Fine Gael is looking at a major unrest within the party due to the collapse in their Donegal vote.
Even at this early stage, it seems almost certain they will not retain the seat won in 2007 by outgoing TD Joe McHugh.
Not since Daniel McMenamin and Michael McFadden were elected to the Dáil in 1937 have they been without a TD in Donegal.
While a poll carried out by the party during the week had John McNulty on 10%, the results so far tell a different tale.
In Joe McHugh’s back yard in Milford, Nikki Bradley only managed fourth place with 10.2 per cent of the vote, behind Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail.
Meanwhile, John McNulty also could only manage third place (15.7%) in his home electoral area of Donegal.
The pair fared even worse in Letterkenny, with a combined 9.9% and just 4.9% in Inishowen.
At the county centre in Letterkenny this afternoon, some party members have voiced their disquiet over the way the election was managed in the county.
With three quarters of the voting boxes open the party is hovering around 10% of the overall vote – a worrying statistic for the party.
A party source the organisation was not happy with the preparation for the election saying the party needed “a shake-up from top to bottom” in the county.
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