Coughlan elected at first count

Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan has been elected in the first count of the Donegal South West constituency.

The Fianna Fáil deputy won 10,530 votes, exceeding the quota of 9,964.

Running mate Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher is in second place, with 9,606, and looks certain to take the second seat.

The fight for the third and final seat is between Fine Gael’s Dinny McGinley (9,167) and Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty (8,462).