BYC.J. MCGINLEY
THE counting of votes to elect six TD's to the 30th Dáil gets underway in Donegal this morning (Friday). A total of eighteen candidates, eleven in the North East and seven in the South West, are fighting it out for the three seats in each constituency.
The counts take place at the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny and St John Bosco Centre, Donegal Town. The total electorate for the county is 118,073 which is up by over 5,000 from 2002.
In Donegal North East the electorate stands at 57,244 while in the South West it is 60,829. With the 264 polling stations opened yesterday (Thursday) from 7.30 am to 10.30pm political parties are hoping it will boost the turnouts of 63.3 and 65.4 per cent in the North East and South West respectively from the last general election.
The quotas in 2002 were 9,087 in the North East constituency and 8,909 in the South West.
The counting of votes starts this morning at 9am in the two count centres.
Yesterday morning voting was brisker than normal at polling stations around Letterkenny. By 11am the average turnout at the Boys School on the Convent Road was around ten per cent while at nearby Trinity Hall, where there are five polling stations, it ranged from eight to sixteen per cent.
The Boys School covers areas such as Convent Road, Lismonaghan, Oldtown, Fr McLoone Terrace, Ballymacool and Kirkstown and has around 1,500 votes. The Trinity Hall polling stations covers areas such as Ard O'Donnell, Castle Street, Glencar, Market Square and Church Lane.
With Fianna Fáil tipped to win at least three, if not four seats, the drama will centre around the dogfight for the third seat in each constituency. Fianna Fáil TD Dr James McDaid is tipped to top the poll in Donegal North East and Agriculture Minister, Mary Coughlan in the South West Constituency. In Donegal North East Deputy Niall Blaney is fighting for his political life while likewise in the South West Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher is locked in a dogfight with Sinn Féin's Councillor Pearse Doherty, according to recent polls.
In Donegal NE the betting trends favour Jim McDaid, Cecilia Keaveney and Joe McHugh, but there are a number of possibilities in this very competitive three seater with Sinn Féin, Padraig MacLochlainn and Deputy Blaney also vying for victory.
In Donegal SW, four major candidates are chasing three Dáil seats with Mary Coughlan and Pat the Cope Gallagher being very short odds to win. Dinny McGinley is being well backed to retain his seat but
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pressure from Sinn Féin Councillor Pearse Doherty.
Voting took place on the five islands off the Donegal coast on Monday where the average turnout just over 55 per cent. A total of 734 people were entitled to vote.
On Arranmore 260 of the 513 electorate (50.2%) cast their votes. At Leabgarrow 171 of the 334 electorate (51.2%) went to the polls while at Aphort the turnout was 49.7% as 89 of the 179 voters cast their preferences. On Tory Island 74 of the 126 electorate (59%) cast their votes, while on Inishbofin 21 out of 64 (33%) went toi the polls.
The turnout on the smaller islands of Gola and Inishfree was 71 per cent where there are 24 and seven people respective on the registrars. The first man to cast a vote in the country was Arranmore GP, Dr Kevin Quinn, who popped in on his way to the local surgery. The two polling stations on Arranmore, the largest of the islands, opened from 10.30am to 7.30pm, while on Tory the station opened in the national school from 11am until 3pm. Meanwhile, the King of Tory, Patsy Dan Rodgers, was the first person to vote on the island. However, the local king felt that the islanders should be allowed to vote on Thursday like the rest of the electorate on the mainland
"I talked to a few of the islanders this morning and they feel that we should have the same rights as all the others," he said.
"According to the people that I was talking to, we are at a disadvantage, as the latest opinion polls are vital in how we could change the way we vote at the last minute," he added.
The islanders traditionally ballot ahead of the rest of the country because of potential difficulties getting their votes back to the mainland in bad weather.
Speaking to the Donegal News yesterday Deputy Niall Blaney said he was 'quietly confident' of retaining his seat.
"The Blaney mahcine has been good, if not better, than in any other election. We've had a team of up to 250 workers out and last Monday night we had an election meeting and over 450 people attended. Nobody can match our campaign. We've got a great response on the doorsteps and there is a wish amongst the electorate for us to retain the seat. I'm quietly confident," he said.
