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 Ulster Unionist SDLP Alliance Seats won 8 6 3 Seat change 2 2 0   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Independent Nationalist Republican Clubs Ind. Unionist Seats won 2 1 0 Seat change 1 1 2   Seventh party Eighth party   Party Nationalist Independent Republican Seats won 0 0 Seat change 1 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	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	8	2	0	2	40.0	35.9	6,868	7.2
	SDLP	6	2	0	2	30.0	29.6	5,671	12.2
	Alliance	3	0	0	0	15.0	16.0	3,071	3.8
	Independent Nationalist	2	1	2	1	10.0	14.1	2,707	1.9
	Republican Clubs	1	1	0	1	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
	SDLP	Liam McQuaid*	23.29%	1,218
	Independent Nationalist	Michael O'Hagan	17.54%	917
	Ulster Unionist	Arthur McFarland*	17.35%	907
	SDLP	John Skelton*	9.81%	513	820.8	833.5	872.9
	Ulster Unionist	Cecil Anderson*	14.15%	740	740.9	758.9	758.9	772.88	1,165.88
	Alliance	Seamus McGale	7.53%	394	415.9	473.3	476.1	476.4	482.4
	Ulster Unionist	William Brunt	8.34%	436	436	451.3	451.4	463.58
	Alliance	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
	Ulster Unionist	Edgar McDowell*	24.53%	971
	Ulster Unionist	Joseph Anderson*	18.24%	722	741	904.21
	Independent Nationalist	Patrick Donnelly*	18.62%	737	780	780.57	783.61
	Alliance	Patrick Bogan*	15.89%	629	716	725.12	754.19
	SDLP	Kevin McNaboe	17.08%	676	720	720.19	721.52
	Alliance	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	Aidan Lagan	16.51%	1,012
	SDLP	Gerald McEnhill*	15.17%	930
	Ulster Unionist	Cecil Walker*	14.37%	881
	SDLP	Stephen McKenna*	11.45%	702	746.25	849.78
	Ulster Unionist	Alfred Barnett	8.79%	539	539.25	539.42	568.02	568.02	787.02
	Ulster Unionist	Harold McCauley*	7.37%	452	457.75	458.26	509.09	509.37	685.63	703	857
	SDLP	Bernadette Grant	8.73%	535	555	578.97	579.23	618.57	620.95	620.95	726.31
	SDLP	Daniel Campbell	6.43%	394	412	434.44	434.44	470.84	475.22	475.31	539.32
	Alliance	Ethne McClelland	4.76%	292	443	447.25	449.59	454.21	467.66	468.29
	Ulster Unionist	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
	Ulster Unionist	John Johnston*	22.37%	857
	Republican Clubs	Francis McElroy*	20.91%	801
	SDLP	Brendan Martin	12.35%	473	473	482.48	589	616.32	720.08
	Alliance	John Hadden*	10.88%	417	484.14	495.06	527.22	555.32	673.72
	Independent Nationalist	Michael McNulty*	10.83%	415	425.26	427.82	453.9	534.94	659.56
	Independent Nationalist	Bernard McGrath	9.92%	380	383.24	386.08	406.12	514.58
	Independent Nationalist	Patrick McCrory	6.73%	258	263.4	264.68	297.68
	SDLP	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%)