1981 Dungannon District Council election
← 1977 20 May 1981 (1981-05-20) 1985 →
All 20 seats to Dungannon District Council
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Party Ulster Unionist SDLP DUP
Seats won 8 3 3
Seat change Steady 0 Decrease 3 Increase 1
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Party Independent Nationalist Independent Republican Irish Independence
Seats won 3 2 1
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 1 Increase 1
  Seventh party
 
Party Independent
Seats won 0
Seat change Decrease 2

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

Election results

Dungannon District Council Election Result 1981[1]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Ulster Unionist 8 1 1 Steady0 40.0 31.0 7,227 Decrease7.1
  SDLP 3 0 3 Decrease3 15.0 20.5 4,786 Decrease4.0
  DUP 3 1 0 Increase1 15.0 17.7 4,135 Decrease0.5
  Independent Nationalist 3 2 0 Increase2 15.0 15.6 3,635 Increase8.9
  Independent Republican 2 1 0 Increase1 10.0 6.8 1,596 Increase4.3
  Irish Independence 1 1 0 Increase1 5.0 4.6 1,062 New
  Ind. Unionist 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 2.4 558 Increase2.4
  UUUP 0 0 0 Steady0 0.0 0.9 205 Decrease0.9
  Independent 0 0 2 Decrease2 0.0 0.4 104 Decrease15.4

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Dungannon District Council election, 1981
by district[1]
Ward %
Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
 Cllrs
 %
Cllrs
 Total
Cllrs
UUP SDLP DUP IIP Others
Area A 33.3 2 29.4 1 19.4 0 0.0 0 17.9 1 5
Area B 15.4 1 19.0 1 8.3 0 0.0 0 57.3 3 5
Area C 38.2 3 23.0 1 23.7 1 0.0 0 15.1 0 5
Area D 37.7 2 10.3 0 19.9 1 18.8 1 13.3 1 5
Total 31.0 8 20.5 3 17.7 3 4.6 1 26.2 5 20

Districts results

Area A

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

Dungannon Area A - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Independent Republican Seamus Cassidy* 17.81% 1,057          
Ulster Unionist Noel Mulligan 13.43% 797 797.1 1,146.1      
DUP William McIlwrath* 9.82% 583 583.1 620.1 630.45 1,092.45  
Ulster Unionist Samuel Brush 10.67% 633 633.5 784.5 927.15 1,033.05  
SDLP Anthony McGonnell 14.98% 889 923.1 925.1 925.1 927.1 948.1
SDLP John Monaghan 14.43% 856 885 886 886.45 886.45 891.45
DUP Frederick Burrows 9.61% 570 570 579 580.35    
Ulster Unionist Winston Mulligan* 9.25% 549 549        
Electorate: 6,624   Valid: 5,934 (89.58%)   Spoilt: 92   Quota: 990   Turnout: 6,026 (90.97%)  

Area B

1977: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x Independent Republican
1981: 2 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Republican
1977-1981 Change: Independent Nationalist leaves SDLP

Dungannon Area B - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Independent Nationalist Jim Canning* 29.18% 1,744  
Independent Nationalist Owen Nugent* 19.08% 1,140  
SDLP Patrick McGlinchey* 19.04% 1,138  
Independent Republican John Corr* 9.02% 539 1,275.47
Ulster Unionist Thomas Kempton* 15.36% 918 921.43
DUP Abraham White 8.32% 497 498.96
Electorate: 7,753   Valid: 5,976 (77.08%)   Spoilt: 210   Quota: 997   Turnout: 6,186 (79.79%)  

Area C

1977: 3 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1981: 4 x UUP, 1 x SDLP
1977-1981 Change: DUP gain from UUP

Dungannon Area C - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SDLP Patrick Daly* 23.02% 1,324          
Ulster Unionist Derek Irwin* 17.06% 981          
DUP James Ewing 13.53% 778 788.8 848.8 867.2 868.6 1,054.28
Ulster Unionist John Taggart 11.25% 647 669.2 712.4 728.8 730.18 906.1
Ulster Unionist Jim Brady* 9.93% 571 599.8 631 653.8 669.14 848.06
DUP Norman Lockhart 10.14% 583 585.4 620.4 638.2 638.82 664.5
Ind. Unionist Wilfred Dilworth* 9.70% 558 570.6 602.8 623 623.64  
Independent William Lucas 1.81% 104 383 386      
UUUP James McNeill 3.56% 205 212.8        
Electorate: 7,091   Valid: 5,751 (81.10%)   Spoilt: 125   Quota: 959   Turnout: 5,876 (82.87%)  

Area D

1977: 2 x Independent, 1 x UUP, 1 x SDLP, 1 x DUP
1981: 2 x UUP, 1 x DUP, 1 x IIP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1977-1981 Change: UUP and IIP gain from Independent (two seats), Independent Nationalist leaves SDLP

Dungannon Area D - 5 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
DUP Maurice Morrow* 19.90% 1,124      
Ulster Unionist Ken Maginnis 19.21% 1,085      
Irish Independence Plunkett O'Donnell 18.81% 1,062      
Ulster Unionist William Brown* 18.52% 1,046      
Independent Nationalist Michael McLoughlin* 13.30% 751 799 835 939.26
SDLP Peggy Devlin 10.25% 579 615 700 712.87
Electorate: 7,669   Valid: 5,647 (73.63%)   Spoilt: 115   Quota: 942   Turnout: 5,762 (75.13%)  

References

  1. ^ a b "Local Government Elections 1973-1981: Dungannon". www.ark.ac.uk.
  2. ^ a b c d "Local Government Results 1981". EONI. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
Categories