1985 Donegal County Council election
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All 29 seats on Donegal County Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Area of Donegal County Council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
An election to all 29 seats on Donegal County Council took place on 20 June 1985 as part of the 1985 Irish local elections. County Donegal was divided into six local electoral areas (LEAs) 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 1991.[1] In February 1985 the County and County Borough Commission recommended that membership in Donegal County Council be increased, resulting in the available seats increasing to 29.[2]
| Party | Seats | ± | 1st pref | FPv%[3] | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | 11 |  |
22,259 | 35.94% |  4.14% | |
| Fine Gael | 9 | 1 |
18,347 | 29.62% | 0.23% | |
| Independent Fianna Fáil | 5 |  1 |
10,597 | 17.1% | 0.35% | |
| Sinn Féin | 2 | 1 |
4,290 | 6.93% | 1.93% | |
| Donegal Progressive Party | 1 | |
1,506 | 2.46% | 0.36% | |
| Workers' Party | 1 | |
1,352 | 2.2% | 1.39% | |
| Labour | 0 | |
425 | 0.7% | — | |
| Independent | 0 | 1 |
3,165 | 5.55% | 0.82% | |
| Total | 29 | 1 |
57,013 | 100.00% | — | |
Results by local electoral area
- Sitting in italics
Buncrana
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Hugh Conaghan TD* | 1,977 | |||||||||||
| Fine Gael | Bernard McGuinness* | 1,681 | 1,709 | 1,713 | 1,722 | 1,879 | |||||||
| Sinn Féin | Eddie Fullerton* | 1,384 | 1,400 | 1,419 | 1,526 | 1,546 | 1,548 | 1,651 | 1,677 | 1,843 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | Denis McGonagle | 1,218 | 1,242 | 1,255 | 1,269 | 1,278 | 1,280 | 1,421 | 1,425 | 1,716 | 1,735 | ||
| Fine Gael | Seamus Gill | 975 | 987 | 993 | 1,041 | 1,143 | 1,160 | 1,274 | 1,578 | 1,603 | 1,613 | ||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Paddy Keaveney* | 927 | 934 | 941 | 1,056 | 1,107 | 1,111 | 1,132 | 1,302 | 1,577 | 1,601 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Seán McBride* | 905 | 908 | 936 | 958 | 973 | 974 | 1,202 | 1,270 | 1,306 | 1,314 | ||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Albert Doherty | 787 | 861 | 866 | 967 | 980 | 980 | 1,020 | 1,034 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Bríd Bonner | 640 | 652 | 752 | 810 | 825 | 826 | ||||||
| Fine Gael | Harry Gillen | 618 | 629 | 630 | 641 | 773 | 846 | 851 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Kenneth Weir | 565 | 581 | 584 | 587 | ||||||||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Helen Doherty | 547 | 552 | 564 | |||||||||
| Labour | Martin Robins | 223 | |||||||||||
| Electorate: 19,273 Valid: 12,447 (64.58%) Spoilt: 207 Quota: 1,779 Turnout: 12,654 | |||||||||||||
Donegal
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Cathal Coughlan TD* | 2,975 | |||||||||
| Fine Gael | Frank O'Kelly* | 1,687 | 1,719 | 1,733 | 1,763 | 1,833 | |||||
| Fianna Fáil | Sean McEniff | 1,631 | 1,785 | 1,800 | 1,851 | ||||||
| Fine Gael | Colm Gallagher* | 1,274 | 1,410 | 1,413 | 1,414 | 1,592 | 1,688 | 1,689 | 1,694 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | James McBrearty* | 1,183 | 1,331 | 1,334 | 1,337 | 1,465 | 1,555 | 1,561 | 1,562 | ||
| Fine Gael | Padraig Carr | 1,021 | 1,042 | 1,042 | 1,047 | 1,494 | 1,551 | 1,554 | 1,559 | ||
| Sinn Féin | Anthony O'Malley-Daly | 1,012 | 1,071 | 1,083 | 1,109 | 1,149 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Tommy Murphy* | 924 | 996 | 997 | 1,002 | ||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Peter Kennedy | 837 | 1,357 | 1,360 | 1,362 | 1,390 | 1,565 | 1,570 | |||
| Independent | Michael Mulhern | 142 | 145 | 156 | |||||||
| Independent | Bernard Mangan | 65 | 73 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 17,721 Valid: 12,751 (71.95%) Spoilt: 115 Quota: 1,822 Turnout: 12,866 | |||||||||||
Glenties
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat The Cope Gallagher TD* | 2,095 | |||||||||||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Paddy Delap* | 1,394 | 1,406 | 1,438 | 1,468 | 1,486 | 1,502 | 1,667 | 1,678 | 1,681 | 1,964 | ||
| Workers' Party | Seamus Rogers* | 1,352 | 1,390 | 1,448 | 1,500 | 1,515 | 1,728 | 1,800 | 2,055 | ||||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | John Kelly* | 1,089 | 1,092 | 1,113 | 1,159 | 1,272 | 1,279 | 1,295 | 1,306 | 1,311 | 1,324 | ||
