Polling Day: What to know
Voting in the local and European elections takes place this Friday, June 7, with polling stations opening from 7am to 10pm.
In Cavan, a total of 36 candidates are seeking election across three Municipal Districts - Cavan-Belturbet, Ballyjamesduff, and Bailieborough-Cootehill; and 27 more to choose from on the European ballot.
If registered, a polling information card will already have been sent to your address with details on how and where to vote. You do not need to have this polling card with you when voting, however, you should bring valid personal identification such as a passport, a driving licence, a public services card, or an employee or student identity card with a photograph. Other forms of identification are also acceptable, such as a credit card or a birth certificate, together with another document that confirms your address within the constituency.
Of the 36 local election candidates, only half will take one of the 18 coveted seats available on Cavan County Council.
Check out our series of podcasts and profiles from each of the electoral areas
The group includes eight Fianna Fáil candidates, seven each for Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, three standing for Aontú, two for Independent Ireland, and one each for Labour, the Green Party, Irish Freedom, The Irish People, and five across various non-party or independent platforms.
The percentage chance for success in the European Elections, meanwhile, is much less for the busy field of candidates vying for one of just five seats in the 15-county wide constituency Midlands-North-West.
The local election count takes place, as before, at the Cavan Leisure Complex in Cavan Town, where votes from 136 boxes across 65 count centres will be sorted first before being officially counted.
That sorting process will begin early Saturday, June 8. European votes will be separated from the local ballots. The European votes will be formally handed over to Returning Officer, Joseph Smith, before being brought to the primary European constituency count centre in Castlebar. Counting there will not begin until Sunday morning once all ballots have been delivered.
The Local Election count will then begin on Saturday afternoon and is expected to conclude, providing there are no calls for recounts, some time late on Sunday evening, June 9. The count result for the Midlands–North-West cannot be announced until voting concludes in countries across Europe.
Acting Director of Services for Corporate Services, Lynda McGavigan, is the Returning Officer for the local election results.
Last time out just over 32,000 people in the county exercised their democratic franchise, electing 14 men and four women.
A total of 33 candidates stood in 2019, when Sinn Féin lost all but one seat. Meanwhile, Brendan Fay became the first Independent elected in two decades, and Aontú's Sarah O'Reilly topped the local poll in Bailieborough-Cootehill.
Since 2020 former Fianna Fáil rep Shane P O'Reilly left the party to stand as an Independent, before aligning himself with Independent Ireland in February of this year; Fine Gael's Madeleine Argue announced her retirement, and Fianna Fáil's Craig Lovett has stepped away from politics.