Donegal South-West
Dáil constituency (1961–1969, 1981–2016)
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Donegal South-West was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas, from 1961 to 1969 and from 1981 to 2016. The constituency elected 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).
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| Donegal South-West | |
|---|---|
| Former Dáil constituency | |
Location of Donegal South-West within Ireland | |
| Former constituency | |
| Created | 1981 |
| Abolished | 2016 |
| Seats | 3 |
| Local government area | County Donegal |
| Replaced by | Donegal |
| Donegal South-West | |
|---|---|
| Former Dáil constituency | |
| Former constituency | |
| Created | 1961 |
| Abolished | 1969 |
| Seats | 3 |
| Local government area | County Donegal |
| Replaced by | Donegal–Leitrim |
History and boundaries
The constituency was first created for the 1961 general election. At the 1969 general election it was abolished and largely succeeded by the Donegal–Leitrim constituency. It was recreated for the 1981 general election. It was located in the southern and western parts of County Donegal, it included the towns of Lifford, Donegal, Ballyshannon, Killybegs and Gweedore. It was abolished again at the 2016 general election, and was succeeded by the Donegal constituency.
The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 defined the constituency as:[1]
"The county of Donegal, except the part thereof which is comprised in the constituency of Donegal North-East."
TDs
TDs 1961–1969
| Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Donegal South-West 1961–1969[2] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Key to parties
| |||||||
| Dáil | Election | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | |||
| 17th | 1961[3] | Joseph Brennan (FF) |
Cormac Breslin (FF) |
Patrick O'Donnell (FG) | |||
| 18th | 1965[4] | ||||||
| 19th | 1969 | Constituency abolished. See Donegal–Leitrim | |||||
Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.
TDs 1981–2016
| Teachtaí Dála (TDs) for Donegal South-West 1981–2016[2] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Key to parties
| |||||||
| Dáil | Election | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | Deputy (Party) | |||
| 22nd | 1981[5] | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) |
Clement Coughlan (FF) |
James White (FG) | |||
| 23rd | 1982 (Feb)[6] | Dinny McGinley (FG) | |||||
| 24th | 1982 (Nov)[7] | ||||||
| 1983 by-election[8] | Cathal Coughlan (FF) | ||||||
| 25th | 1987[9] | Mary Coughlan (FF) | |||||
| 26th | 1989[10] | ||||||
| 27th | 1992[11] | ||||||
| 28th | 1997[12] | Tom Gildea (Ind.) | |||||
| 29th | 2002[13] | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher (FF) | |||||
| 30th | 2007[14] | ||||||
| 2010 by-election[15] | Pearse Doherty (SF) | ||||||
| 31st | 2011[16] | Thomas Pringle (Ind.) | |||||
| 32nd | 2016 | Constituency abolished. See Donegal | |||||
Note: The columns in this table are used only for presentational purposes, and no significance should be attached to the order of columns. For details of the order in which seats were won at each election, see the detailed results of that election.
Elections
^ *: Outgoing TD
2011 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Pearse Doherty[*] | 33.0 | 14,262 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 19.9 | 8,589 | 9,128 | 9,287 | 10,587 | 11,369 | |
| Independent | Thomas Pringle | 13.5 | 5,845 | 7,031 | 7,364 | 9,139 | 10,175 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan[*] | 11.5 | 4,956 | 5,172 | 5,259 | 5,655 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Brian Ó Domhnaill | 11.1 | 4,789 | 5,147 | 5,236 | 5,724 | 8,834 | |
| Labour | Frank McBrearty Jnr | 5.1 | 2,209 | 2,882 | 3,003 | |||
| Independent | Stephen McCahill | 4.2 | 1,831 | 2,037 | 2,141 | |||
| Green | John Duffy | 1.2 | 527 | 668 | ||||
| New Vision | Anne Sweeney[a] | 0.6 | 255 | 382 | ||||
| Electorate: 64,568 Valid: 43,263 Spoilt: 332 (0.8%) Quota: 10,816 Turnout: 43,595 (67.5%) | ||||||||
- New Vision was an electoral alliance of independent non-party candidates and did not appear on the ballot.