He hit out a the recent opinion poll that put him at just eleven per cent of the vote.
"The polls are rubbish. You can't do a poll of 250 people and get an accurate feeling of how things are going across the constituency," he said.
Fine Gael Senator Joe McHugh said they were well poised to regain the party seat lost back in 1997.
"We've put together a well organised campaign and the challenge for us is to get the Fine Gael vote out. We've put in a tireless campaign - 16 hours a day have been the norm for the past two months and I feel we are now in a position to win back the seat for Fine Gael lost ten years ago," he said.
"Seasoned Fine Gael campaigners in the county have claimed it's been the best campaign they can remember," he added.
Sinn Féin's candidate Councillor Padraig MacLochlainn remained confident that the party would elect its first TD in Donegal North East since 1923.
"Based on the returns from our canvass I'm confident we can win the seat. Thousands of people, the length and breadth of Donegal, have expressed to us the anger and frustration at the way things have gone in the county over the past few years. Our polls are very strong in Inishowen and in Milford we're also on target. It looks very good but it is going to be very close," he said.
In Donegal North East the polls tip Dr Mc Daid to top the poll with 26 per cent of the vote followed by his running mate Deputy Cecilia Keaveney on 18 per cent. Fine Gael Senator Joe McHugh is on 19 per cent followed by Sinn Fein's Padraig MacLochlainn (16%), Fianna Fáil's Niall Blaney (11 per cent) and Labour's Siobhan McLaughlin (4%). Based on these findings, Senator McHugh, Councillor MacLochlainn and Deputy Blaney will battle it out for the third seat.
Former Fine Gael Councillor Jimmy Harte polled three per cent of the vote followed by Ramelton based Independent candidate, Ian McGarvey and Green Party candidate Frank Gallagher (2% each) with the Christian Solidarity candidate, Mary Doherty on just one per cent.
Meanwhile, in Donegal South West it appears that Junior Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher is under serious pressure from Sinn Fein Councillor Pearse Doherty. As widely expected Minister Mary Coughlan is tipped to top the poll with a first preference of thirty-three per cent. The polls puts Fine Gael's Dinny McGinley at 26 per cent and Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty at 19 per cent with Junior Minister Pat the Cope Gallagher at 15 per cent. Seamus Rodgers of the Labour party polls four per cent followed by Independent candidate, John Doherty (2%) and Sean O'Maolchallan of the Green Party (1%).
Speaking yesterday Junior Minister Gallagher admitted he was under pressure.
"I've put in the most extensive and comprehensive canvass ever and I'm quietly confident, despite the ratings in the polls last week, that I will retain the seat. I've had a very positive feedback on the ground. I couldn't have done any more and the organisation has been magnificent over the past few weeks," he said.
"| believe that my 26 years as a TD and MEP and the network of contactgs throughout the constituency will still have a positive result for me. I've said from the start it is going to be close because you have six candidates in the constituency in close proximity in the Rosses and Gweedore areas and just one in the Donegal Electoral Area. It is vitally important for the survival of Fianna Fail in government that we deliver the two seats in this constituency," he added.
Meanwhile tensions have emerged within the Fianna Fáil camp in both constituencies. In Donegal North East, the Director of Elections for Dr James McDaid hit out at what he described as a 'whispering campaign' among the canvassers for bother Fianna Fáil candidates.
"There is a whispering campaign going on against Jimmy, that he is safe and Jimmy McDaid has two quotas. There have been dirty tricks," he said.
Supporters of Minister Mary Coughlan are livid that Pat the Cope Gallagher wrote to members of the party in the Donegal Electoral Area asking them to give him their number one vote. This is is breach of a vote management pact where the Glenties Electoral Area was to be left to Junior Minister Gallagher while Minister Coughlan was to have a free run in the Donegal Electoral Area. The Stranorlar Electoral Area was to be divided between the two.
The party has also directed voters in the old Donegal North East areas of Lifford and Raphoe to give their votes to Minister Gallagher after opinion polls suggested he was in danger of losing his seat.
