By Diarmaid Doherty
With the official count taking place at the Aura Leisure Centre which casts a dominant shadow over the Danny McDaid Athletics track outside, the temptation to use all sorts of sporting puns when describing this ‘election race’ is all too obvious.
Pearse Doherty cruises home in first place . . . Fine Gael for the high jump . . . Sinn Féin quick out of the starting blocks . . . .
The tally figures painted a telling picture as they filtered out through Saturday morning and into lunchtime.
And for election enthusiasts and party supporters, the figures are fascinating when it comes to digesting who did well, and where.
Yet the problem with the tallies is that working out where the transfers will go is never easy.
And that was one of the issues that dominated the conversation as those in the Aura waited patiently on the first count.
Could Sinn Féin possibly elect three candidates – given Noel Jordan’s impressive showing in the tallies.
Would that spell trouble for Thomas Pringle who did so well out of Sinn Féin’s transfers last time out.
And what about Fianna Fáil? Charlie McConalogue did okay in Inishowen – although not great – according to the tallies.
But the feeling was that he picked up well when the tally figures emerged from Milford and Letterkenny.
And Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher was also showing well as the Donegal boxes and more particularly the Glenties boxes were opened.
A seasoned campaigner, Gallagher polled well and will have been confident of picking up transfers across the board – especially from Pearse Doherty with voters keeping their support in West Donegal.
Fine Gael’s dismal performance was a story in itself.
Was the decision to run two candidates to fight for the seat vacated by Joe McHugh their undoing?
Would they have been better running just one candidate of a high enough profile who may have been able to garner enough support?
The performance of Charles Ward, the 100% Redress Party candidate was another topic of much discussion.
Certainly Ali Farren was a worried man when he offered his views as he watched the final boxes in Inishowen being opened on Saturday morning.
“In Inishowen, he really only came out of there as fourth in most places, maybe fifth in some. Inishowen didn’t come out strong for him. It’s a disappointment,” he said.
It was an election count that if nothing else, was to prove intriguing.
But it was a slow process. It always is.
A marathon . . . definitely not a sprint.
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