Constituency: Donegal

Newcomer Nikki Bradley is a disability advocate and motivational speaker from Milford in Co Donegal. She was appointed to the Seanad by Taoiseach Simon Harris in July 2024. Diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma at aged 16 and surviving the rare and often deadly form of bone cancer, offered Ms Bradley a unique opportunity to restart her life at a young age. She is the founder of ‘Fighting Fit For Ewing’s’, which aims to increase awareness about the disease while encouraging people to view exercise as a form of rehabilitation. Nikki has worked with some of Ireland’s leading disability organisations such as Active Disability Ireland, The Disabled Drivers Association, of which she is a board member and The No Barriers Foundation.

Fresh of the back of running in both the Milford and Letterkenny electoral areas in the local elections in June where he was unsuccessful, Vincent J Bradley is now running for a Dáil seat. A Carrigart based farmer, he has rural issues at the heart of his campaign. In the local elections, he received 145 votes and was eliminated in the first count in Milford while he received 95 votes in Letterkenny.

Nuala Carr is a native of Letterkenny and is currently completing a PhD through Queen’s University Belfast. Ms Carr is working at the Atlantic Technological University (ATU) on an EU funded research project to harmonise the skills and training needs for the offshore wind energy industry. Earlier this year, she contested the June local elections in Letterkenny for the Green Party but was eliminated on the third count. With a background in ecology and her current studies in the social sciences, she is very aware of the urgent need to address the many social and environmental issues required to promote sustainable practices in local communities throughout Donegal.

Donegal TD Pearse Doherty is the Finance Spokesperson for Sinn Féin and TD for the Constituency of Donegal South West. A founding member of Ógra Shinn Féin, serving on its National Executive between 1998 and 2001, he is currently a member of the Ard Comhairle of the party. Pearse served as the party’s first Senator, elected onto the Agricultural Panel in 2007 before being elected as a TD in the 2010 Donegal South West by-election, held following a successful High Court case which he took against the Government. In the 2020 General Election, he topped the poll and was elected on the first count.

Carol Gallagher is set to contest the general election for People Before Profit in Donegal. Ms Gallagher was recently a party candidate in the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections in West Tyrone in 2022. She also contested the Derry City and Strabane District Council election in 2023 in the Sperrin District. Ms Gallagher is a native of Strabane. People Before Profit has announced the party will stand a candidate in almost every constituency in the state with Ms Gallagher the first candidate to run in a General Election in Donegal.

Political veteran Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher has confirmed his intention to return to politics. Mr Gallagher served as a Donegal County Councillor from 1979 and was first elected as a TD in 1981. He boasts a long standing political career having served as a TD from 1981 to 1997, 2002 to 2009 and 2016 to 2020, Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann from 2016 to 2020 and as a Minister of State from 1987 to 1994 and from 2002 to 2008. He also served as an MEP from 1994 to 2002 and from 2009 to 2014. After losing his seat in 2020, the Burtonport man is back in the race and is seeking a return to Leinster House.

Noel Jordan is a native of Inver and resides in Mountcharles with his wife and two children. He has been a Councillor representing the Donegal LEA for over ten years having been elected on three occasions, most recently in June 2024. During this time, he held a number of roles including Leas Cathaoirleach twice and Municipal District Chairperson twice. This is Cllr Jordan’s first time running in a General Election.

Claudia Kennedy has been added as a third candidate to the Fianna Fáil ticket in Donegal. Ms Kennedy is a native of Ardfarna, Bundoran and is a secondary school teacher in Finn Valley College in Stranorlar. No stranger to an election campaign, she previously ran in the local elections for the party in June and was eliminated on the third count. Having been involved in the party for several years, Ms Kennedy is hoping to secure a seat and bring a new face to the Dáil.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn is a Sinn Féin TD for Donegal. He is the Sinn Féin Chief Whip and spokesperson on Fisheries and the Marine. He previously served as a TD for Donegal North East from 2011 to 2016 and as a Senator from 2016 to 2020. He was previously Sinn Féin's Spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Justice, Equality and Defence, and also Chairperson of the Oireachtas Public Services Oversight and Petitions Committee from 2013 to 2016. Prior to being elected to the Dáil in February 2011, he had served for many years on Donegal County Council and Buncrana Town Council. In the 2020 General Election, he was elected on the first count.

