Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly has confirmed that he has put his hat in the ring for nomination as a Fianna Fáil candidate in the next general election.
Cllr Kelly told Donegal Daily that a run for a Dáil seat was always on his mind and his poll-topping performance in the local elections in June cemented that idea.
“It was something that was always on my mind from the day I first took the seat,” Cllr Kelly said.
“I didn’t think it would come this soon, but there have been a lot of members of Fianna Fáil here and the general public and even business people that had approached me.”
The Glenswilly councillor won the first seat in the Letterkenny-Milford MD in June with 1,841 first preference votes.
Since nominations opened for Fianna Fáil’s General Election selection convention, Cllr Kelly said his decision was prompted by the will of his voters.
Fianna Fáil representatives in Donegal: Minister Charlie McConalogue, Cllr Liam Blaney, Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly, Cllr Donal Coyle and Cllr Ciaran Brogan at the Local Election Count in Letterkenny in June
Letterkenny has been without a TD for 14 years since Dr James McDaid’s resignation.
Cllr Kelly said: “When you listen to the people, Letterkenny is crying out for a TD, and after I topped the poll, the view of the people is that I am the person to go forward and I’ll respect their wishes and put my name in the hat and see if I come out the other side.”
Nominations close on Monday 15th July and Cllr Kelly says he’s confident he will get enough backing to go forward to the convention.
“If I am nominated after Monday it’s something I will definitely consider.”
“I’ll take it one step at time.”
“My mandate has always been to represent the people to the best of my ability and the people have spoken in the local election, and I feel now it’s my mandate to give this a shot too.”
