Fine Gael has increased its representation on Sligo County Council.
At the end of counting earlier this morning in Summerhill College, the county also had three new councillors.
Three of the new councillors on Sligo County Council were elected from the Sligo/Drumcliffe electoral area.
They are Donal Gilroy, from Grange, for Fianna Fail, Thomas Walsh from Ballygawley and Tom Fox from Calry, both for Fine Gael.
The new council also sees a reversal of the dominance of the two main parties on the council.
Fianna Fail had seven councillors on the old council, now they have five.
In addition to the election of Donal Gilroy, outgoing councillors Tom MacSharry, Rosaleen O Grady, Paul Taylor and Martin Baker were returned.
Fine Gael has doubled its representation on the council.
As well as Walsh, Connolly and Fox, outgoing Fine Gael councillors Sinead Maguire and Dara Mulvey were relected, while former councillor Gerard Mullaney, who lost his seat in the last election, was returned this time.
Martin Connolly, from Powelsboro, is also new councillor but he has a long association with Fine Gael.
The first councillor elected in the county was Sinn Fein’s Thomas Healy.
He was later joined by his party colleague Chris MacManus, which saw Sligo reverse the party’s national trend by holding onto its local council representation.
Sligo’s longest-serving councillor Declan Bree topped the poll in the Sligo/Strandhill area.
It was a particularly emotional count for Solidarity People Before Profit Councillor Gino O Boyle, who was elected to the seat onto which he was co-opted after the sudden death of his father, Cllr. Seamie O Boyle, in 2015.
Among the Independetns reelected was former Fianna Fail Councillor Joe Queenan, Enniscrone, and Michael Clarke, Dromore West, both West Sligo.
The reelection of Independent Marie Casserly means there are now two councillors from the historic Streedagh area in Grange, in north Sligo.
But perhaps the greatest shock of the night was the failure of Independent candidate Willie Gormley, of Bunninadden, in South Sligo, to hold onto a seat held by his family for more than 70 years.
It was a most poignant conclusion to a count with a roller coaster of emotions that finally came to an end after 3am this morning.
