Live updates: All the latest from the Donegal constituency election count

1:51am - Count adjourneed till 10am Sunday

1:40am - Pádraig Mac Lochlainn elected on second count in Donegal

11.22pm -  Pearse Doherty has comfortably topped the poll in the Donegal constituency. The Sinn Fein representative gained 18,898 first preferences - exceeding the quota of 12,771 votes. Read more here on the first count from the Aura Leisure Centre

11:13am - PEARSE DOHERTY  OF SINN FÉIN TOPS THE POLL IN DONEGAL AND IS ELECTED ON THE FIRST COUNT, WITH 18,898 FIRST PREFERENCE VOTES, EXCEEDING THE QUOTA OF 12,771

11:05pm - You won't believe this. When the results of the first count finally started, some 14 hours after the doors first opened here in Letterkenny, a fire alarm has gone off in the Aura Centre and Geraldine O'Connor, the  returning officer, has had to pause the announcement.

10:24pm - Results of the first count are expected in the coming minutes

9:01pm - Joe McHugh has described as ‘a massive disappointment’ the loss of Fine Gael’s Dail seat in Donegal. Read an interview here with the former Minister for Education here

8:59pm - Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher says his decision to contest the General Election has been vindicated.Read an interview here 

8:52pm - It is 'hoped' the first count here in Letterkenny will be concluded here by 9:30pm-10pm.

8:36pm - The adjudicating of doubtful votes continues, two hours later, with the first count expected to follow. 

8:33pm - Following the tallies, Charles Ward - a native of Arranmore living in Drumkeen - is fifth with five seats up for grabs in the Donegal constituency, with 6,857 first preferences - having endured an up-and-down sort of afternoon at the Aura Centre in Letterkenny. Read his interview here.

7pm - With things at a standstill in Letterkenny, here's a gallery from the Aura Centre

6.07pm - Adjudicating of doubtful votes will commence at 6.30pm, returning officer Geraldine O'Connor has announced. We are still some way off a first count.

6.04pm - Noel Jordan says he’s enjoyed the experience of running for general election - and hasn’t thrown the towel in just yet. 

Jordan is part of the three-pronged Sinn Féin strategy alongside running mates Pearse Doherty and Padraig Mac Lochlainn and tallied 3,382 first preference votes, with the party picking up 32,474 altogether in Donegal.

Read an interview with him here. 

6pm - Fine Gael will not have a TD in the Donegal constituency for the first time on a disastrous day for the party in the county.

Fine Gael stood John McNulty and Senator Nikki Bradley in an attempt to retain the seat won by Joe McHugh in 2020, but there will be much soul-searching after their respective bids fell short.

Read more here.

3:50pm - With areas like Ballintra, Ballyshannon and Bundoran seeing their votes in  Sligo's Clayton Hotel, you can also keep an eye on how things are going from Sligo-Leitrim / South Donegal count centre

3:45pm - First round tally shows Sinn Féin picked up 42 percent in Donegal

3pm - General Election: Pringle joins the mix with almost a quarter of Donegal tally

1:40pm
Here's a screenshot of where we're at right now, with the tallies from Inishowen, Letterkenny, Milford, with Donegal well away and Glenties just started

1:10pm -  With tallying of the votes in the Milford electoral area completed, Sinn Fein continues to poll very strongly in Donegal. Between them, Pearse Doherty - poised to be the Donegal constituency’s poll topper - Padraig Mac Lochlainn and Noel Jordan took almost 41 per cent of the vote in the Milford area.

Click here for a round-up of the Milford figures. 

12:55pm - Here's the state of play following the tallies in Inishowen and in Letterkenny

12:10pm - In Letterkenny, Nikki Bradley of Fine Gael has thus far picked up 1,022 first preferences (8 percent), with other notable showings from Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin, with 2,999 (23.4 percent), 819 for Pat the Cope Gallagher (6.4 percent); 1,740 for Sinn Féin's MacLochlainn (13.6 percent), 1,724 for Charlie McConalogue of Fianna Fáil (13.5 percent), Mary T Sweeney from Aontu on 775 (6.1 percent) and Charlie Ward from the 100% Redress Party has 1,589, which is 12.4 percent.

12 noon - All the Inishowen boxes are now open and the Letterkenny boxes are well underway

READ: General Election: One Donegal voter gave a ringing endorsement with his ballot
The man’s ring fell into the ballot box as he cast a vote at Scoil Eoghain in Moville on Friday

11am - Inishowen's 64 boxes, from which there's now 41 opened. This is the state of play.
Bradley - Nikki, Fine Gael - 486 votes (3.9 percent)
Bradley - Vincent J, Independent - 17 (0.1 percent)
Carr - Nuala, Green Party - 96 (0.8 percent)
Doherty - Pearse, Sinn Féin - 1,972 (15.6 percent)
Gallagher - Carol, People Before Profit - 106 (0.8 percent)
Gallagher - Pat the Cope, Fianna Fáil - 115 (0.9 percent)
Jordan - Noel, Sinn Féin - 102 (0.8 percent)
Kennedy - Claudia, Fianna Fáil - 30 (0.2 percent)
MacLochlainn - Padraig, Sinn Féin - 4,470 (25.4 percent)
McConalogue - Charlie, Fianna Fáil - 2,458 (19.5 percent)
McConnell - Niall, Independent - 172 (1.4 percent)
McGee - Eamon, Irish Freedom Party - 54 (0.4 percent)
McGuinness - Arthur, Independent - 7 (0.1 percent)
McKeever - Gerry, Independent - 9 (0.1 percent)
McMenamin - Kim, the Irish People - 304 (2.4 percent)
McNulty - John, Fine Gael - 126 (1 percent)
O'Donnell - Frank, Independent - 18 (0.1 percent)
Pringle - Thomas, Independent - 268 (2.1 percent)
Sweeney - Mary T - Aontú - 325 (1.6 percent)
Ward - Charlie - 100 Percent Redress Party 1,487 (1,487)
Total poll so far - 12,622

10:40am - There are now 33 boxes opened, from Inishowen. Kim McMenamin of the Irish People, a native of Buncrana, has 2.4 percent of the first preferences thus far, with 238. That's just behind Nikki Bradley, Fine Gael, on 394 (3.9 percent). 

10:20am - Charles Ward, of the 100 Percent Redress Party, currently has 11.7 percent of the 24 boxes opened in Inishowen thus far, which equates to 920 votes.

10:10am - The first boxers are from Inishowen MD, Ballymacarry, Buncrana Rural, Tievebane and Carndonagh, showing Pádraig Mac Lochlainn of inn Féin with 38 percent of the first preference votes so far in his heartland on 2,057 at this early stage.  Charlie McConalogue, Fianna Fáil, has 17.8 percent (963), with Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin on 15.7 percent (846). 

10am - The ballot boxes are open at the Aura Centre in Letterkenny and things are underway in the general election count for the five-seater Donegal constituency