No party comes near a majority on Donegal County Council: the largest holds 10 of 37
One council serves Ballindrait: Donegal County Council. Ireland has no town or district councils. The Lifford-Stranorlar local electoral area elected 6 councillors in June 2024: Independent 2, Sinn Féin 2, Fine Gael 1 and Fianna Fáil 1. No party holds a majority on Donegal County; Fianna Fáil has the most seats, 10 of 37, short of the 19 a majority needs. In the Dáil, Donegal has 5 members: Fianna Fáil 2, Sinn Féin 2 and Independent 1.
Ballindrait’s council and votes, in 2 figures
No majority on Donegal County
Fianna Fáil won the most seats on Donegal County Council in June 2024, 10 of 37, short of the 19 a majority needs; it ran 15 candidates. No party holds a majority on any of the 31 councils, so each council’s business is carried by votes across parties. Who’s in charge ↓
A lean budget for its size
Donegal County Council’s 2026 revenue budget comes to €1,327 for each resident, against €1,551 across all 31 councils, leaving out the HAP programme. Council money ↓
Written from the data on this page: the 2024 count sheets of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Oireachtas members list.
No party holds a majority on Donegal County Council
Seats on Donegal County Council as elected in June 2024, with each party’s candidates, and the other councils beside it.
- Fianna Fáil1015 stood
- Sinn Féin1018 stood
- Independent927 stood
- 100% Redress46 stood
- Fine Gael39 stood
- Labour Party13 stood
As elected on 7 June 2024.
A party needs 19 of the 37 seats to outvote the rest. None has that: Fianna Fáil is largest with 10. None of the 31 councils has a single-party majority. Sinn Féin is second with 10 seats. The councillors elect a cathaoirleach each June to chair the council for a year; no open national list names them.
The 31 councils of Ireland
Seats by party as elected, largest party named; this council first.
Local and general election results 2024: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY-SA 4.0); areas matched to towns by TownRatings from Tailte Éireann boundaries and CSO Census 2022 Small Areas (CC BY 4.0).
One council, and the government for the rest
Ballindrait has no town or county council of its own: Ireland has 31 councils, each the only council for its area.
Housing and homelessness, planning, local and regional roads, parks and libraries, the fire service, bins enforcement and street cleaning, the register of electors, and the Local Property Tax rate it may vary.
donegalcoco.ie ↗Schools (Department of Education), health (the HSE), national roads (TII), policing (An Garda Síochána) and the Local Property Tax itself (Revenue).
gov.ie ↗Uisce Éireann runs water and sewers; private operators collect most bins under the council’s rules.
Who to ask
Green: the council. Gold: a government department or one of its agencies. Grey: another public body.
From the council to the Dáil
Every elected tier that speaks for Ballindrait, from the most recent elections.
- 1The Lifford-Stranorlar local electoral areaLifford-Stranorlar · 6 membersMartin ScanlonMartin HarleyFrank McBreartyGary DohertyPatrick McGowanDakota Nic Mheanman
- 2Donegal County Council37 councillors from 7 local electoral areasFianna Fáil 10 · Sinn Féin 10 · Independent 9 · 100% Redress 4 · Fine Gael 3 · Labour Party 1
- 3Dáil ÉireannDonegal · 5 members
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. TDs: Houses of the Oireachtas Open Data (Oireachtas PSI Licence, CC BY 4.0).
6 councillors represent Lifford-Stranorlar
Each of the local electoral areas where 5% or more of the town’s residents live: who was elected, and who else stood.
- Martin Scanlon
- Martin Harley
- Frank McBrearty
- Gary Doherty
- Patrick McGowan
- Dakota Nic Mheanman
Also stood (6): Gerry Crawford (Fianna Fáil), Charles Ward (100% Redress), Niall McConnell (Independent), Tony McDaid (Sinn Féin), Garvan Connolly (Fine Gael), Rebecca McDaid (Aontú).