Donegal TD Charlie McConalogue is seeking re-election. From Gleneely and a farming background, he was educated at Carndonagh Community School and he first became involved in politics while attending UCD. After working in Fianna Fáil Headquarters for a number of years, as well as working abroad in Australia, Minister McConalogue returned home to work on the family farm before being elected as a Donegal County Councillor in 2009. In 2011, Charlie was elected TD for Donegal North East. Minister McConalogue was appointed previously as Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality with responsibility for Law Reform. He was appointed as Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine in September 2020.

Niall McConnell is no stranger to the election trail. He ran as an Independent in the Lifford Stranorlar Municipal District in the local election in June and received 1,127 votes and was eliminated on the sixth count. Hoping to build on his vote in June, he is now setting his sights on a seat in the Dáil. He previously ran in the 2020 general election and secured over 500 first preference votes. A native of Castlefinn, Mr McConnell also works as a sheep farmer.

Eamon McGee has been confirmed as the Irish Freedom Party candidate in Donegal for the upcoming General Election. The father of two currently lives in Convoy. No stranger to the election trail, Mr McGee contested this year’s local elections in the Buncrana LEA as an Independent. He was eliminated on the third count.

Arthur Desmond McGuinness has been involved in politics for a long number of years. He previously ran in the local elections in 2019 for a seat in the Carndonagh electoral area. He also unsuccessfully contested the 2020 General election. From Moville in Inishowen, Mr McGuinness was one of the last candidates to join the race in the constituency.

Barber and Letterkenny man Gerry McKeever announced his intention to stand for election earlier this year and he is running as an Independent candidate. Mr McKeever is well known throughout Letterkenny and the surrounding areas as the owner of Gerry’s Barbers. This is the first time that Mr McKeever has thrown his hat in the political ring but he believes his ideas and policies can make a major difference for the people of Donegal.

Kim McMenamin is set to contest the upcoming General Election under The Irish People party/ National Alliance. Mr McMenamin previously contested the local elections in the Buncrana LEA but was eliminated on the seventh count. He achieved 567 votes in the first count.

John McNulty, from Kilcar, a Gaeltacht village in south-west Donegal, is a self-employed business owner with premises in Stranorlar and Carrick and is the current manager of the Donegal County Ladies Football Team. He also works as a part time farmer. He previously contested the local elections in 2019 but failed to take a seat. In 2014, he was the Fine Gael nominee in a Seanad by-election, but asked people not to vote for him after a controversy developed about his nomination to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

The former chair of Fine Gael branch in Letterkenny recently resigned from the party in a bid to contest the forthcoming General Election as an Independent. Mr O’Donnell has been actively involved with the Fine Gael Party for over 20 years and is no stranger to political life. A native of Rathmullan, Mr O’Donnell is well known throughout the county for his involvement in many organisations including the Letterkenny Residents Association and the Letterkenny Heritage Group. He was also a member of the Letterkenny & District Schoolboys Football Association and a former manager of the Glencar Celtic team.

Donegal TD and Killybegs native Thomas Pringle has been a TD since his election in 2011 – in the Donegal constituency since the 2016 general election, and previously from 2011 to 2016 for the Donegal South-West constituency. For 17 years, Mr Pringle worked in the Water Services of Donegal County Council from 1994 to 2011 running the water treatment plant in Killybegs. He was elected onto Donegal County Council in 1999 as an independent member and then as a Sinn Féin candidate in 2004. He left Sinn Féin in 2007, and retained his seat as an independent in 2009 before he was elected as a TD in 2011.

Mary T Sweeney is a native of Oldtown, Letterkenny and is contesting the General Election just months after running in the local elections. She contested the local elections in the Letterkenny MD but was pipped to the post by standing Cllr Donal Coyle. She was the first female auctioneer in Donegal and was well known at The Bonagee Auctions/Mart while she also lectured for 18 years in Art and Design. Ms Sweeney has been known for fundraising for the Friends of Letterkenny Hospital, as a volunteer worker in the Adult Literacy Programme, a co-founder of the Letterkenny and Drumkeen Environment Group that opposed the Corravaddy Super Dump and promoted a recycling programme for Donegal County Council.

Charles Ward has been selected as the General Election candidate for the newly formed 100% Redress Party. Mr Ward is a healthcare worker from Arranmore Island. He is now living in Drumkeen with his wife and their four children. He knows first-hand the struggles facing families in Donegal as he is a homeowner impacted by defective building materials crisis. Mr Ward has been a committee member in the Mica Action Group for a number of years and he contested the local elections in June, but was eliminated following count four in the Lifford-Stranorlar LEA.