Donegal North-East (Dáil constituency)

Donegal North-East was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas, from 1961 to 1977 and from 1981 to 2016. The constituency elected 3 deputies (Teachtaí Dála, commonly known as TDs). The method of election was proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV).

History
The constituency was first created for the 1961 general election, taking in parts of the abolished Donegal East constituency. It lasted until 1977, when it was abolished and became part of a new Donegal constituency, and was then recreated for the 1981 general election. It was abolished at the 2016 general election, and again became part of the re-created Donegal constituency.

Boundaries
The constituency was located in the northern part of County Donegal. It encompassed the Letterkenny, Milford and Inishowen electoral areas of Donegal County Council.

The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2009 defined the constituency as:

1996 by-election
Following the death of Independent Fianna Fáil TD Neil Blaney, a by-election was held on 2 April 1996.

February 1982 general election
Unusually, all seats were filled on the first count. A further two counts were then held to give lower-placed candidates a chance to save their deposits.

1976 by-election
Following the death of Fianna Fáil TD Liam Cunningham, a by-election was held on 10 June 1976.