'We in Donegal want to be in Donegal': Former Tánaiste Mary Coughlan

Former Tánaiste Mary Coughlan says the people of south Donegal showed their political discontent by their absence from the polling booths for the local elections.

Ms Coughlan says the turnout figures in the likes of Ballyshannon and Bundoran served again to highlight the disengagement and frustrations of people in the area who are part of the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.

When the constituencies were redrawn in 2016, a large chunk of south Donegal was placed into the Sligo-Leitrim constituency with the remainder of the county in a new five-seat Donegal Constituency. The old three-seater Donegal South West constituency was abolished.

Nine electoral divisions, taking in some 9,384 people, are located in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.

“From Ballintra to Bundoran wants to be in Donegal,” Ms Coughlan said.

“We in Donegal want to be in Donegal. It is a matter of massive discontent and it has completely being reflected in our local election participation in towns of Ballyshannon and Bundoran where only 42% and 43% went out to vote because they didn't think that it made any difference because they felt they weren't being represented in Donegal.

“There is a total disengagement between those people and their constituency of Sligo-Leitrim.”

Ms Coughlan is now the Chair of Fianna Fáil's Comhairle Dáil Ceantair in Donegal and will have a central role as the party will determine its course for the next general election.

Fianna Fáil currently holds one seat in the Donegal constituency, that of the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

Six people have been nominated to contest a party convention – expected to take place in August – which will decide how many candidates Fianna Fáil will run and who they will be.

Minister McConalogue is nominated again as are Senator Niall Blaney, former MEP Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher, Councillors Donal 'Many' Kelly and Michael Naughton and Ben Harkin of Ogra Fianna Fáil in Termon.

Ms Coughlan, speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, said the party was confident that a “new candidate” would hold weight alongside McConalogue, even if the absence of the votes from that southern pocket proves tricky for the strategists.

Ms Coughlan said: “I know as TD, I was elected in this constituency in south Donegal and it is very difficult to be elected without those big towns to get you out of the geographical area.

“There has been a huge change in the places where the people have been elected. You take the two largest towns in the Donegal electoral area (Letterkenny and Buncrana) they have one representative (Sinn Féin TD Padraig Mac Lochlainn in Buncrana), where often times they had three. That disengagement does reflect.