| Fine Gael | Maureen Doohan | 1,071 | 1,073 | 1,079 | 1,080 | 1,174 | 1,220 | 1,244 | 1,255 | 1,261 | 1,674 | ||
| Fine Gael | Connell Boyle | 1,068 | 1,074 | 1,080 | 1,113 | 1,117 | 1,215 | 1,216 | 1,433 | 1,466 | 1,671 | ||
| Independent | Michael Lynch | 1,011 | 1,014 | 1,020 | 1,049 | 1,051 | 1,056 | 1,057 | |||||
| Fianna Fáil | Sean McNelis* | 1,005 | 1,032 | 1,036 | 1,176 | 1,216 | 1,231 | 1,402 | 1,723 | 1,781 | 1,794 | ||
| Fine Gael | Fred Coll* | 988 | 992 | 1,004 | 1,005 | 1,008 | 1,090 | 1,185 | 1,195 | 1,200 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | Sean Hanrai O Gallchoir | 647 | 682 | 720 | 725 | 854 | 875 | ||||||
| Fine Gael | Pat Gallagher | 586 | 610 | 610 | 614 | 620 | |||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Hugh McGarvey | 485 | 503 | 509 | 513 | ||||||||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | John McLoone | 376 | 378 | 383 | |||||||||
| Sinn Féin | Breandan O Rahallai | 264 | 266 | ||||||||||
| Electorate: 19,700 Valid: 13,431 (68.18%) Spoilt: 146 Quota: 1,919 Turnout: 13,577 | |||||||||||||
Letterkenny
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Patrick McGowan* | 1,778 | 1,785 | 1,837 | ||||||||||
| Fine Gael | Paddy Harte TD* | 1,563 | 1,581 | 1,589 | 1,617 | 1,653 | 1,690 | 1,808 | 1,867 | |||||
| Donegal Progressive Party | William Buchanan* | 1,506 | 1,518 | 1,524 | 1,531 | 1,538 | 1,541 | 1,591 | 1,626 | 1,627 | 1,629 | 1,629 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Bernard McGlinchey* | 1,380 | 1,393 | 1,402 | 1,487 | 1,583 | 1,755 | 1,862 | ||||||
| Sinn Féin | Liam McElhinney | 1,321 | 1,343 | 1,378 | 1,392 | 1,412 | 1,469 | 1,606 | 1,707 | 1,710 | 1,716 | 1,718 | ||
| Fine Gael | J.J. Reid* | 1,091 | 1,109 | 1,161 | 1,174 | 1,205 | 1,231 | 1,251 | 1,329 | 1,345 | 1,346 | 1,361 | ||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Danny Harkin | 1,088 | 1,092 | 1,113 | 1,129 | 1,234 | 1,543 | 1,660 | 1,829 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Laurence Blake | 1,057 | 1,092 | 1,098 | 1,139 | 1,154 | 1,241 | 1,279 | 1,299 | 1,303 | 1,314 | 1,316 | ||
| Independent | Charles Meehan | 853 | 857 | 868 | 888 | 896 | 913 | |||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Michael Gamble | 832 | 835 | 844 | 867 | 963 | 968 | 986 | ||||||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | James Larkin | 756 | 772 | 777 | 800 | 814 | ||||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Jackie Harris | 447 | 453 | 462 | 486 | |||||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Brian Grieve | 333 | 340 | 342 | ||||||||||
| Independent | Charles Long | 267 | 274 | |||||||||||
| Labour | Anne Wilkinson | 202 | ||||||||||||
| Electorate: 22,176 Valid: 14,474 (65.37%) Spoilt: 156 Quota: 1,810 Turnout: 14,630 | ||||||||||||||
Milford
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Harry Blaney* | 1,547 | 1,598 | 1,654 | 1,829 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Noel McGinley* | 1,480 | 1,538 | 1,673 | 1,735 | 1,749 | 1,955 | ||
| Fine Gael | Joachim Loughrey* | 1,202 | 1,217 | 1,261 | 1,432 | 1,445 | 1,522 | ||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Edward O'Donnell | 1,202 | 1,238 | 1,296 | 1,434 | 1,452 | 1,908 | ||
| Fine Gael | William McCafferty* | 976 | 987 | 1,013 | 1,103 | 1,109 | 1,154 | ||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Sean McGee | 884 | 960 | 978 | 1,010 | 1,020 | |||
| Independent | Elizabeth Grier | 827 | 855 | 918 | |||||
| Fianna Fáil | Ronan Sweeney | 411 | 413 | ||||||
| Sinn Féin | Martin Monaghan | 309 | |||||||
| Electorate: 11,594 Valid: 8,838 (76.23%) Spoilt: 89 Quota: 1,768 Turnout: 8,927 | |||||||||
Postal vote fraud
In late 2015, a previously-sealed National Archives paper revealed a voting fraud scheme occurring just prior to the election. In June 1985, a Garda investigation was launched following the secretary of Donegal County Council reporting irregularities. Of the 3,274 applications made for postal votes in the county, only 634 were considered to be compliant with application procedures. Various irregularities were found including: applications containing dubious signatures, a large numbers of applicants claiming to be employment in professions in far exceeding those known to be present in the area, a difference in ink used between filling out the form and signing, and a number of individuals witnessing multiple applications at the same time and place. While the irregularities occurred in all electoral areas, Glenties and Milford had the most.
