1985 Donegal County Council election

An election to Donegal County Council took place on 27 June 1991 as part of that year's Irish local elections. 29 councillors were elected from six electoral divisions by PR-STV voting for a five-year term of office.

1985 Donegal County Council election

20 June 1985
All 29 seats to Donegal County Council
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Sinn Féin Seats won 11 9 2 Seat change - -1 +1   Party Workers' Party Independent Seats won 1 6 Seat change - +1
Map showing the area of Donegal County Council
Council control before election Fianna Fáil Council control after election Fianna Fáil

Results by party

Party		Seats	±	First Pref. votes	FPv%	±%
	Fianna Fáil	11	-	22,259	35.94%
	Fine Gael	9	-1	18,347	29.62%
	Sinn Féin	2	+1	4,290	6.93%
	Workers' Party	1	-	1,352	2.2%
	Independent	6	+1	12,103	19.54%
Totals		29	+1	57,013	100%	—

Results by Electoral Area

• Sitting in italics

Buncrana

Buncrana - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Fianna Fáil	Hugh ConaghanTD*		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

Donegal - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Fianna Fáil	Cathal CoughlanTD*		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

Glenties - 6 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Fianna Fáil	Pat The Cope GallagherTD*		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

Letterkenny - 7 seats

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 HarteTD*		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

Milford - 4 seats

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

External links

• Official website
• Irishelectionliterature
• Department of the Environment, Ireland (2010-01-28). "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 2019-10-28.