Ballindrait’s councillors, one by one
| Councillor | Party | Area | First preferences | Result | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Scanlon | Independent | Lifford-Stranorlar | 1,410 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | New |
| Martin Harley | Fine Gael | Lifford-Stranorlar | 1,261 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Frank McBrearty | Independent | Lifford-Stranorlar | 1,199 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Gary Doherty | Sinn Féin | Lifford-Stranorlar | 1,193 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | Re-elected |
| Patrick McGowan | Fianna Fáil | Lifford-Stranorlar | 1,171 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | Re-elected |
| Dakota Nic Mheanman | Sinn Féin | Lifford-Stranorlar | 839 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | New |
4 of the 6 were sitting councillors who were re-elected; 2 weren’t on the council before the election.
Seats by party in each of Donegal County Council’s 7 local electoral areas
Every area of Donegal County Council: seats, candidates and turnout
| Area | Seats | Candidates | Electorate | Turnout | Quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifford-Stranorlar | 6 | 12 | 21,903 | 52.7% | 1,629 |
| Buncrana | 5 | 12 | 17,578 | 52.3% | 1,510 |
| Cardonagh | 4 | 9 | 15,041 | 53.3% | 1,588 |
| Donegal | 6 | 15 | 24,597 | 56.9% | 1,985 |
| Glenties | 6 | 16 | 24,479 | 54.3% | 1,883 |
| Letterkenny | 7 | 18 | 25,643 | 51.4% | 1,629 |
| Milford | 3 | 9 | 13,178 | 63.1% | 2,058 |
Each of the local electoral areas elects 3 to 7 councillors by single transferable vote: voters number the candidates in order, a candidate who reaches the quota is elected, and spare votes and those of the lowest candidate pass to the next preference. A councillor who leaves is replaced by co-option, usually from the same party, so the names can change without an election.
Councillors: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Of the 37 councillors on Donegal County Council, women hold 3
Everyone elected to Donegal County Council across its 7 local electoral areas in June 2024, by party: how many are women and how many sat on the council before.
| Party | Seats | Women | Re-elected | First preferences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fianna Fáil | 10 | 0 | 9 | 22.8% |
| Sinn Féin | 10 | 1 | 9 | 21.9% |
| Independent | 9 | 1 | 6 | 28.5% |
| 100% Redress | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9.6% |
| Fine Gael | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10.5% |
| Labour Party | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2% |
3 of the 37 councillors are women, 8%; across all 31 councils the share is 26%. 27 sat on the council before the election and 10 are new to it.
Every member of Donegal County Council
| Councillor | Party | Area | Returning or new |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Murray | Sinn Féin | Buncrana | Re-elected |
| Joy Beard | 100% Redress | Buncrana | New |
| Paul Canning | Fianna Fáil | Buncrana | Re-elected |
| Terry Crossan | Sinn Féin | Buncrana | Re-elected |
| Fionán Bradley | Fianna Fáil | Buncrana | New |
| Ali Farren | 100% Redress | Cardonagh | New |
| Martin McDermott | Fianna Fáil | Cardonagh | Re-elected |
| Martin Farren | Labour Party | Cardonagh | Re-elected |
| Albert Doherty | Sinn Féin | Cardonagh | Re-elected |
| Michéal Naughton | Fianna Fáil | Donegal | Re-elected |
| Noel Jordan | Sinn Féin | Donegal | Re-elected |
| Michael McMahon | Sinn Féin | Donegal | Re-elected |
| Jimmy Brogan | Independent | Donegal | New |
| Manus Boyle | Fine Gael | Donegal | New |
| Niamh Kennedy | Independent | Donegal | Re-elected |
| Micheál Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig | Independent | Glenties | Re-elected |
| Michael McClafferty | Independent | Glenties | Re-elected |
| Anthony Molloy | Fianna Fáil | Glenties | Re-elected |
| Brian Carr | Sinn Féin | Glenties | Re-elected |
| John Shéamais Ó Fearraigh | Sinn Féin | Glenties | Re-elected |
| Denis McGee | 100% Redress | Glenties | New |
| Donal Mandy Kelly | Fianna Fáil | Letterkenny | Re-elected |
| Ciaran Brogan | Fianna Fáil | Letterkenny | Re-elected |
