1979 Donegal County Council election

1979 Donegal County Council election

7 June 1979
All 28 seats on Donegal County Council
First party Second party Third party   Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Independent Fianna Fáil Seats won 11 10 4 Seat change   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party Sinn Féin Sinn Féin The Workers' Party Donegal Progressive Party Seats won 1 1 1 Seat change 1
Map showing the area of Donegal County Council
Council control before election Fianna Fáil Council control after election Fianna Fáil

An election to all 28 seats on Donegal County Council took place on 7 June 1979 as part of the 1979 Irish local elections. County Donegal was divided into five county local electoral areas 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). This term was extended for a further year, to 1985.[1]

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	1st pref	FPv%	±
	Fianna Fáil	11		24,516	40.08%	4.44%
	Fine Gael	10		18,260	29.85%	4.56%
	Independent Fianna Fáil	4		10,245	16.75%	5.68%
	Sinn Féin	1	1	3,055	5.00%	3.16%
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	1		2,195	3.59%	0.34%
	Donegal Progressive Party	1		1,728	2.82%	0.32%
	Independent	0	2	1,167	1.91%	7.61%
Total		28		61,166	100.00%

Results by local electoral area

^ *: Incumbent councillor.

Buncrana

Buncrana: 6 seats[2][3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	Fianna Fáil	Hugh Conaghan TD[*]	14.1%	1,868
	Sinn Féin	Eddie Fullerton[*]	10.1%	1,331	1,355	1,369	1,424	1,428	1,434	1,443	1,445	1,478	1,491	1,614
	Fianna Fáil	Conal Doogan[*]	9.6%	1,267	1,271	1,276	1,430	1,582	1,592	1,600	1,604	2,248
	Fine Gael	Sean McLaughlin[*]	8.9%	1,176	1,187	1,201	1,225	1,231	1,331	1,444	1,444	1,451	1,452	1,931'
	Fine Gael	Bernard McGuinness[*]	7.6%	1,005	1,008	1,012	1,020	1,033	1,097	1,417	1,417	1,507	1,532	1,832
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Michael Deery[*]	7.6%	1,001	1,018	1,064	1,075	1,088	1,093	1,111	1,113	1,243	1,316	1,344
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Paddy Keaveney[*]	6.8%	896	909	994	1,011	1,133	1,142	1,361	1,366	1,393	1,403	1,441
	Fianna Fáil	Denis McGonagle	6.7%	885	889	892	924	1,098	1,100	1,110	1,110	—
	Fine Gael	Harry Gillen	6.0%	798	804	804	806	854	1,035	—
	Fine Gael	Seamus Gill	5.9%	780	794	800	835	840	1,060	1,220	1,221	1,234	1,236	—
	Fine Gael	Jim Devenney	5.2%	693	693	718	722	724	—
	Fianna Fáil	Sean McBride	4.6%	609	611	613	650	—
	Fianna Fáil	Karl Deery	3.4%	445	460	463	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Sean McDaid	2.2%	293	325	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Mick Gallagher	1.2%	154	—
	Independent	Patrick Kelly	0.2%	27	—
Electorate: 17,987   Valid: 13,030 (98.5%)   Spoilt: 198   Quota: 1,890   Turnout: 13,228 (73.54%)

Donegal

Donegal: 6 seats[4][5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Fianna Fáil	Clement Coughlan[*]	22.3%	2,869
	Fine Gael	Michael Melly[*]	12.8%	1,649	1,671	1,682	1,684	1,689	1,702	1,711	1,759	1,773
	Sinn Féin	Joe O'Neill	9.6%	1,241	1,285	1,324	1,337	1,384	1,440	1,470	1,491	1,552
	Fianna Fáil	Brian McEniff[*]	9.5%	1,220	1,341	1,348	1,350	1,357	1,373	1,402	1,412	1,602
	Fine Gael	Colm Gallagher[*]	8.8%	1,140	1,312	1,312	1,316	1,391	1,488	1,503	1,562	1,591
	Fianna Fáil	Brian Gallagher[*]	7.4%	957	1,175	1,177	1,186	1,220	1,402	1,472	1,487	1,678
	Fianna Fáil	James McBrearty	6.3%	809	960	961	1,003	1,020	1,032	1,226	1,395	—
	Fine Gael	Sean McNialluis	5.6%	728	731	732	779	785	786	816	—
	Fine Gael	Thomas Murphy[*]	5.6%	718	785	786	794	821	827	993	1,407	1,576
	Fianna Fáil	Patrick McGinley	4.5%	579	651	651	667	701	703	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Hugh Cassidy	3.1%	401	477	490	501	584	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	John Murray	2.3%	292	371	384	389	—
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Michael Byrne	1.5%	192	194	195	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Val Wynne	0.7%	96	96	—
Electorate: 16,519   Valid: 12,891   Quota: 1,842

