Electorate up by 10,000 as Donegal goes to the polls

As Donegal gets ready to go to the polls in the local and European elections on Friday, the number of people eligible to vote in the county has risen by over 10,000 people since the 2019 elections.

There are 142,400 people eligible to vote across the seven local electoral areas in the county, Donegal County Council has confirmed to Donegal Live.

That number is up from 132,381 in 2019, a jump of some 10,019 people representing a 7.5 percent increase in the electorate.

Turnout in 2019 was at 55.1 percent, down from the 57.5 per cent turnout in 2014.

There are 91 candidates vying for the 37 seats that will begin the next term of Donegal County Council.

In the European Elections, there are 27 candidates vying for five seats in Midlands-North West, a constituency that takes in 15 counties including Donegal.

With a raft of pressing issues, including the defective concrete blocks crisis, housing, childcare, healthcare, farming and fishing concerning voters, there are hopes of a good turnout across the 283 polling stations in Donegal.

In the majority of cases, polling stations will be opened from 7am-10pm on Friday.

Voting will also take place on Friday on five islands off the Donegal coast. The polling station on Arranmore will be opened from 10am-7.30pm with voting open on Tory, Gola, Inishfree and Inishbofin from 11am-3pm.

With 37 seats up for grabs on Donegal County Council, 19 seats are needed for a party to form a majority.

In 2019, Fianna Fáil took 12 seats, with Sinn Féin winning 10 seats and Fine Gael taking two.

There has been plenty of change in the interim.

Fine Gael lost two representatives with Councillor Frank McBrearty quitting the party within weeks of the 2019 election and Councillor Michael McClafferty also leaving the party in 2020. Both are sitting Independents and are on the ballot paper this week.

Three of those elected last time out have since died.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Manus 'Mandy' Kelly (Letterkenny LEA) was tragically killed while competing in the 2019 Donegal International Rally, only weeks after being elected.

Fine Gael Councillor Bernard McGuinness (Carndonagh) passed away in 2021 and last December Noreen McGarvey, a Fianna Fáil Councillor in the Glenties area, died following an illness.

Donal 'Mandy' Kelly and Johnny McGuinness were co-opted to fill the vacancies of Manus 'Mandy' Kelly and Bernard McGuinness with Noreen McGarvey's seat in the Glenties area left vacant.

Earlier this year, Sinn Féin Councillor Marie Therese Gallagher stepped down from her seat in the Glenties are and Brian Carr was co-opted to replace her while Pauric McGarvey was co-opted to fill the seat of Ian McGarvey, who retired in January 2023 aged 92.

Sitting Councillors Rena Donaghey (Fianna Fáil) and Nicholas Crossan (Independent) are not seeking re-election in the Buncrana area this time around while Liam Doherty (Sinn Féin) and Tom Conaghan (Independent) are not going forward in the Lifford-Stranorlar and Donegal areas.

Last September, the 100% Redress Party was approved to stand candidates.

The party was formed as a response to the defective concrete blocks crisis that is blighting thousands of homes across Donegal.

The party is campaigning for 100% redress for affected homes and has candidates on ballot papers in six of Donegal's seven local electoral areas.

The entry into the respective local tussles of Denis McGee (Glenties), Tomas Sean Devine (Letterkenny), Eamonn Jackson (Milford), Charles Ward (Lifford-Stranorlar), Joy Beard (Buncrana) and Ali Farren (Carndonagh) certainly adds a new level of intrigue.

With the defective concrete blocks scandal one of the biggest issues to ever face Donegal, the 100% Redress Party will hope to gain real traction from the levels of both anger and urgency felt by those affected.

There are seven seats in the Letterkenny LEA, five in Buncrana, four in Carndonagh, six each in Donegal, Glenties and Lifford-Stranorlar and three in Milford.

On Saturday, the ballot boxes will be opened for votes to be segregated and verified.

The European papers will be taken for Castlebar to count. Five years ago, it took four days and a total of 13 counts to elect four MEPs in the Midlands-North West constituency. This year, there will be five election with Donegal-based businessman Peter Casey (Independent) and Fianna Fáil Senator Niall Blaney among those seeking election.

Counting of votes will begin from 9am on Sunday in each of Donegal's five municipal districts. Votes for the Letterkenny and Milford areas will be counted at the Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny; Carndonagh and Buncrana's electoral areas will be counted at Carndonagh Community School; the Donegal EA votes will be counted in the St John Bosco Centre in Donegal Town; the Highlands Hotel hosts the Glenties EA count; and the Finn Valley Centre will house the count for the Lifford-Stranorlar area.