1981 Dungannon District Council election

Main article: Northern Ireland local elections, 1981

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.

1981 Dungannon District Council election

20 May 1981 (1981-05-20)
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 0 3 1   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Independent Nationalist Independent Republican Irish Independence Seats won 3 2 1 Seat change 2 1 1   Seventh party   Party Independent Seats won 0 Seat change 2

Election results

Dungannon District Council Election Result 1981

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Ulster Unionist	8	1	1	0	40.0	31.0	7,227	7.1
	SDLP	3	0	3	3	15.0	20.5	4,786	4.0
	DUP	3	1	0	1	15.0	17.7	4,135	0.5
	Independent Nationalist	3	2	0	2	15.0	15.6	3,635	8.9
	Independent Republican	2	1	0	1	10.0	6.8	1,596	4.3
	Irish Independence	1	1	0	1	5.0	4.6	1,062	New
	Ind. Unionist	0	0	0	0	0.0	2.4	558	2.4
	UUUP	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.9	205	0.9
	Independent	0	0	2	2	0.0	0.4	104	15.4

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes.

Districts summary

Results of the Dungannon District Council election, 1981
by district

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

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

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

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

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%)