Donegal Count Centre, 5pm: Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty is on his way to being elected in the first count in Donegal this evening.
With Padraig Mac Lochlainn’s seat also secure, Doherty will soon be looking to government formation.
“We are delighted that we are the people’s choice in Donegal,” Doherty tells Donegal Daily.
“People see the calibre of not only the work ethic we have but the solutions we have to make sure that Donegal is no longer a forgotten county.”
Doherty will have a pivotal role in seeing if an “alternative government is possible”.
He said: “When the dust settles, when all the seats are filled across the State we have to look at the numbers and see if we can have a government without Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. That’s what we want. It’s not personal against those parties. That’s how you deliver the amount of change that is required.”
With the first count due to get underway, the tally is predicting two Sinn Féin seats, two Fianna Fáil and the 100% Redress Ward in fifth. All eyes are on the fifth seat.
Doherty said the performance of Sinn Féin and the 100% Redress Party shows that the defective concrete block crisis is front and centre in the people’s vote.
Looking at Charles Ward’s standing, he said: “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he’s a TD by this time tomorrow.”
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