Donegal (Dáil constituency)

The Donegal constituency was first created in 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, for the 1921 election to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, whose members formed the Second Dáil. It elected 6 deputies in 1921, and again at the 1922 general election. It covered the whole territory of County Donegal in north-west Ireland.

Under the Electoral Act 1923, the constituency's boundaries remained unchanged, and were defined simply as "the administrative county of Donegal". However, its representation was increased from 6 to 8 seats.[1]

The Donegal constituency was abolished by the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935, with effect from the 1937 general election. It was replaced by two new constituencies: the 4-seat Donegal East and the 3-seat Donegal West.[2]

A Donegal constituency was re-established under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974, and used at the 1977 general election only. The new 5-seat constituency did not cover all of County Donegal; an area in the south of the county, including the rural hinterland of Ballyshannon and the town of Bundoran, was included in the Sligo–Leitrim constituency.[3]

The revived constituency was short-lived, as under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1980, it was replaced by two new 3-seat constituencies, Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West.[4]

In 2012 the Constituency Commission proposed that at the next general election, the constituencies of Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West should be replaced by a new constituency called Donegal.[5] The report proposed changes to the constituencies of Ireland so as to reduce the total number of TDs from 166 to 158.[6]

The Donegal constituency was re-established by the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, with effect from the 2016 general election.[7]

The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017 defines the constituency as:[8]

"The county of Donegal, except the part thereof which is comprised in the constituency of Sligo–Leitrim."

The area of the county of Donegal within the Sligo–Leitrim constituency is:

"the electoral divisions of:

Ballintra, Ballyshannon Rural, Ballyshannon Urban, Bundoran Rural, Carrickboy, Cavangarden, Cliff, in the former Rural District of Ballyshannon;

Ballintra in the former Rural District of Donegal;

and Bundoran Urban"

The Constituency Review Report 2023 of the Electoral Commission recommended that no change be made at the next general election.[9]

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.

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.

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.

A by-election was held on 6 November 1980 to fill the vacancy caused by the death on 13 July 1980 of the Fianna Fáil TD Joseph Brennan. It was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Clement Coughlan, who died in a road accident in early 1983, triggering a by-election in the Donegal South-West constituency.

A by-election was held on 20 November 1924 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation on 1 August 1924 of the Cumann na nGaedheal TD Peter Ward. There were only two candidates, and the winner was the Cumann na nGaedheal candidate Denis McCullough.

The 1923 general election to the 4th Dáil was the first in the Donegal constituency where the number of candidates exceeded the number of seats. Under the Electoral Act 1923, Donegal's representation had been increased from six to eight seats, and these were contested by no less than 19 candidates.

As at the 1921 general election, Sinn Féin stood one candidate for every seat, except those for two Dublin constituencies; the treaty had divided the party between 65 pro-treaty candidates, 57 anti-treaty and 1 nominally on both sides. Unlike the elections a year earlier, other parties stood in most constituencies forcing single transferable vote elections, with Sinn Féin losing 30 seats.

In Donegal, Sinn Féin's six outgoing TDs from the 2nd Dáil were elected unopposed, Socialist Republican, Jack White having withdrawn his candidacy.[32] Two had opposed the treaty, and four supported it; they are listed here in alphabetical order

At the 1921 general election to the 2nd Dáil, no seats were contested in the 26 counties which became the Irish Free State. In Donegal, six Sinn Féin candidates were nominated for the constituency's eight seats. Major Robert L Moore, who had contested East Donegal in 1918, was selected as the Unionist candidate by 22 April 1921[33] but was described on 15 May 1921 as 'having at the last moment withdrawn'.[34][35] No ballot was needed, and all six candidates were elected unopposed after the close of nominations on 24 May 1921. The 6 TDs elected are listed here in alphabetical order:[10]