Breaking: Donal 'Mandy' Kelly withdraws from Fianna Fáil election convention

Councillor Donal 'Mandy' Kelly has confirmed that he will not be seeking a place on the Fianna Fáil ticket for the General Election.

Councillor Kelly was nominated ahead of the selection convention in Letterkenny on Thursday night, but the Glenswilly man will not be going forward.

Kelly obtained 1,843 first preference votes at this year's local election and was the poll topper in the Letterkenny local electoral area.

“With the Fianna Fáil convention taking place tomorrow, Thursday, I have decided to withdraw my name. I will not contest the Fianna Fáil convention,” Kelly told Donegal Live in a statement.

“I feel that I am not at the moment in a strong enough position to make it through what is going to be a very tough convention.”

Kelly's decision means that sitting Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue is assured of the nomination in the northern part of Donegal following the prior withdrawals of Councillor Kelly, Senator Niall Blaney and Ben Harkin.

Party headquarters decided that a district convention model will be used at the convention, meaning that Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher and Councillor Michael Naughton are the nominees in Donegal South with McConalogue, Councillor Donal 'Mandy' Kelly and Ben Harkin in Donegal North.

Councillor Kelly said: “I want to wish each nominee that is standing in the convention the very best of luck and I can assure the successful candidates of my full support and I look forward to playing an important role in trying to secure two FF seats in Donegal Constituency.

“It's very important to not only the Fianna Fáil party but also to myself that two strong candidates are elected in the upcoming General Election to help assist me to continuing to help, deliver, and support the people of Letterkenny Milford Municipal District and the people of Donegal to the very best of my ability.

“I feel very strongly that I owed it to my team and you, the people who came out and gave me that massive vote in the local election to allow my name to go forward for nomination.

“I want to thank each and every individual who had faith in me and nominated me to go forward for the forthcoming convention.

“I also want to thank each and every person who has supported me on this journey to date and I really look forward to continuing to work tirelessly for you the people to the best of my ability for the next five years as your County Councillor.”