2010 by-election
On 5 June 2009, Fianna Fáil TD Pat "the Cope" Gallagher was elected to the European Parliament, vacating his seat in the Dáil.[17] The by-election was held on 25 November 2010, and was won by Pearse Doherty of Sinn Féin.[18]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Pearse Doherty | 39.85 | 13,719 | 13,736 | 15,188 | 16,897 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Brian Ó Domhnaill | 21.33 | 7,344 | 7,358 | 7,636 | 8,069 | |
| Fine Gael | Barry O'Neill | 18.66 | 6,424 | 6,442 | 7,313 | 8,182 | |
| Independent | Thomas Pringle | 9.99 | 3,438 | 3,491 | 3,763 | ||
| Labour | Frank McBrearty Jnr | 9.78 | 3,366 | 3,375 | |||
| Independent | Anne Sweeney | 0.39 | 133 | ||||
| Electorate: 62,299 Valid: 34,424 Spoilt: 484 Quota: 17,213 Turnout: 57.39% | |||||||
2007 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan[*] | 26.4 | 10,530 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher[*] | 24.1 | 9,606 | 9,976 | ||
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 23.0 | 9,167 | 9,249 | 10,281 | |
| Sinn Féin | Pearse Doherty | 21.2 | 8,462 | 8,551 | 9,263 | |
| Labour | Séamus Rodgers | 2.8 | 1,111 | 1,120 | ||
| Green | Seán Ó Maolchallann | 1.5 | 589 | 596 | ||
| Independent | John Doherty | 1.0 | 388 | 397 | ||
| Electorate: 60,829 Valid: 39,853 Spoilt: 421 (1.1%) Quota: 9,964 Turnout: 40,274 (66.2%) | ||||||
2002 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher | 21.7 | 7,740 | 7,843 | 7,960 | 8,202 | 8,502 | 9,281 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan[*] | 20.4 | 7,257 | 7,380 | 7,465 | 7,547 | 8,335 | 8,757 | 8,932 | ||
| Fine Gael | James White | 13.1 | 4,680 | 4,720 | 4,740 | 4,822 | 5,161 | 5,385 | 5,402 | 5,930 | |
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 12.3 | 4,378 | 4,484 | 4,512 | 4,797 | 5,216 | 5,921 | 6,002 | 7,370 | |
| Independent | Joe Kelly | 8.7 | 3,091 | 3,174 | 3,219 | 3,329 | 3,796 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Pearse Doherty | 7.6 | 2,697 | 2,771 | 3,571 | 3,720 | 4,166 | 5,170 | 5,269 | ||
| Independent | Thomas Pringle | 7.4 | 2,630 | 2,887 | 2,908 | 3,078 | |||||
| Sinn Féin | Tom Dignam | 3.2 | 1,133 | 1,148 | |||||||
| Labour | Séamus Rodgers | 3.0 | 1,079 | 1,199 | 1,205 | ||||||
| Independent | Gwen Breslin | 2.6 | 951 | ||||||||
| Electorate: 54,789 Valid: 35,635 Spoilt: 500 (1.4%) Quota: 8,909 Turnout: 36,135 (65.9%) | |||||||||||
1997 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan[*] | 20.3 | 6,597 | 6,620 | 6,877 | 7,192 | 7,548 | 8,203 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Enda Bonner | 17.7 | 5,742 | 5,751 | 5,832 | 5,946 | 6,000 | 6,745 | |
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 17.5 | 5,679 | 5,695 | 5,973 | 6,222 | 7,434 | 8,165 | |
| Independent | Tom Gildea | 17.3 | 5,592 | 5,651 | 5,925 | 6,370 | 6,489 | 7,983 | |
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Paddy Kelly[a] | 12.7 | 4,123 | 4,175 | 4,250 | 4,415 | 4,515 | ||
| Fine Gael | Frank O'Kelly | 5.5 | 1,774 | 1,783 | 1,873 | 2,053 | |||
| Green | Elizabeth Cullen | 4.2 | 1,366 | 1,387 | 1,643 | ||||
| Labour | Manus Brennan | 4.2 | 1,361 | 1,367 | |||||
| Independent | Tom Kennedy | 0.6 | 206 | ||||||
| Electorate: 51,479 Valid: 32,440 Spoilt: 454 (1.4%) Quota: 8,111 Turnout: 32,894 (63.9%) | |||||||||
- Independent Fianna Fáil was an unregistered political party and did not appear on the ballot.
