2019 Donegal County Council election

An election to all 37 seats on Donegal County Council took place on 24 May 2019 as part of the 2019 Irish local elections. County Donegal was divided into 7 local electoral areas (LEAs) to elect councillors for a five-year term of office on the electoral system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

2019 Donegal County Council election

← 2014 24 May 2019 2024 →
All 37 seats on Donegal County Council 19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	54.4% 3.7%[1]
First party Second party Third party   Party Fianna Fáil Sinn Féin Fine Gael Seats won 12 10 6 Seat change 1 1   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Labour Independent Seats won 1 8 Seat change 2
Results by Local Electoral Area

Boundary changes

Following a recommendation of the 2018 Boundary Committee, the boundaries of the LEAs were altered from which had been used at the 2014 elections.^[2][3] Its terms of reference required no change in the total number of councillors but set a lower maximum LEA size of seven councillors, whereas Donegal in 2015 had LEAs of 10 and 9 seats. Other changes were necessitated by population shifts revealed by the 2016 census.

Overview

Fianna Fáil gained an additional seat to reach 12 and also saw a slight increase in their vote share. Anthony Molloy – who captained the Donegal GAA team to the 1992 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship – won a seat for the party, as did rally driver Manus Kelly (both for the first time). However, Seamus O Domhnaill – Fianna Fáil's outgoing Cathaoirleach – was a notable casualty, as was former Senator Enda Bonner.

Unlike other performances around the State, Sinn Féin actually gained a seat in Donegal; increasing their numbers by 1 to 10 seats while seeing a slight reduction in vote share. Fine Gael retained 6 seats overall, while Independents saw a reduction of 2 seats. One Independent elected was John O'Donnell, who attracted controversy following an RTÉ Investigates programme into Irish councillors.

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	1st pref	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	12	1	21,142	29.35	0.25
	Sinn Féin	10	1	13,953	19.37	0.23
	Fine Gael	6		13,327	18.50	2.80
	Labour	1		1,927	2.68	1.12
	Aontú	0		2,265	3.14	New
	People Before Profit	0		284	0.39	1.02
	Renua	0		279	0.39	New
	Independent	8	2	18,857	26.18	3.22
Total		37		72,034	100.00

Results by local electoral area

^ *: Outgoing councillor elected in 2014.
^ †: Outgoing councillor coopted subsequent to the 2014 election.

Buncrana

Buncrana: 5 Seats^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fianna Fáil	Paul Canning[*]	20.31%	1,720
	Fianna Fáil	Rena Donaghey[*]	16.96%	1,436
	Sinn Féin	Jack Murray[*]	16.70%	1,414
	Independent	Nicholas Crossan[*]	13.97%	1,183	1,257	1,263	1,275	1,339	1,410	1,411	1,527
	Sinn Féin	Terry Crossan	9.54%	808	880	902	903	928	995	996	1,012	1,098
	Fine Gael	Mickey Doherty[†]	6.28%	532	588	599	601	608	624	624	739	835
	Independent	Frankie Lavelle	4.40%	373	399	405	408	507	565	565	597
	Fine Gael	Michelle McKenna	3.75%	318	353	356	359	371	403	403
	Aontú	Joe Murphy	3.59%	304	319	329	331
	Independent	Sinéad Stewart	3.41%	289	315	337	338	367
	Independent	Mark McKinney	1.09%	92	96
Electorate: 16,798   Valid: 8,469   Spoilt: 143   Quota: 1,412   Turnout: 51.27%

Carndonagh

Carndonagh: 4 Seats^[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Fianna Fáil	Martin McDermott[*]	34.59%	2,501
	Labour	Martin Farren[*]	19.11%	1,383	1,435	1,470
	Sinn Féin	Albert Doherty[*]	15.91%	1,151	1,413	1,460	1,460
	Fine Gael	Bernard McGuinness[*]	14.41%	1,043	1,323	1,355	1,362	1,368	1,448
	Fianna Fáil	Marie Duffy	8.67%	627	1,022	1,057	1,060	1,066	1,156
	Independent	Tracy Cullen	3.90%	282	311	347	352	352
	Aontú	Mary Rose Doherty	2.69%	195	226
	Independent	Arthur Desmond McGuinness	0.75%	54	58
Electorate: 14,062   Valid: 7,236   Spoilt: 94   Quota: 1,448   Turnout: 52.13%

