tracey  | 0.81%  | 43  | 46.28  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Electorate: 7,630  Valid: 5,301 (69.48%)  Spoilt: 146  Quota: 884  Turnout: 5,447 (71.39%)

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Local Government Election 1973-1981: Strabane". www.ark.ac.uk.
2. ^ a b c "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 13 August 2021.

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*[FPv%]: First preference votes percentage
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