By Harry Walsh
THE names of the four Fianna Fáil candidates to contest the local election in the Letterkenny Milford electoral area were confirmed last night.
Outgoing Councillors Ciaran Brogan and Liam Blaney have been joined by Letterkenny businessman John Watson and James Pat McDaid, captain of 2013 County Senior champions Glenswilly, on the ticket.
Party headquarters finalised the ticket after meeting members of the Letterkenny/Milford Fianna Fáil Comhairle Ceanntair and candidates over the weekend – bypassing the traditional selection convention process.
Their plans were thrown into disarray last month when councillor Dessie Larkin announced that he was retiring from politics, just days before the party’s scheduled selection convention.
The party spent the past six weeks trying to find a replacement with a nephew of
Cllr Larkin’s, Declan Jordan, David Fisher, a son of long standing town councillor Victor Fisher and Donal Coyle, a principal teacher at St Bridget’s National School in Convoy, all in the mix.
Mr Coyle, Chairman of the new Letterkenny/Milford Fianna Fáil Comhairle Ceanntair, said that he was disappointed.
“I was disappointed when the news came through from Dublin that John Watson and James Pat McDaid would join the two sitting councillors. When you put your name forward you like to think that you’re in with a shout but that’s the nature of politics.
“The important thing now from my point of view is the maximise the Fianna Fáil vote in the area,” he said.
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