Glenties

Glenties: 6 seats[6][7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy Delap[*]	20.6%	'2,391
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Seamus Rogers[*]	13.1%	1,519	1,599	1,653	1,736
	Fianna Fáil	Pat The Cope Gallagher[*]	12.1%	1,411	1,632	1,649	1,663
	Fianna Fáil	Sean McNelis[*]	9.9%	1,149	1,306	1,310	1,469	1,495	1,506	1,524
	Independent Fianna Fáil	John Kelly[*]	9.3%	1,084	1,128	1,141	1,241	1,247	1,256	1,576
	Fine Gael	Pat Slowey	8.5%	992	995	997	1,104	1,121	1,182	1,220
	Fine Gael	James Doohan[*]	7.1%	822	866	873	877	882	938	—
	Fine Gael	Jim Coyle[*]	6.9%	800	832	841	842	843	—
	Fine Gael	Fred Coll	6.4%	746	859	899	903	903	1,285	1,581
	Fianna Fáil	John McLoone	4.4%	514	519	526	—
	Sinn Féin	Donal De Barra	1.7%	198	229	—
Electorate: 16,684   Valid: 11,626 (98.65%)   Spoilt: 159   Quota: 1,661   Turnout: 11,785 (70.64%)

Letterkenny

Letterkenny: 6 seats[8][9]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Fine Gael	Paddy Harte TD[*]	13.9%	2,046	2,073	2,124
	Fianna Fáil	Paddy McGowan[*]	13.8%	2,033	2,086	2,094	2,099	2,209
	Fianna Fáil	Bernard McGlinchey[*]	12.7%	1,868	1,888	2,064	2,163
	Donegal Progressive Party	William Buchanan[*]	11.7%	1,728	1,745	1,749	1,846	1,864	1,864	1,865	1,866	1,909	1,929
	Fine Gael	J.J. Reid[*]	8.0%	1,188	1,256	1,271	1,499	1,562	1,567	1,571	1,578	1,626	1,697
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Charles O'Donnell[*]	7.5%	1,106	1,118	1,173	1,220	1,260	1,263	1,280	1,284	1,339	1,425
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Susan McGonagle[*]	6.6%	979	1,065	1,104	1,117	1,162	1,167	1,171	1,171	1,211	1,616
	Fianna Fáil	Joseph Peoples	5.5%	817	820	835	850	911	928	942	942	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Gabriel Gordon	5.5%	812	848	872	876	934	946	952	954	975	—
	Independent	Billy Gallagher	4.7%	695	704	737	753	—
	Fine Gael	May McClintock	3.8%	562	572	610	—
	Sinn Féin The Workers' Party	Sean O'Donnell	3.3%	484	501	—
	Independent	Charles Long	3.0%	445	—
Electorate: 20,479   Valid: 14,763 (98.16%)   Spoilt: 277   Quota: 2,110   Turnout: 15,040 (73.44%)

Milford

Milford: 4 seats[10][11]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Harry Blaney[*]	20.8%	1,805
	Fianna Fáil	Noel McGinley[*]	17.8%	1,545	1,547	1,610	1,690	1,783
	Fine Gael	William McCafferty[*]	14.6%	1,262	1,265	1,284	1,344	1,376	1,515
	Fine Gael	Joachim Loughrey[*]	13.3%	1,155	1,167	1,182	1,266	1,290	1,425
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Rosemary McCafferty	10.2%	882	919	972	1,004	1,286	1,368
	Fianna Fáil	Ian McGarvey	9.2%	797	800	808	960	969	—
	Fianna Fáil	William Friel	5.6%	483	490	503	—
	Independent Fianna Fáil	Hugh McClafferty	5.1%	444	450	514	537	—
	Sinn Féin	Pat Doherty	3.3%	285	288	—
Electorate: 10,790   Valid: 8,658 (98.04%)   Spoilt: 173   Quota: 1,732   Turnout: 8,831 (84.81%)

References

Sources

• Department of the Environment (1980). Local elections, 1979 : election results and transfer of votes in respect of each county, and county borough council : and election statistics relating to all local authorities (PDF). Official publications. Vol. Prl.9322. Dublin: Stationery Office. Retrieved 3 March 2016.

Citations

1. Local Elections (Specification of Local Election Year) Order 1984 (S.I. No. 6 of 1984). Signed on 12 January 1984 by Liam Kavanagh, Minister for the Environment. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
2. "Donegal County Council: (Buncrana) 1979 Local Election Results, Counts, Stats and Analysis". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
3. DofE 1980, pp. 30–31.
4. "Donegal County Council: (Donegal) 1979 Local Election Results, Counts, Transfers". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
5. DofE 1980, p. 32.
6. "Donegal County Council: (Glenties) 1979 Local Election Results, Counts, Stats and Analysis". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
7. DofE 1980, p. 33.
8. "Donegal County Council: (Letterkenny) 1979 Local Election Results, Counts, Stats and Analysis". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
9. DofE 1980, pp. 34–35.
10. "Donegal County Council: (Milford) 1979 Local Election Results, Counts, Stats and Analysis". irelandelection.com. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
11. DofE 1980, p. 36.

External links

• Irelandelection.com results for 1979 Donegal County Council elections
• Irishelectionliterature