Donegal

Donegal: 6 Seats^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	Independent	Niamh Kennedy[*]	10.77%	1,540	1,544	1,568	1,585	1,661	1,682	1,749	1,759	1,938	2,031	2,322
	Sinn Féin	Noel Jordan[*]	10.74%	1,535	1,550	1,557	1,573	1,598	1,609	1,690	1,693	1,731	1,873	2,033	2,087
	Fianna Fáil	Michéal Naughton[†]	8.34%	1,192	1,205	1,213	1,224	1,227	1,235	1,236	1,413	1,536	1,612	1,648	1,661	1,742	1,924
	Fine Gael	Barry Sweeny	7.81%	1,116	1,126	1,151	1,215	1,217	1,263	1,264	1,353	1,360	1,376	1,424	1,432	1,917	1,958
	Fine Gael	John McNulty	6.84%	978	978	978	980	1,106	1,106	1,148	1,153	1,199	1,214	1,393	1,453	1,463	1,547
	Independent	Tom Conaghan[*]	6.60%	944	979	987	993	1,000	1,004	1,017	1,028	1,058	1,272	1,373	1,397	1,435	1,831
	Sinn Féin	Michael McMahon	6.29%	900	902	924	973	974	1,186	1,190	1,446	1,462	1,470	1,474	1,478	1,749	1,798
	Independent	Seamus Maguire[†]	6.07%	868	880	896	907	923	927	939	939	961	1,106	1,163	1,176	1,194
	Independent	Billy Grimes	6.07%	868	873	895	951	952	989	989	1,043	1,050	1,057	1,067	1,075
	Fine Gael	John J Boyle	5.53%	791	793	793	795	810	810	886	888	970	1,001
	Independent	Pauric Kennedy	5.14%	735	751	754	760	760	763	780	783	802
	Fianna Fáil	Philip McGlynn	3.64%	521	522	528	533	533	576	582
	Fianna Fáil	Eimear McGuinness	3.48%	497	498	502	506	527	527	591	631
	Fianna Fáil	Roger Meehan	3.38%	483	484	485	487	503	504
	Independent	Diarmaid Doherty	2.72%	389	394	399	432	432
	Independent	Seán Ó Beirne	2.27%	325	325	329	331
	People Before Profit	Cyril Brennan	1.99%	284	288	319
	Independent	Valerie McNulty	1.36%	194	196
	Independent	Justin Coughlin	0.97%	138
Electorate: 23,075   Valid: 14,298   Spoilt: 165   Quota: 2,043   Turnout: 62.68%

Glenties

Glenties: 6 Seats^[8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Independent	Micheál Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig[*]	15.80%	2,007
	Sinn Féin	John Sheamuis Ó Fearraigh[*]	11.25%	1,429	1,464	1,501	1,558	1,740	1,750	1,782	2,050
	Sinn Féin	Maire Therese Gallagher[*]	8.57%	1,089	1,103	1,152	1,241	1,286	1,324	1,615	1,658	1,693
	Fianna Fáil	Noreen McGarvey	8.01%	1,018	1,023	1,043	1,103	1,155	1,171	1,402	1,499	1,506
	Fine Gael	Michael McClafferty	7.97%	1,012	1,033	1,038	1,061	1,314	1,341	1,376	1,721	1,799
	Fianna Fáil	Seamus O Domhnaill[*]	7.71%	979	1,071	1,079	1,095	1,153	1,161	1,222
	Sinn Féin	Brian Carr	7.26%	922	932	934	978	988	1,211	1,263	1,282	1,290
	Fianna Fáil	Anthony Molloy	7.21%	916	928	932	964	999	1,400	1,574	1,702	1,713
	Fianna Fáil	Enda Bonner[*]	7.03%	893	914	926	975	1,023	1,056
	Independent	Liam Whyte	6.47%	822	844	856	910	934
	Fine Gael	Evelyn Sweeney	5.7%	724	737	758	822
	Labour	Seamus Rodgers	4.28%	544	562	584
	Aontú	Liam Mulligan	2.75%	349
Electorate: 23,165   Valid: 12,704   Spoilt: 147   Quota: 1,815   Turnout: 55.48%

