1977 Omagh District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1977

1977 Omagh District Council election

18 May 1977 (1977-05-18)
All 20 seats to Omagh District Council 11 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party UUP SDLP Alliance Seats won 8 6 3 Seat change Increase 2 Increase 2 Steady 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Ind. Nationalist Republican Clubs Ind. Unionist Seats won 2 1 0 Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 1 Decrease 2   Seventh party Eighth party   Party Nationalist Ind. Republican Seats won 0 0 Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 1

Elections to Omagh District Council were held on 18 May 1977 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

Omagh District Council Election Result 1977

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	UUP	8	2	0	Increase2	40.0	35.9	6,868	Increase7.2
	SDLP	6	2	0	Increase2	30.0	29.6	5,671	Increase12.2
	Alliance	3	0	0	Steady0	15.0	16.0	3,071	Increase3.8
	Ind. Nationalist	2	1	2	Decrease1	10.0	14.1	2,707	Decrease1.9
	Republican Clubs	1	1	0	Increase1	5.0	4.2	801	New

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Omagh District Council election, 1977
by district

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	UUP		SDLP		Alliance		RC		Others
Area A	39.8	2	33.1	1	9.5	0	0.0	0	17.6	1	5
Area B	42.8	2	17.1	0	21.5	1	0.0	0	18.6	1	4
Area C	36.9	3	41.8	3	21.3	1	0.0	0	0.0	0	7
Area D	22.4	1	18.4	1	10.9	1	20.9	1	27.4	0	4
Total	35.9	8	29.6	6	16.0	3	4.2	1	14.3	2	20

Districts results

Area A

1973: 2 x SDLP, 1 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x Independent Unionist
1977: 2 x SDLP, 2 x UUP, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1973-1977 Change: Independent Unionist joins UUP

Omagh Area A - 5 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Liam McQuaid*	23.29%	1,218
	Ind. Nationalist	Michael O'Hagan	17.54%	917
	UUP	Arthur McFarland*	17.35%	907
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	John Skelton*	9.81%	513	820.8	833.5	872.9
	UUP	Cecil Anderson*	14.15%	740	740.9	758.9	758.9	772.88	1,165.88
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	Seamus McGale	7.53%	394	415.9	473.3	476.1	476.4	482.4
	UUP	William Brunt	8.34%	436	436	451.3	451.4	463.58
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	Anthony Pollock	1.99%	104	117.8
Electorate: 6,527   Valid: 5,229 (80.11%)   Spoilt: 189   Quota: 872   Turnout: 5,418 (83.01%)

Area B

1973: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x Independent Unionist
1977: 2 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist
1973-1977 Change: Independent Unionist joins UUP

Omagh Area B - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	UUP	Edgar McDowell*	24.53%	971
	UUP	Joseph Anderson*	18.24%	722	741	904.21
	Ind. Nationalist	Patrick Donnelly*	18.62%	737	780	780.57	783.61
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	Patrick Bogan*	15.89%	629	716	725.12	754.19
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Kevin McNaboe	17.08%	676	720	720.19	721.52
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	Patrick Donnelly	5.63%	223
Electorate: 5,289   Valid: 3,958 (74.83%)   Spoilt: 224   Quota: 792   Turnout: 4,182 (79.07%)

Area C

1973: 3 x UUP, 2 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Nationalist
1977: 3 x UUP, 3 x SDLP, 1 x Alliance
1973-1977 Change: SDLP gain from Nationalist

Omagh Area C - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	Aidan Lagan	16.51%	1,012
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Gerald McEnhill*	15.17%	930
	UUP	Cecil Walker*	14.37%	881
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Stephen McKenna*	11.45%	702	746.25	849.78
	UUP	Alfred Barnett	8.79%	539	539.25	539.42	568.02	568.02	787.02
	UUP	Harold McCauley*	7.37%	452	457.75	458.26	509.09	509.37	685.63	703	857
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Bernadette Grant	8.73%	535	555	578.97	579.23	618.57	620.95	620.95	726.31
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Daniel Campbell	6.43%	394	412	434.44	434.44	470.84	475.22	475.31	539.32
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	Ethne McClelland	4.76%	292	443	447.25	449.59	454.21	467.66	468.29
	UUP	Archibald Burton	6.41%	393	394.25	394.25	424.93	425.07
Electorate: 10,073   Valid: 6,130 (60.86%)   Spoilt: 277   Quota: 767   Turnout: 6,407 (63.61%)

Area D

1973: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x Independent Nationalist, 1 x Independent Republican
1977: 1 x UUP, 1 x Alliance, 1 x SDLP, 1 x Republican Clubs
1973-1977 Change: SDLP gain from Independent Nationalist, Independent Republican joins Republican Clubs

Omagh Area D - 7 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	UUP	John Johnston*	22.37%	857
	Republican Clubs	Francis McElroy*	20.91%	801
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	Brendan Martin	12.35%	473	473	482.48	589	616.32	720.08
	Alliance Party of Northern Ireland	John Hadden*	10.88%	417	484.14	495.06	527.22	555.32	673.72
	Ind. Nationalist	Michael McNulty*	10.83%	415	425.26	427.82	453.9	534.94	659.56
	Ind. Nationalist	Bernard McGrath	9.92%	380	383.24	386.08	406.12	514.58
	Ind. Nationalist	Patrick McCrory	6.73%	258	263.4	264.68	297.68
	Social Democratic and Labour Party	John McSherry	6.00%	230	230	230.8
Electorate: 5,300   Valid: 3,831 (72.28%)   Spoilt: 151   Quota: 767   Turnout: 3,982 (75.13%)