Declan ‘Milkman’ Gallagher determined to deliver at Donegal International Rally

Declan Gallagher isn’t quite sure about the number of times he has competed in the Donegal International Rally.

But one thing’s for sure, barring a last-minute hiccup the Ardara man,  with Killarney native John McCarthy alongside him, will be on the start ramp once more this Friday morning in Letterkenny. 

And he will once again be in what is by, now in the rally circuit, a famous Toyota Starlet RWD.

“I haven’t done that many, I’m not sure if it is nine or ten,” says Declan as he takes a break from stripping the gearbox, in the  Starlet, last Monday evening after competing and winning a rally, in Wicklow, the day before.

“Aye, we were in Wicklow yesterday and won the Germaine Baltinglass Rally. 

“It went well for us once we got going after a slow start in the first two stages. Jason Black was faster in the opening two stages.

“We had a problem getting a grip early on. But once we got into service and changed the tires we went much better and we had the best time over the next four stages.

“It was nice to win and sets us up now hopefully for a good run in Donegal.” 

Only for problems with the Starlet, in the Circuit of Munster Rally in Limerick two weeks earlier, Declan admits he would not have competed in the Wicklow event. 

“The Circuit of Munster was meant to be the warm-up rally for Donegal. But we had problems with the back axle in Limerick. 

“Thankfully, we got that problem sorted and so it was a case of going again at the weekend.

“Apart from the problem with the grip in the first couple of stages, everything went well and the car and crew came through with flying colours.” 

After a number of years sitting in the navigator seat alongside fellow Ardara men, John McHugh and Columba Heena, Declan decided to swap seats.

I did five or six rallies on the notes with those lads and I may have done one with my uncle Joe McHugh as well.

“But I always wanted to drive and so 2008 was my first season behind the wheel and I’m still going 16 years later.

“I bought the Starlet at the time and I still have the same car. It’s still going great and it has really served me well.”

From day one, Declan began to turn heads and people began to take notice of the pace and the times he was clocking. 

The really impressive  thing is that he was doing this against much more high-powered and costly machines and against teams with much bigger budgets.

It is little wonder success came early and by the time Christmas 2008 came around he was celebrating his first success, in his first season behind the wheel.

“I had my first win after a couple of outings in 2008 in the Mayo Stages Rally. And I have had a number of top five placings in Donegal since too.” 

Prior to his last success in Wicklow, Declan also had a third-place finish, last December in the Killarney Historic Rally.

Down through the years, he has remained loyal to his trusty Toyota even though he did, at a stage, ponder a move to WRC and R5 cars.  

“I did try a WRC and R5 car at a stage but they did not work out simply because it was too difficult to put a budget together to run them.

“Rallying is such a costly sport. My budget for next weekend is in  the region of €12,000 to €15,000 and that’s low. If I was going in a WRC or R5 car it would be multiples of that figure.”

Declan’s best place finish in Donegal was second in the ‘modified’ section and he’s had a number of other top-five finishes as well.

“I finished second in 2017 behind Damian Gallagher and I finished third in 2022 with Kevin Gallagher winning it”. 

Modest as he is, Gallagher’s goal this weekend has to be to finally take what has so far proved elusive -  the number one position on the ramp at the Mount Errigal Hotel on Sunday evening. 

“The top step on Sunday evening is the main goal. You have to aim for it.

 I came close in 2017 and I wasn’t far away either in 2022. 

“But Donegal is a tough rally. It is over two days and is hard on man and machine. 

“I think the best approach is to ease into it on Friday and hope to make it to Saturday morning. 

“And if you do that, then be ready to give it a rattle on Saturday and hope to make it to Sunday. If you get that far you just really have to hope for the best after that and hopefully make it to that top step.”

And what about his famous nickname - ‘The Milkman’ and it’s origins? 

“My father Christy was the local milkman in Ardara and during school holidays I was out delivering milk with him from an early age. 

“Some of my friends began to call me the Milkman and it stuck and I’ve been known as the Milkman ever since!”