| Tomás Seán Devine | 100% Redress | Letterkenny | New |
| Jimmy Kavanagh | Fine Gael | Letterkenny | Re-elected |
| Michael McBride | Independent | Letterkenny | Re-elected |
| Gerry McMonagle | Sinn Féin | Letterkenny | Re-elected |
| Donal Coyle | Fianna Fáil | Letterkenny | Re-elected |
| Martin Scanlon | Independent | Lifford-Stranorlar | New |
| Martin Harley | Fine Gael | Lifford-Stranorlar | Re-elected |
| Frank McBrearty | Independent | Lifford-Stranorlar | Re-elected |
| Gary Doherty | Sinn Féin | Lifford-Stranorlar | Re-elected |
| Patrick McGowan | Fianna Fáil | Lifford-Stranorlar | Re-elected |
| Dakota Nic Mheanman | Sinn Féin | Lifford-Stranorlar | New |
| Declan Meehan | Independent | Milford | New |
| Liam Blaney | Fianna Fáil | Milford | Re-elected |
| Pauric McGarvey | Independent | Milford | Re-elected |
The council: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
First preferences in Lifford-Stranorlar, June 2024
Each candidate’s first-preference votes; the tick is the quota of 1,629. Elected candidates are in bold.
Each party’s share of first preferences in Lifford-Stranorlar
The tick is the party’s share across all of Ireland.
11,533 of 21,903 registered voters turned out, 52.7%: the 67th-highest of 166 local electoral areas (all of them: 49.4%). With 11,400 valid votes and 6 seats the quota was 1,629; the count ran to 8 rounds. No candidate reached the quota on first preferences: transfers filled every seat. Dakota Nic Mheanman (Sinn Féin) was 9th on first preferences and elected on transfers, ahead of Gerry Crawford (Fianna Fáil), 6th on first preferences. The last seat went to Dakota Nic Mheanman (Sinn Féin) with 1,357 votes at the final count, 117 ahead of Gerry Crawford (Fianna Fáil), who had 1,240.
Every candidate, count by count (8 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick McGowan | Fianna Fáil | 1,171 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,508 |
| Dakota Nic Mheanman | Sinn Féin | 839 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 1,357 |
| Martin Harley | Fine Gael | 1,261 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 1,638 |
| Frank McBrearty | Independent | 1,199 | Elected at count 7, on the quota | 1,629 |
| Martin Scanlon | Independent | 1,410 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | 1,629 |
| Gary Doherty | Sinn Féin | 1,193 | Elected at count 5, on the quota | 1,629 |
| Rebecca McDaid | Aontú | 434 | Excluded at count 2 | – |
| Garvan Connolly | Fine Gael | 518 | Excluded at count 3 | – |
| Tony McDaid | Sinn Féin | 625 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Charles Ward | 100% Redress | 880 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Niall McConnell | Independent | 880 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Gerry Crawford | Fianna Fáil | 990 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 1,240 |
How Ballindrait voted: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Who stood, and who was elected, June 2024
Every candidate for Donegal County Council, by party: the light bar is candidates, the solid bar those elected.
Share of candidates elected, all of Ireland
Parties with 10 or more candidates across the 31 councils.
91 candidates stood for 37 seats on Donegal County Council in June 2024, 2.5 for each seat. Turnout across the council was 54.4%, the 10th-highest of 31 councils. Sinn Féin elected 10 of its 18 candidates. 19 of the 91 candidates were women (21%; 31% across the country), and 27 stood without a party. Across all 31 councils, 2,172 candidates stood for 949 seats, 2.3 for each.
Turnout in all 31 councils
Local elections: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Ballindrait is in Donegal
5 TDs elected to the Dáil by single transferable vote on 29 November 2024, the whole constituency’s count.
100% RDR
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil · Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport
oireachtas.ie ↗Fianna Fáil
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗Sinn Féin
oireachtas.ie ↗TDs as the Oireachtas lists them today, with any office they hold; a by-election or a change of party shows here, the 2024 count below does not change.