1992 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher[*] | 26.4 | 7,870 | |||||||
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan[*] | 22.3 | 6,639 | 6,915 | 6,962 | 7,033 | 7,178 | 7,317 | 7,624 | |
| Fine Gael | Jim White | 19.3 | 5,745 | 5,762 | 5,792 | 5,836 | 5,966 | 6,009 | 6,379 | |
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 18.5 | 5,504 | 5,564 | 5,576 | 5,731 | 5,855 | 5,937 | 6,588 | |
| Democratic Left | Séamus Rodgers | 6.1 | 1,825 | 1,863 | 1,881 | 1,974 | 2,058 | 2,201 | ||
| Independent | Benny Mooney | 2.4 | 700 | 705 | 711 | 765 | ||||
| Sinn Féin | Anna Rose Doherty | 1.9 | 577 | 583 | 828 | 855 | 905 | |||
| Independent | Fred Coll | 1.8 | 539 | 551 | 557 | |||||
| Sinn Féin | John McCluskey | 1.4 | 409 | 412 | ||||||
| Electorate: 48,528 Valid: 29,808 Spoilt: 688 (2.3%) Quota: 7,453 Turnout: 30,496 (62.8%) | ||||||||||
1989 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher[*] | 28.9 | 8,332 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan[*] | 26.3 | 7,592 | ||
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 24.8 | 7,160 | 7,534 | |
| Workers' Party | Séamus Rodgers | 9.6 | 2,768 | 3,338 | |
| Fine Gael | Frank O'Kelly | 8.6 | 2,493 | 2,573 | |
| Independent | Tom Kennedy | 1.8 | 521 | 612 | |
| Electorate: 47,027 Valid: 28,866 Quota: 7,217 Turnout: 61.4% | |||||
1987 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Mary Coughlan | 30.7 | 9,698 | |||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher[*] | 27.5 | 8,686 | |||||
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 20.1 | 6,331 | 6,811 | 7,008 | 7,158 | 9,821 | |
| Fine Gael | Francis O'Kelly | 9.7 | 3,072 | 3,452 | 3,505 | 3,614 | ||
| Workers' Party | Séamus Rodgers | 8.0 | 2,512 | 3,030 | 3,465 | 4,085 | 4,344 | |
| Sinn Féin | Eamonn Monaghan | 4.0 | 1,276 | 1,702 | 1,809 | |||
| Electorate: 45,871 Valid: 31,575 Quota: 7,894 Turnout: 68.8% | ||||||||
1983 by-election
Fianna Fáil TD Clement Coughlan died on 1 February 1983.[24] The seat was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Cathal Coughlan, brother of the deceased TD.[25]
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Cathal Coughlan | 56.6 | 17,960 | |||
| Fine Gael | J. J. Reid | 31.1 | 9,870 | 10,512 | 10,731 | |
| Workers' Party | Séamus Rodgers | 9.4 | 2,992 | 4,021 | 4,435 | |
| Independent | Eamon Ó Gallachoir | 1.7 | 530 | 802 | ||
| Independent | Leo Armstrong | 1.2 | 373 | 490 | ||
| Independent | Jim Tallon | 0.1 | 37 | 55 | ||
| Electorate: 45,823 Valid: 31,762 Quota: 15,882 Turnout: 69.3% | ||||||
Cathal Coughlan died on 21 June 1986.[26] On 22 October 1986, a Fianna Fáil motion to issue the writ, opposed by the Fine Gael–Labour government, was rejected by a vote of 81 to 82.[27]
