'A disappointing day': Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher on Fianna Fáil's loss of seats

Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher has described as 'a disappointing day' the loss of one of the Fianna Fáil seats in the Glenties electoral area.

The retired politician and veteran Fianna Fáil activist was reacting on a day when the party lost two seats and could – depending on the result of a full recount in the Letterkenny area – see a third seat taken.

With Donal Coyle's seat in Letterkenny still in the balance, Fianna Fáil will have nine or ten councillors on Donegal County Council.

Anthony Molloy will be the only Fianna Fáil councillor in the Glenties MD during the next term of the Council.

“It is a disappointing day,” Gallagher told Donegal Live. “The people have spoken and democracy prevails so we have to regroup again and see where it went wrong.

“It is a disappointing day for us. When I first stood, we had three seats here. From 1991 to 1999, we only had one councillor here, but from 1992 I was in the Dail.”

Fianna Fáil candidates Anne Marie Rodgers and John Reilly were eliminated on the fourth and seventh counts respectively, but there was no doubt that the loss of a seat was a major downer for the party.

Veteran former MEP and TD Gallagher told Donegal Live: “We have to look very seriously at ourselves, particularly in view of the fact that the party is doing very well nationally and actually exceeded expectations.”

Rodgers left the race when she was eliminated on the fourth count. A native of Tory who has been living in Dunfanaghy since 2005, Rodgers entered the race in April, but was unable to garner significant support to work into contention.

Reilly, a Burtonport businessman, was later eliminated on the seventh count. Reilly stayed in the mix until he left a 791 vote batch for distribution.

Following the death of Noreen McGarvey, a sitting Fianna Fáil councillor who worked closely with Gallagher for many years, last December, the party opted to leave her seat vacant until polling day on Friday.

Experienced Fianna Fáil Councillor Gerry Crawford lost his seat in the Lifford-Stranorlar area, bowing out after being pipped at the post by Sinn Féin newcomer Dakota Nic Mheanman.

With a general election on the horizon in either late 2024 or early 2024, Gallagher says Fianna Fáil have to come out swinging.

He said: “We can't lay down. We have to take this on the chin and ensure sure that we get the vote out again for the general election. The support is there.”

Although Fianna Fáil have lost its elected presence in the Rosses area, Gallagher remains as busy as ever.

He said: “When I was in the Dail, I was still doing the local council work. I am still doing it to this day.”

A possible return to the political furnace has been mooted, but Gallagher played down those notions.

He said: I retired from the Dail four years ago, but I have never been busier than I am now. I am still available to people. I lost my seat, but I didn't lose my contacts.

“That's for another day, but I have given my whole life to assisting individuals, communities and families and so long as people want me to assist and advise them, I am happy to do that.”

The Fianna Fáil vote in the Glenties area fell to 18.45 per cent this year having been almost 30 per cent five years ago.

Fianna Fáil were rocked to the core in the area in 2019 when Seamus O Domhnaill, the Mayor of Donegal until the election, and Enda Bonner, were usurped.

Having polled over 3,000 votes between them in 2014 – in O Domhnaill's case as the poll-topper with 1,889 first preferences – their exits represented a shuddering fall for the party.

O Domhnaill also topped the poll as an independent in 2009, when Fianna Fáil had Bonner, David Alcorn and Dr Joe Kelly elected.

Alcorn topped the charts in Glenties in 1999 when his 2,268 votes announced his arrival to Lifford in some style.

Alcorn retained his seat until he retired in 2014.

In '99, the Fianna Fáil vote in the Glenties area was just shy of 40 per cent.

The area was a real stronghold for Fianna Fáil. The presence of Gallagher was central to that.
He won a seat on Donegal County Council in 1979 and 1985, while he was a TD from 1981 to 1997.

Gallagher returned to the Dail from 2002-09 and again from 2016-2020 while he also had two spells as an MEP, from 1994-02 and 2009-14 with Bonner also serving as a Senator between 1997 and 2002.