Surprises, rumours and speculation...

Sunday was a night of surprises and rumour following last night’s Fianna Fáil selection convention in Letterkenny and of course the speculation factory will kick into overdrive today as the fall-out of last night’s events take hold.

There can be no doubt that Niall Blaney’s decision not to contest the election took most by surprise. Deputy Blaney did not attend the convention and reports on today’s Donegaldaily.com say long-time supporter Donal Coyle read a short statement to the meeting to say that he would not seek a nomination ‘for personal reasons’ and wished success to the Fianna Fáil candidate(s) selected.

It has been suggested however that Deputy Blaney had already been spotted canvassing in Letterkenny last week and if that is the case, something it would seem, has led to a sudden change of heart.

His decision led the way for Charlie McConalogue to be selected as the party’s sole candidate for Fianna Fáil in Donegal North East, but it’s already thought that a second candidate will be added to the ticket and speculation is mounting on who that might be.

Letterkenny based councillor Dessie Larkin has already declared an interest in seeking the nomination according to reports on Highland Radio this morning, but Liam Blaney – Niall’s brother may also be in the running.

A tweet from Sunday’s night’s convention suggested there was a huge cheer from those in attendance when Pat the Cope Gallagher said “he would bet this was not the last we’d see of the Blaneys” – but it remains unclear as yet whether Liam Blaney wants to seek a nomination.

Meanwhile the dust had barely settled on the news that Niall Blaney would not seek a nomination, when the rumour mill went into overdrive suggesting that Tánaiste Mary Coughlan - who had already been selected as a Fianna Fáil candidate for Donegal South-West - may not now contest the election after all.

Twitter, Facebook and text messaging services flew into overdrive into the early hours to that effect leading to a statement this morning from An Tánaiste in which she ‘rubbished’ the suggestions.

Amidst all that Senator Cecilia Keaveney has indicated that she might not seek a return to the Seanad, adding that she remains a member of Fianna Fáil and might seek a return to the Dáil in the future.

And they used to say politics in Donegal was predictable…

Blaney won't run for FF

Niall Blaney has told a Fianna Fail selection convention tonight that he will not seek re-election to the Dáil, leaving the way for Charlie McConalogue to run as the party's sole candidate in Donegal North East.

Councillor McConalogue was selected at an 'unofficial' FF selection convention in Inishowen on Thursday night and delegates there were determined that he would be selected as a Fianna Fail candidate.

It was widely believed however that, if we were selected, he would run alongside the sitting TD Niall Blaney.

It is understood that Fianna Fail will make a decision tomorrow on whether or not they will seek to add a second candidate to the ticket.

Former Deputy Cecilia Keaveney who did not attend the convention tonight (Sunday) or the unofficial Inishowen convention last week has already indicated that she will not be seeking a nomination.

The news that Niall Blaney will not contest the election is set to send shock waves across the electorate in Donegal who have a long association with the Blaney dynasty in the county -  and adds yet more drama to an already interesting election battle in Donegal North East.

Inishowen Candidate for FF?

Interesting to hear Councillor Charlie McConalogue hear at the end of this feature from Wallace Media that he fully expects Fianna Fáil HQ to select an Inishowen candidate following on from their 'unofficial' selection convention on Thursday night.

Recent Tweet from the Highland Radio newsroom says FF HQ says they have yet to decide if they will run one or two candidates.

We will await with interest to see what happens.

And we're off...

If it seems like only a few weeks since we've had an election here in Donegal, well it's because...it's only a few weeks since we've had an election.

But the bye-election in Donegal South West before Christmas and the General Election to come following the dissolution of the Dáil on Tuesday - are two different ball games.

For a start, both constituencies will get to go the polls this time around and before a vote has been cast at all by the masses, the fun and games have begun in both constituencies with some public in-party squabbling.

In the South West, the Labour Party have re-iterated their support for Frank McBrearty as their candidate following claims last week by Thomas Pringle that he had been approached by Labour - and offered a Seanad seat if he would run.

That led to all sorts of claims and counter-claims over the week, but the local Labour Party were due to meet on Wednesday night to clear the air and get their head back in the game before the election race kicks off again.

There has been no news as yet from that meeting, but no doubt over the coming days something will emerge.

Meanwhile there are all sorts of fun and games in the Fianna Fáil camp Donegal North East. With the selection convention due to take place this Sunday night, an 'unofficial' convention held in Inishowen on Thursday night has selected councillor Charlie McConalogue as the peninsula's preferred candidate.

That convention was not attended by Senator Cecilia Keaveney who, it would appear, will no longer be a Fianna Fáil politician for long following the events of the past week.

But what will happen if party HQ - decide to run a single candidate? According to reports in Friday's Donegal News, Councillor McConalogue has the backing of Letterkenny FF supporters, suggesting a the rift between Niall Blaney and Fianna Fáil supporters in Donegal North East outside the Milford area.

If the party HQ choose Deputy Blaney as a single candidate - could he rely on FF support in Inishowen or would councillor McConalogue run as an independent?

Fine Gael's candidate in Donegal North East - Deputy Joe McHugh - is also based in the Milford Electoral Area - and while he has been selected by the party as their single candidate, reports on inishowennews.com recently suggested that Fine Gael members in the peninsula are also unhappy with this strategy and would like to see councillor John Ryan added to the ticket.

Sinn Féin have had no such controversies, Pearse Doherty following his romping success in the bye election will run again in South West, while the party will be very hopeful that Padraig Mac Lochlainn will take a second seat for them in the North East.

Throw into the mix suggestions that Brian O'Domhnaill could possibly pip Mary Coughlan in Donegal South West, the independent concerns of Thomas Pringle (SW), Betty Homes (NE), Ryan Stewart (NE) and Anne Sweeney (SW) and Jimmy Harte's switch to Labour in Donegal North-East and this has the makings of one very interesting general election in Donegal this time around.