Holding status quo will be a result

Council area profile: The civil war parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, would completely dominate the outgoing county council in Donegal were it not for the remnant of a more recent conflict.

Some 34 years after the Arms Crisis, Independent Fianna Fáil fights on. Even with IFF's four seats in 1999, official FF fell just one short of an overall majority, a prize that will probably elude it again this time.

Having won eight, Fine Gael picked up a seat when the sole Labour councillor, Sean Maloney (Letterkenny), jumped ship mid-term. The carrot was a nomination for Fine Gael in the 2002 general election, but having been beaten by Niall Blaney (IFF), Maloney is not defending his council seat this time.

The five-seater in Letterkenny will be a keenly fought contest. Cllr Jimmy Harte and Paddy Gildea will try to hold Fine Gael's two seats, while Cllr Dessie Larkin will seek to retain his for Independent Fianna Fáil. Fianna Fáil is running Cllr Ciaran Brogan, Damien Blake and Cllr Gerry Crawford, but will be missing poll-topper Cllr Bernard McGlinchy, who is retiring after 49 years.Farmer and first-time candidate John Gibbons is running for the Progressive Democrats and Sean Reilly is standing for Labour.

Sinn Féin picked up a councillor when Thomas Pringle, returned as an independent in the Donegal electoral area, changed colours. The party's failure to elect a member here was one of its biggest failures in 1999. But improved organisation means Sinn Féin could win up to four seats this time. In Glenties, Thomas Gildea's vote is up for grabs. He won a Dáil seat on the TV deflector issue, but lost it in 2002, and will not be a candidate on June 11th. The beneficiary may be Euro election candidate Pearse Doherty.

The other likely SF gain is in Inishowen, where Padraig McLoughlin may take a seat from IFF councillor Albert Doherty. Others potentially under threat are Fine Gael's Una Sheridan, who took over the seat from her late husband Jim, and shares Buncrana with McLoughlin. Fianna Fáil's Marian McDonald, who replaced Cecelia Keaveney after the dual mandate ban, could also struggle to hold FF's third seat.

Independent Fianna Fáil is running 10 candidates and hopes to increase representation, especially in Milford - the home of the Blaneys - where it used to have a second seat.

Fianna Fáilers continue to defect to the dissident group, most recently Peter Carlin in Stranorlar, who did well for FF in 1999 and was expected to replace Alice Bonnar before she decided to run again. Four seats is IFF's historic high, however, and with the arrival of serious competition for the hard republican vote, it would be an achievement for the Blaneyites just to hold their own. Niall Blaney TD has been replaced on the council by his brother Liam.

Unemployment is still very high in some of the Gaeltacht areas, and much higher than average throughout the county, with the exception of Letterkenny. Fianna Fáil will stress the money channelled in by a Minister and two Ministers of State. But the opposition will highlight the economic black-spots in Inishowen, Milford, and the west; the decline of the fishing industry; and the economic effects of the Border.

For the two big parties, preserving the status quo would be a result. A target for Fine Gael will be to take a second seat in the Donegal electoral area, where Fianna Fáil have four of the six. Too many candidates probably cost FG in 1999 and Peter Kennedy looks Fianna Fáil's most vulnerable.

The party's biggest vote winner in Donegal in 1999, David Alcorn, should be the best performer again this time around.