November 1982 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Clement Coughlan[*] | 29.5 | 9,483 | ||||
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley[*] | 26.5 | 8,544 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher[*] | 25.4 | 8,165 | ||||
| Fine Gael | Francis O'Kelly | 12.5 | 4,035 | 4,815 | 5,270 | 5,290 | |
| Workers' Party | Séamus Rodgers | 6.1 | 1,972 | 2,625 | 2,664 | 2,759 | |
| Electorate: 45,334 Valid: 32,199 Quota: 8,050 Turnout: 71.0% | |||||||
February 1982 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Clement Coughlan[*] | 25.1 | 8,321 | |||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher[*] | 22.9 | 7,576 | 8,011 | 8,270 | |
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley | 21.6 | 7,160 | 7,419 | 10,925 | |
| Fine Gael | J J Reid | 12.4 | 4,113 | 4,300 | ||
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Patrick Kelly[a] | 11.7 | 3,868 | 4,877 | 5,036 | |
| Sinn Féin The Workers' Party | Séamus Rodgers | 3.2 | 1,056 | |||
| Independent | Daniel Harkin | 3.1 | 1,013 | |||
| Electorate: 44,860 Valid: 33,107 Spoilt: 253 (0.8%) Quota: 8,277 Turnout: 33,360 (74.4%) | ||||||
- Independent Fianna Fáil was an unregistered political party and did not appear on the ballot.
1981 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Clement Coughlan[*] | 26.9 | 9,341 | ||||
| Fine Gael | James White[*] | 23.4 | 8,117 | 8,167 | 12,271 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Pat "the Cope" Gallagher | 18.5 | 6,433 | 6,969 | 7,348 | 7,762 | |
| Independent Fianna Fáil | Patrick Kelly[a] | 16.2 | 5,626 | 5,684 | 6,197 | 7,038 | |
| Fine Gael | Dinny McGinley | 14.9 | 5,199 | 5,216 | |||
| Electorate: 44,860 Valid: 34,716 Spoilt: 335 (0.9%) Quota: 8,680 Turnout: 35,051 (78.1%) | |||||||
- Independent Fianna Fáil was an unregistered political party and did not appear on the ballot.
1965 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Joseph Brennan[*] | 27.3 | 7,020 | ||
| Fine Gael | Patrick O'Donnell[*] | 26.1 | 6,691 | ||
| Fianna Fáil | Cormac Breslin[*] | 24.3 | 6,240 | 6,804 | |
| Fine Gael | James White | 16.7 | 4,298 | 4,326 | |
| Fine Gael | Frank Reid | 5.6 | 1,432 | 1,439 | |
| Electorate: 35,828 Valid: 25,681 Quota: 6,421 Turnout: 71.7% | |||||
1961 general election
| Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Fianna Fáil | Joseph Brennan[*] | 29.8 | 7,045 | |||
| Fine Gael | Patrick O'Donnell[*] | 23.3 | 5,512 | 5,546 | 6,030 | |
| Fine Gael | Christopher Gallagher | 19.5 | 4,599 | 4,660 | 4,864 | |
| Fianna Fáil | Cormac Breslin[*] | 19.2 | 4,536 | 5,552 | 5,927 | |
| Sinn Féin | Séamus Rodgers | 8.2 | 1,930 | 1,958 | ||
| Electorate: 36,231 Valid: 23,622 Quota: 5,906 Turnout: 65.2% | ||||||