Search
11 Dec 2025
Search
11 Dec 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Tom McDonnell celebrates his success at the count centre
Newbridge resident and independent politician Tom McDonnell has claimed a seat to represent the Newbridge area on Kildare County Council.
He claimed the lion's share of transfers from eliminated Aontú runner Melissa Byrne. This put him ahead of James Stokes (SF).
He was elected alongside Noel Heavey and Rob Power (FF), who seemed certain of retaining their seats from some way out.
McDonnell said his next step will be to seek a seat in Dáil Éireann.
He also critised the level of immigration into Ireland, saying that 1.1m Irish people have left and "we've brought in between 1.4 and 1.5 million."
He asked why "our youngest and brightest" are leaving and added he has three children aboard.
He also said women should be given tax breaks to allow them to have children and work and he claimed that incentives are given to people from Africa and Asia to come here and there is "no incentive to bring in our own."
He said Irish women are "only breeding 1.6 to 1.9 childfren and added "if we don't have more women breeding we wll die out as a race."
He also said that people in the Newbridge area are complaining about a lack of school places in the town and this needs to be addressed.
"There is no point in bringing half the world here if there are no scheols for them."
He stressed that he had no objection to immigration provided that those entering Ireland are vetted.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