First preferences in Donegal, November 2024
Each party’s share of first preferences in Donegal
Turnout was 58.9%, 77,321 of 131,306 registered voters: the 24th-highest of 43 Dáil constituencies (all of them: 59.7%). The quota was 12,771: 76,624 valid votes for 5 seats, counted over 16 rounds. Pearse Doherty (Sinn Féin) reached the quota on first preferences alone, and transfers decided the other 4. The last seat went to Charlie McConalogue (Fianna Fáil) with 11,683 votes at the final count, 1,288 ahead of Thomas Pringle (Independent), who had 10,395.
Every candidate, count by count (16 counts)
| Candidate | Party | First preferences | Result | Votes at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Ward | 100% Redress | 6,862 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 11,714 |
| Charlie McConalogue | Fianna Fáil | 8,019 | Elected at the last count, below the quota | 11,683 |
| Pat The Cope Gallagher | Fianna Fáil | 10,024 | Elected at count 15, on the quota | 12,771 |
| Pádraig Mac Lochlainn | Sinn Féin | 9,799 | Elected at count 2, on the quota | 12,771 |
| Pearse Doherty | Sinn Féin | 18,898 | Elected at count 1, on the quota | 12,771 |
| Vincent J Bradley | Independent | 111 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Arthur Desmond Mc Guinness | Independent | 34 | Excluded at count 4 | – |
| Claudia Kennedy | Fianna Fáil | 273 | Excluded at count 5 | – |
| Frank O' Donnell | Independent | 313 | Excluded at count 6 | – |
| Gerry Mc Keever | Independent | 342 | Excluded at count 7 | – |
| Eamon McGee | Irish Freedom Party | 383 | Excluded at count 8 | – |
| Kim Mc Menamin | The Irish People | 531 | Excluded at count 9 | – |
| Nuala Carr | Green Party | 880 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Carol Gallagher | People Before Profit–Solidarity | 606 | Excluded at count 10 | – |
| Niall McConnell | Independent | 1,565 | Excluded at count 11 | – |
| Mary T. Sweeney | Aontú | 2,469 | Excluded at count 12 | – |
| John Mc Nulty | Fine Gael | 3,247 | Excluded at count 13 | – |
| Noel Jordan | Sinn Féin | 3,321 | Excluded at count 14 | – |
| Nikki Bradley | Fine Gael | 3,658 | Excluded at count 15 | – |
| Thomas Pringle | Independent | 5,289 | Not elected, standing at the last count | 10,395 |
Dáil Éireann: same source as Who’s in charge, above.
Donegal County Council plans to spend €1,327 per resident in 2026
What its 2026 revenue budget pays for, service by service, and where the money comes from.
By service, per resident, 2026
What pays for it, 2026
Shares of what funds the 2026 budget; the tick is all 31 councils together.
Leaving out the HAP programme, that is the 11th-lowest of the 31 councils per resident; across all of them it is €1,551. The budget is up 12% on 2025, when it was €198.9M.
Commercial rates on businesses pay for 18% of the budget. Its annual rate on valuation is 0.2320, the 11th-lowest of the 31 councils that rate on revalued property. The Local Property Tax brings in another 13%.
Budget per resident, all 31 councils (without the HAP programme)
Show the services as a table, 2025 and 2026
| Service | 2026 | Per resident | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing and building | €52.2M | €312 | €33.8M | 54% |
| Roads and transport | €67.5M | €404 | €59.6M | 13% |
| Water services | €13.5M | €81 | €19.7M | -31% |
| Planning and development | €24.7M | €148 | €24M | 3% |
| Environment and fire | €22.6M | €135 | €21.1M | 7% |
| Libraries, parks and amenities | €11.7M | €70 | €11.2M | 5% |
| Agriculture, education, health and welfare | €2.8M | €17 | €3.1M | -10% |
| Other services | €27.1M | €162 | €26.4M | 2% |
Budgets: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Local Authority Annual Budgets 2025 and 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), revenue account before inter-authority contributions are netted; residents: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).
Each of Donegal County Council’s 37 councillors speaks for about 4,520 residents
Residents per councillor on each of the 31 councils.
