Breaking: Pat 'The Cope' Gallagher selected by Fianna Fáil for General Election bid

Pat 'The Cope' Gallager has put himself back in the frame for a return to Dáil Éireann.

The west Donegal political veteran beat off competition from Councillor Michéal Naughton at a Fianna Fáil selection convention in Letterkenny on Thursday night.

Gallagher took 169 votes to Naughton's 96 and the 76-year-old Burtonport man will be on the ballot papers in Donegal alongside the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

A huge crowd of party members in the Donegal Comhairle Dáil Ceantair cast their votes at the Clanree Hotel. The convention, held in the Shellbridge Suite of the hotel, was chaired by Senator Robbie Gallagher, a native of Termon now based in Monaghan.

At the last General Election in 2020, Gallagher was usurped by Sinn Féin's Pádraig Mac Lochlainn – but now he wants to win back a seat at Leinster House.

Fianna Fáil headquarters decided to run two candidates in Donegal with one in Donegal north and another in Donegal south.

The other candiates in the north of the county – Senator Niall Blaney, Councillor Donal 'Mandy' Kelly and Ben Harkin – withdrew to give sitting TD McConalogue a free passage to go forward to defend his seat.

There was intensity in the air as members awaited the result of the poll to decide the second candidate.

Naughton topped the poll in the Donegal area in the recent Local Election when claiming a whopping 1,847 first preference votes.

Previously, Gallagher served as a Donegal County Councillor from 1979 and was a TD from 1981 to 1997.

Gallagher returned to the Dail from 2002-09 and again from 2016-20, when he served as Leas-Cheann Comhairle, while he also had two spells as an MEP, from 1994-02 and 2009-14.