Poll-toppers Micheál Naughton and Donal 'Mandy' Kelly confirm Dáil bids

Fianna Fáil Councillors Micheál Naughton and Donal 'Mandy' Kelly will both seek a nomination from the party to run in the Donegal constituency at the next General Election.

Naughton and Kelly topped the poll in the Donegal and Letterkenny local electoral areas at the local elections last month.

Nominations to be on the Fianna Fáil ticket for the General Election – which is expected to take place in early 2025 – close on Monday, July 15.

A selection convention is likely to take place sometime in August.

Both Naughton and Kelly polled very strongly in the local elections.

Naughton claimed 1,847 first preference votes in the Donegal area with Kelly topping the pole in Letterkenny with 1,843 votes.

“During the local election, we got a lot of it on the door, people asking if I would consider it,” Naughton said this week.

“We worked very hard in the local election and the people of the Donegal Municipal District gave me a great mandate.

“If the Fianna Fáil party and the people want my name to go forward, I would let my name go forward.”

Fianna Fáil has not indicated its strategy for the General Election.

The Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, is the party's only TD in the Donegal constituency after Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher lost his seat in 2020.

While it remains to be seen how many candidates they will put forward, there will be a battle at the convention.

McConalogue is expected to go forward again while Naughton and Kelly will also look for inclusion.

Letterkenny has been without a TD from the town since Dr James McDaid resigned in 2010.

“Letterkenny is crying out for a TD,” Kelly said.

“After I topped the poll, the view of the people is that I am the person to go forward and I’ll respect their wishes and put my name in the hat.

“It was something that was always on my mind from the day I first took the seat.

“I didn’t think it would come this soon, but there have been a lot of members of Fianna Fáil here and the general public and even business people who approached me.”

Naughton is the President of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the manager of the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny. He was co-opted onto the Donegal County Council seat vacated by the late Sean McEniff in July 2017.

Naughton was elected in 2019 and retained the seat this year.

Glenswilly-based farmer Kelly was co-opted to the seat after his father, Donal 'Mandy' Kelly senior, stepped down in 2020 having filled the seat won by Manus Kelly in May, 2019. A month later, while competing in the Donegal International Rally, he sadly lost his life.