Letterkenny

Letterkenny: 7 Seats^[9]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fianna Fáil	Ciaran Brogan[*]	13.41%	1,570
	Fine Gael	Jimmy Kavanagh[*]	10.53%	1,233	1,245	1,255	1,271	1,312	1,367	1,701
	Fianna Fáil	Donal Coyle	10.18%	1,192	1,209	1,211	1,231	1,249	1,273	1,348	1,389	1,444
	Independent	Michael McBride[*]	9.75%	1,141	1,155	1,159	1,174	1,297	1,360	1,430	1,464
	Independent	Kevin Bradley	8.48%	993	1,009	1,024	1,050	1,127	1,210	1,294	1,347	1,465
	Fianna Fáil	Manus Mandy Kelly[a]	7.74%	906	924	932	948	1,003	1,028	1,124	1,171	1,374
	Aontú	Mary T Sweeney	7.31%	856	860	876	906	932	974	1,041	1,057	1,108
	Sinn Féin	Gerry McMonagle[*]	7.17%	839	845	873	903	926	972	995	1,003	1,398
	Sinn Féin	Adrian Glackin[†]	6.83%	799	804	813	838	877	935	957	969
	Fine Gael	Bernie Moran	6.33%	741	746	750	762	794	885
	Independent	Thoiba Ahmed	4.48%	525	527	571	637	653
	Independent	Charlie McClafferty	3.92%	459	464	471	491
	Independent	Cathal McGlynn	2.14%	251	252	294
	Independent	Finnian O'Donnell	1.72%	201	202
Electorate: 22,826   Valid: 11,706   Spoilt: 130   Quota: 1,464   Turnout: 51.85%

Lifford–Stranorlar

Lifford–Stranorlar: 6 Seats^[10]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fine Gael	Martin Harley[*]	17.16%	1,688
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick McGowan[*]	16.32%	1,606
	Sinn Féin	Gary Doherty[*]	15.97%	1,571
	Fianna Fáil	Gerry Crawford[*]	13.92%	1,369	1,393	1,468
	Fine Gael	Frank McBrearty Jnr[*][a]	9.81%	965	1,016	1,041	1,052	1,058	1,079	1,131	1,208
	Sinn Féin	Liam Doherty[*]	7.56%	744	776	799	924	929	974	1,036	1,195
	Fine Gael	Garvan Connolly	7.25%	713	811	846	857	969	893	950	1,041
	Independent	Alan McMenamin	4.82%	474	514	531	537
	Renua	Maghnus Monaghan	2.84%	279	289	296	301	310	317
	Aontú	John Hartnett	2.27%	223	231	238	240	245	264
	Independent	Michael De Ward	2.09%	206	225	236	241	244
Electorate: 20,389   Valid: 9,838   Spoilt: 160   Quota: 1,406   Turnout: 49.01%

Milford

Milford: 3 Seats^[11]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Independent	John O'Donnell[*]	25.17%	1,959
	Fianna Fáil	Liam Blaney[*]	22.05%	1,716	1,812	1,968
	Independent	Ian McGarvey[*][a]	10.34%	805	893	1,062	1,219	1,522
	Sinn Féin	Maria Doherty	9.66%	752	780	885	1,035
	Fine Gael	Noel McBride	9.61%	748	793	845
	Fine Gael	Eimer Friel	9.32%	725	747	886	1,213	1,412
	Independent	Declan Meehan	8.70%	677	722
	Aontú	Dermot Hardy	4.34%	338
	Independent	Charlie McGinley	0.81%	63
Electorate: 12,066   Valid: 7,783   Spoilt: 75   Quota: 1,946   Turnout: 65.13%

Footnotes

1. See change below.

Results by gender

2019 Donegal County Council election[12][13] Candidates by gender
Gender	Number of candidates	% of candidates	Elected councillors	% of councillors
Men	74	69.2%	34	91.9%
Women	33	30.8%	3	8.1%
TOTAL	107		37

Changes

Co-options

Party		Outgoing	LEA	Reason	Date	Co-optee
	Fianna Fáil	Manus Kelly	Letterkenny	Death in June 2019[14]	November 2019	Donal Kelly[15]
	Fianna Fáil	Donal Kelly	Letterkenny	Resignation	September 2020	Donal Kelly Jnr[16]
	Fine Gael	Bernard McGuinness	Carndonagh	Death[17]	28 August 2021	Johnny McGuinness[18]
	Independent	Ian McGarvey	Milford	Retirement	February 2023	Pauric McGarvey[19]
	Sinn Féin	Máire Therese Gallagher	Glenties	Retirement	March 2024	Brian Carr[20]
	Fianna Fáil	Noreen Garvey	Glenties	Death[21]	29 December 2023	Vacant[22]

Change in affiliation

Name	LEA	Elected as		New affiliation		Date
Frank McBrearty Jnr	Lifford–Stranorlar		Fine Gael		Independent	June 2019[23]
Michael McClafferty	Glenties		Fine Gael		Independent	January 2020[24]

Sources

• "Donegal County Council - Local Election candidates". RTÉ News. 13 May 2019. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
• "Local Elections 2019: Results, Transfer of Votes and Statistics" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (DHPLG). pp. 89–97. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.