When the returning officer for the county council returned certain forms requesting clarification he reported that some individuals stated they had no memory of making applications, others had returned their forms with a different professions to that state on the initial form, and many denied witnessing the signatures they were supposedly present for.
In one such case a member of the council approached a house from which a number of applications had supposedly came from, only to discover the house was occupied by students with no knowledge of the applications. The students did state however that they been approached by an unidentified male who advised they claim they had made the applications and that any voting cards issued to the house would be collected later. In another case, one person apparently presented nine different applications for approval.[9][10]
The voting fraud scheme appeared to have been a failure, since only fully compliant applications were issued with voting cards.[9] A government memo stated that the Gardaí intended to investigate the other 2,640 suspicious applications.[9][10]
References
- ↑ Local Elections (Specification of Local Election Year) Order 1990 (S.I. No. 104 of 1990). Signed on 30 April 1990. Statutory Instrument of the Government of Ireland. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ↑ "Introduction: Electoral Area Boundaries Commission" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. p. vii (9 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
Both commissions reported in February, 1985. The County and County Borough Commission recommended that the membership of the following county councils should be increased: Clare (one extra), Cork (two extra), Donegal (one extra)...
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Table B Local Elections, 1985" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. p. 253 (267 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Donegal County Council: Buncrana Local Electoral Area" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. pp. 28-29 (40-41 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Donegal County Council: Donegal Local Electoral Area" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. pp. 34 (46 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Donegal County Council: Glenties Local Electoral Area" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. pp. 30-31 (42-43 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Donegal County Council: Letterkenny Local Electoral Area" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. pp. 32-33 (44-45 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ↑ "Donegal County Council: Milford Local Electoral Area" (PDF). Local Elections, 1985 Election Results and Transfer of Votes in respect of each County, and County Borough Council and Election Statistics relating to all local authorities. Department of the Environment. Dublin: Stationery Office. August 1986. p. 35 (47 in PDF). Retrieved 28 October 2019 – via Oireachtas.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - 1 2 3 Brennan, Cianan (1 January 2016). "The great Donegal postal voting scam of 1985". The Journal. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
- 1 2 McCarthaigh, Sean (30 December 2015). "National Archives 1985: 80% of Donegal postal vote applications invalid". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
External links
- Official website[permanent dead link]
- Irelandelection.com results for 1985 Donegal County Council elections
- Irishelectionliterature
- Department of the Environment, Ireland (28 January 2010). "Local elections, 1985 : election results and transfer of votes in respect of each county, and county borough council : and election statistics relating to all local authorities" (PDF). Department of the Environment. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
Elections to Donegal County Council | |
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