Local Elections: Just three women elected in Donegal with one more a possibility

Just three female candidates have been elected to Donegal County Council across seven electoral areas. 

Newcomer Joy Beard was elected on the first count in Buncrana with 1,587 votes, making her the first woman to cross the quota during this election. 

Dakota Nic Mheanman was elected in the Lifford-Stranorlar LEA with 1,357 votes, while Niamh Kennedy managed to hang on to her seat in Donegal with 2,067 votes. 

Beard and Nic Mheanman are affiliated with the 100% Redress party and Sinn Féin respectively, while Kennedy ran on an Independent ticket. 

Thirty three seats have been filled since the count began on Sunday June 9, with four more still up for grabs. 

These Letterkenny LEA seats are expected to go to Ciaran Brogan (FF), Jimmy Kavanagh (FG) and Michael McBride (Ind), while the fourth seat is anyone's game. 

A recount was called at the Letterkenny County Centre at approximately 1.30am late on Sunday night and counting was paused until Monday June 10. 

Following the 11th count, just 5 votes separated Aontú's Mary T. Sweeney and Independent sitting councillor Kevin Bradley. 

At this crucial point, Sweeney had received 1,010 votes while Bradley had 1,015 to his name. 

Donal Coyle (FF), meanwhile, surged ahead with 1,113. 

The recount is underway at Aura Leisure Centre, with elected councllors Donal 'Mandy' Kelly and Gerry McMonagle, and election hopefuls Jimmy Kavanagh, Michael McBride and Donal Coyle all present at time of writing. 

If Sweeney manages to cover the shortfall with Bradley, she still has an upward battle ahead to surpass Coyle's current vote count to take the last seat. 

However, if she misses out, just 8% of Donegal County Council will be female for the next five years.