Meehan tops polls as O’Donnell loses seat in Milford LEA

Newcomer Declan Meehan (Independent) topping the poll and sitting councillor John O’Donnell (Independent) losing his seat were the focal points of the Milford LEA. 

Liam Blaney (Fianna Fáil) and Pauric McGarvey (Independent) filled the second and third seats in count five. 

Fianna Fáil's Liam Blaney after being re-elected to Donegal County Council

The two councillors did not reach the 2,058 quota but were elected based on 1,088 transfers from Maria Doherty’s elimination in count four. O’Donnell, who topped the poll in 2019,  was automatically eliminated losing the seat he gained in 2014. 

Pauric McGarvey, Non-party, pictured with his uncle Ian after taking a seat in the Milford LEA

Meehan, who described his campaign as  'progressive and inclusive' received massive support from the electorate securing 1,739 first preference votes. 

The independent councillor topped the charts which laid the foundations to surpass the quota in the fourth count. Meehan was elected with a total figure of 2,074. A big change from 2019, when the independent claimed 677 first preference votes and finished just outside the reckoning in the three-seater. 

“I’m delighted with the news and tripled my vote in a really, really competitive electoral area,” Meehan said. 

Blaney was ‘delighted’ to be re-elected having faced ‘strong competition’ and McGarvey is ‘going to continue to work on the main issues facing the area’. 

McGarvey had just 15 months to prove himself in the last council term after taking the seat vacated by his uncle, Ian McGarvey, who retired at 92, having been Ireland’s oldest public representative. 

He said: “ I did my best and thank God on Friday they came out and proved to me that the work paid off.”

Blaney was first co-opted to the Donegal County Council in 2003 and elected and is now serving his fifth five-year term. Blaney was elected in 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024. 

“Hopefully, the three of us can work together to try and do the best we can for the Milford electoral area,” Blaney said. Milford is a three-seater local electoral area that has a total electorate of 13,178 and a valid poll of 8,230. The turnout in the local electoral area was 63.05%.