Donegal County Council has 37 councillors for 167,084 residents: about 4,520 each, the 11th-lowest of 31 councils. The range runs from 9,410 residents per councillor on Dublin City to 1,960 on Leitrim County.
Residents per councillor, all 31 councils
Seats: local elections 2024 (Department of Housing, CC BY-SA 4.0); residents: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).
Having a say in how Ballindrait is run
Check, register or update your address online; the register closes 15 days before a poll (Sundays and holidays aside).
checktheregister.ie ↗Potholes, broken lights, dumping and graffiti, sent to the council.
FixYourStreet.ie ↗Council and municipal district meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
donegalcoco.ie ↗Anyone may make a submission within five weeks of an application, for a fee of €20.
donegalcoco.ie ↗Each TD’s contact details are on the Oireachtas members page.
oireachtas.ie ↗The Electoral Commission’s guidance for candidates and how to be nominated.
electoralcommission.ie ↗What this data can and can’t tell you
- Single transferable vote. Voters number candidates in order. The quota is the valid votes divided by one more than the seats, plus one. A candidate over the quota is elected and their surplus passes on; when nobody is over it, the lowest is excluded and their votes pass on, until the seats are filled. The last seats can go to candidates below the quota once too few are left to fill them. First preferences show where support started, not who won.
- Which area. A town is placed in its council, local electoral area and Dáil constituency by where its residents live (Census 2022 Small Areas); an area holding 5% or more of them is listed too. Areas reach beyond the town, so their results are the whole area’s.
- Turnout. Votes cast, spoilt ones included, as a share of the register. Registers carry people who have moved or died, so every turnout reads low by a few points; compare areas, not the figure on its own.
- A close last seat. Shown only when the last candidate elected and the one left standing were both in the final count; the gap is between their votes then. Margins are not shown as headlines unless they are among the closest.
- Not on this page. Audited accounts and debt are published only as PDF statements, so they aren’t on this page. Votes before 2024 aren’t compared: the local electoral areas were redrawn for the 2024 local elections and the Dáil constituencies in 2023, so earlier results don’t cover the same ground. Who chairs each council and who runs it as chief executive aren’t in any open national list; each council names them on its website.
Questions about how Ballindrait is run
Which council runs Ballindrait?
Ballindrait is run by Donegal County Council, its only council: Ireland has one tier of local government.
How many councillors does Ballindrait have?
The Lifford-Stranorlar local electoral area elects 6 councillors: Martin Scanlon (Independent), Martin Harley (Fine Gael), Frank McBrearty (Independent), Gary Doherty (Sinn Féin), Patrick McGowan (Fianna Fáil), Dakota Nic Mheanman (Sinn Féin).
Which party has the most seats on Donegal County Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Fianna Fáil 10 · Sinn Féin 10 · Independent 9 · 100% Redress 4 · Fine Gael 3 · Labour Party 1 of 37 seats; a majority needs 19.
Who are Ballindrait’s TDs?
Donegal elects 5 TDs: Charles Ward (100% RDR), Charlie McConalogue (Fianna Fáil), Pat the Cope Gallagher (Fianna Fáil), Pearse Doherty (Sinn Féin) and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Féin).
What was the turnout in Ballindrait?
In Lifford-Stranorlar, 52.7% of registered voters turned out in June 2024 (Ireland: 49.4%). In Donegal, 58.9% in November 2024 (59.7%).
When are the next elections in Ballindrait?
Local elections are held every five years, so the next are due in 2029, in May or June. A general election must be held within five years of the last one (November 2024), sooner if the Dáil is dissolved.
What does Donegal County spend?
Donegal County Council plans to spend €222.1M on day-to-day services in 2026, the most of it on roads and transport.
Sources: Local and general election results 2024: Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (CC BY-SA 4.0); areas matched to towns by TownRatings from Tailte Éireann boundaries and CSO Census 2022 Small Areas (CC BY 4.0). · TDs: Houses of the Oireachtas Open Data (Oireachtas PSI Licence, CC BY 4.0). · Boundaries: Tailte Éireann (CC BY 4.0); population: CSO Census 2022 (CC BY 4.0).. Under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).