THE SUNDAY Independent’s guide to the General Election today will make grim reading for Tanaiste Mary Coughlan.
The paper’s John Drennan is predicting that the outgoing Fianna Fail TD for Donegal South West will lose her seat.
And he is predicting that independent candidate Thomas Pringle will take the seat instead.
Drennan says he believes Pearse Doherty will get the first seat and that Dinny McGinley will ‘cling on’ to his seat for Fine Gael.
On the third seat, he writes off the chances of Labour’s Frank McBrearty and adds: “In yet another ‘shock’ we’re tipping the independent Greenish former SF candidate Thomas Pringle for a narrow win.”
In Donegal North East he writes: “All you can say about this one is ‘what the hell is going on?’ “.
Drennan tips Padraig MacLochlainn of Sinn Fein and ‘lovely boy’ Joe McHugh of Fine Gael to take two seats.
He is predicting a ‘desperate battle’ for the third seat between ‘the FF candidate with the unpronounceable name’ (McConalogue) and Labour’s Jimmy Harte.
He says McConalogue may just about survive.
Meanwhile in the battle for Donegal North East – and that battle between Harte and McConalogue) – Fianna Fail sources admit they are struggling to persuade many supporters in the Letterkenny area to vote for the Inishowen man.
One source admitted: “People are going with personalities and they want a Letterkenny TD in the next Dail and many of them are telling us they are not voting for political parties this time but for a locally-based TD.
“Many people we thought were Fianna Fail diehards are saying they are going to give their No1 to (Jimmy) Harte.”