Gerry Crawford elected as chair of Fianna Fáil Donegal Comhairle Dáil Cheantair

Former county councillor Gerry Crawford has been elected as the new Chairperson of the Fianna Fáil Donegal Comhairle Dáil Cheantair.

The Porthall man was elected at the annual general meeting of the Donegal Comhairle Dáil Cheantair in the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny on Monday night.

Last year, Crawford lost his seat at the local elections, but will now lead the local CDC having taken over from former Tanaiste Mary Coughlan.

He performed a u-turn after initially announcing that he would not seek re-election having held a seat since 1999. However, Crawford lost his seat by 117 votes on the eighth count with new faces Martin Scanlon (Independent) and Dakota Nic Mheanman (Sinn Fein) elected.

Crawford succeeds Coughlan, who received many tributes from delegates present.

In the 2024 local elections, Fianna Fáil lost two of the 12 seats it had on Donegal County Council, but saw 10 councillors elected - the same number as Sinn Fein - but the party received a big boost when reclaiming a second Dail seat from the Donegal constituency last year.

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That followed the return of veteran Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher, who was returned.

Minister of State Charlie McConalogue and Deputy Gallagher were in attendance on Monday while two new members were elevated to the executive: Equality Officer Sineád O’Donnell and Youth Officer Cian Blake.