1979 Donegal County Council election

1979 Donegal County Council election
← 1974 7 June 1979 1985 →
All 28 seats on Donegal County Council
	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]

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%

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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%)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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%)

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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%)

Results by local electoral area

Milford: 4 seats^[10]^[11]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	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%)