Election 2020: Thomas Pringle wins the third seat

Thomas Pringle has won another battle for a seat in the Dáil.

The Killybegs-based Independent TD was re-elected in the ninth count in the Donegal constituency this evening.

Pringle secured 12,245 votes for the third seat, having made great gains initially from poll-topper Pearse Doherty’s surplus yesterday evening.

Pringle’s election sees three left-wing TDs representing Donegal in the Dáil. Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty and Padraig Mac Lochlainn both made it over the line in the first count.

The whole campaign, Pringle said, was built on a huge appetite for change from the electorate.

As questions arise over the formation of the next government, Thomas told Donegal Daily that he is glad to stay independent. 

“Why would you be part of the destruction of people, of homeless people, the destruction of healthcare that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have presided over. I couldn’t, in all consciousness, be part of that and I certainly wouldn’t be part of that again,” Pringle said.