Independent TD Thomas Gildea has created one of the most interesting battles in the Donegal County Council election by deciding to stand, much to the annoyance of Fianna Fail in the county.
Mr Gildea has been accused of "turning the knife into" a sitting Fianna Fail councillor in the Glenties area, who the party claims helped get him elected to the Dail. Mr Gildea has responded by saying it is a case of "sour grapes" and that Fianna Fail should not have assumed they "owned" him because he supported the Government in the Dail. Meanwhile, another TD, the leader of Independent Fianna Fail, Mr Harry Blaney, is leaving the council, but his son, Mr Niall Blaney, will be hoping to keep the seat in the family. The boundaries have been redrawn in Donegal, with a new electoral area bringing the total to six. This will put pressure on several sitting councillors.
Altogether 68 candidates will be competing for the 29 seats on Donegal County Council. Seven councillors are retiring, including two from Fianna Fail and four from Fine Gael. Fianna Fail holds 11 seats while Fine Gael has nine and Mr Blaney's Independent Fianna Fail four. After the merger with Democratic Left there are now two Labour councillors, while Sinn Fein has one, as has the Donegal Progressive Party. There is one Independent. The Progressive Democrats will be contesting the council election for the first time in the county with Donegal Town-based candidate Mr Keith Anderson. In this electoral area, the level of support for anti-Agreement republicans will also be tested in the candidacy of Mr Joe O'Neill, of Republican Sinn Fein, a member of Bundoran Urban District Council.
Sinn Fein will be trying to regain a council seat it lost at the last election and candidates are selling the party as an alternative to the "corruption and sleaze of the bigger parties".
Labour too insists it is confident of taking a third seat, saying there is a high level of dissatisfaction with the Haughey scandals. A very public row in the Labour camp - between sitting councillor Mr Sean Maloney and his running mate in the Letterkenny UDC elections, Ms Karen McGlinchey - may not have helped the party. Ms McGlinchey, is the daughter of the Fianna Fail leader on the council, Mr Bernard McGlinchey. Mr Seamus Rodgers, formerly of Democratic Left, says he is confident of holding onto his seat in the Glenties area as a Labour candidate.
Fine Gael has also had its problems in the county. Since Paddy Harte lost his Dail seat, the party in the northern end of the county has undergone a Dublin-run reorganisation.
Issues include unemployment blackspots around Donegal, the poor condition of roads and widespread opposition to the erection of telecommunications masts. An Independent, Mr Ian McGarvey, is running on this issue in the Milford area.
A voting pact has existed between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Independent Fianna Fail on the council, with the chairmanship being rotated.