Donegal is a parliamentary constituency which has been represented in

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

, the lower house of the Irish parliament or

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

, since the 2016 general election. The constituency elects five deputies ( Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs) on the system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

by means of the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

(PR-STV). It covers

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

with the exception of nine southern

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

s which are part of the neighbouring Sligo–Leitrim constituency.

History and boundaries

1921 to 1937

The constituency was created in 1921 by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 as a 6-seat constituency for the Southern Ireland House of Commons and a two-seat constituency for the United Kingdom House of Commons at Westminster, taking in the whole of

in north-west Ireland, succeeding the former Westminster constituencies of East Donegal, North Donegal, South Donegal and West Donegal. At the 1921 election for the Southern Ireland House of Commons, the six seats were won uncontested by Sinn Féin, who treated it as part of the election to the

Second Dáil The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. It was never used as a Westminster constituency; under s. 1(4) of the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922, no writ was to be issued "for a constituency in Ireland other than a constituency in Northern Ireland". Therefore, no vote was held in County Dublin at the

1922 United Kingdom general election The 1922 United Kingdom general election was held on Wednesday 15 November 1922. It was won by the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law, which gained an overall majority over the Labour Party, led by J. R. Clynes, and ...

on 15 November 1922, shortly before the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

left the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 6 December 1922. Under the

Electoral Act 1923 The Electoral Act 1923 was a law in Ireland which established the electoral law of the Irish Free State and provided for parliamentary constituencies in Dáil Éireann. Franchise Article 14 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State adopted ...

, the constituency's boundaries remained unchanged, and were defined as "the administrative county of Donegal". However, its representation was increased from 6 to 8 seats. It was abolished by the

Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 The Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935 (No. 5) was a law in Ireland which replaced the Dáil constituencies which had been defined in the Electoral Act 1923. Unlike the constituencies in the 1923 Act, it included many instances of ...

, with effect from the 1937 general election. It was replaced by two new constituencies: the 4-seat Donegal East and the 3-seat Donegal West.

1977 to 1981

A Donegal constituency was re-established as a 5-seat constituency under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1974, and used at the 1977 general election only. The revived constituency was short-lived, as under the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1980, it was replaced by two new 3-seat constituencies, Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West.

Since 2016

In 2012 the

Constituency Commission The Constituency Commission () is an independent commission in Ireland which had advised on redrawing of constituency boundaries of Dáil constituencies for the election of members to Dáil Éireann (the house of representatives of the Oireacht ...

proposed that at the next general election, the constituencies of Donegal North-East and Donegal South-West should be replaced by a new constituency called Donegal. The report proposed changes to the constituencies of Ireland so as to reduce the total number of TDs from 166 to 158. The Donegal constituency was re-established by the Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2013, with effect from the 2016 general election. The Electoral (Amendment) (Dáil Constituencies) Act 2017 defines the constituency as: The area of the county of Donegal within the Sligo–Leitrim constituency is: The Constituency Review Report 2023 of the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

recommended that no change be made at the next general election.

TDs

TDs 1921–1937

TDs 1977–1981

TDs since 2016

Elections

2024 general election

2020 general election

2016 general election

1980 by-election

A by-election was held on 6 November 1980 to fill the vacancy caused by the death on 13 July 1980 of the Fianna Fáil TD Joseph Brennan. It was won by the Fianna Fáil candidate Clement Coughlan, who died in a road accident in early 1983, triggering a by-election in the Donegal South-West constituency.

1977 general election

1933 general election

1932 general election

September 1927 general election

June 1927 general election

1924 by-election

A by-election was held on 20 November 1924 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation on 1 August 1924 of the Cumann na nGaedheal TD Peter Ward. There were only two candidates, and the winner was the Cumann na nGaedheal candidate Denis McCullough.

1923 general election

The 1923 general election to the 4th Dáil was the first in the Donegal constituency where the number of candidates exceeded the number of seats. Under the

, Donegal's representation had been increased from six to eight seats, and these were contested by no less than 19 candidates.

1922 general election

As at the 1921 general election, Sinn Féin stood one candidate for every seat (except for two Dublin constituencies); the Treaty had divided the party between 65 pro-treaty candidates, 57 anti-treaty and 1 nominally on both sides. Unlike the elections a year earlier, other parties stood in most constituencies forcing

elections, with Sinn Féin losing 30 seats. In Donegal, Sinn Féin's six outgoing TDs from the 2nd Dáil were elected unopposed, Socialist Republican,

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

having withdrawn his candidacy. Two had opposed the treaty, and four supported it; they are listed here in alphabetical order

1921 general election

At the 1921 general election to the 2nd Dáil, no seats were contested in the 26 counties which became the

. In Donegal, six

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

candidates were nominated for the constituency's six seats. Major Robert L Moore, who had contested East Donegal in 1918, was selected as the Unionist candidate by 22 April 1921 but was described on 15 May 1921 as 'having at the last moment withdrawn'. No ballot was needed, and all six candidates were elected unopposed after the close of nominations on 24 May 1921. The 6 TDs elected are listed here in alphabetical order:

References

External links

Oireachtas Constituency Dashboards

Oireachtas Members Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donegal (Dail constituency) Dáil constituencies Politics of County Donegal 1921 establishments in Ireland 1937 disestablishments in Ireland Constituencies established in 1921 Constituencies disestablished in 1937 1977 establishments in Ireland 1981 disestablishments in Ireland Constituencies established in 1977 Constituencies disestablished in 1981 2016 establishments in Ireland Constituencies established in 2016