THE Blaney dynasty lives on in Donegal. Shortly after 9 p.m. on Saturday, Mr Harry Blaney (69) was elected to represent Donegal North East.
The Independent Fianna Fail Party leader becomes the oldest person ever to win a Dail seat.
With Fianna Fail retaining its two seats, the loser was Fine Gael's Mr Paddy Harte, the party's longest serving TD. He was first elected in 1961.
There were euphoric scenes in the Blaney camp, dwarfing the Fianna Fail celebrations, even though Ms Cecilia Keaveney topped the poll and Dr James McDaid edged out Mr Harte.
"The first issue to be addressed is the Six Counties question. Until there is a British declaration of intent to withdraw, there will not be peace," Mr Blaney declared.
And he maintained that Independent Fianna Fail has become "more united than ever" over the past year.
In the by election caused by the death of his brother, the late Neil Blaney, in April last year, Mr Blaney lost out to Ms Keaveney.
But the Blaney camp ran a highly efficient campaign. His antiabortion stance and strong nationalist views were major factors in his success.
"We still regard ourselves as the real Fianna Fail party," he said, adding "all the other parties have taken on people who do not belong to them." Asked whether he would automatically row in behind Fianna Fail, he said: "We have no allegiance to Fianna Fail. It has lost its republican roots." He added: "We played no small part in the building up of Fianna Fail in Donegal; but sadly that party is now unrecognisable as far as republicanism is concerned." Mr Blaney follows in the footsteps of his brother, who held the seat from 1948 until his death.
He in turn had taken over from his father, Mr Neal Blaney, who was a TD from 1927 until 1948.
Mr Harte (66) admitted that, it was "a disastrous result for Fine Gael". This was until recently regarded as a safe seat for the party. Mr Harte's own vote was up, but his running mate, Mr Jim Sheridan, performed badly.
The party struggled to get sufficient Sheridan voters to give their second preferences to Mr Harte and this proved costly.
He pointed out that he was squeezed by the intense Independent Fianna Fail/Fianna Fail campaign.
People in the Inishowen part of the constituency were afraid of losing Ms Keaveney, voters in Letterkenny wanted to keep Dr McDaid and there was also the emotional appeal of Independent Fianna Fail, he stated.
"It must be one of the darkest hours for Fine Gael in Donegal," Mr Harte (66) said, confirming that he would not go forward again at a general election.
Sinn Fein vice president Mr Pat Doherty increased his vote to more than 8 per cent; but Senator Sean Maloney of Labour saw his share of the vote dropping from 11 per cent to 5 per cent.