John O'Donnell

John O'Donnell (born between December 1980 and July 1981 ) John O'Donnell first stood as a candidate at the 2014 Donegal County Council election. With ten seats available, O'Donnell finished in third position – behind Ciaran Brogan and ahead of Ian McGarvey (both electoral veterans). At the 2019 Donegal County Council election, he again finished a head of McGarvey. O'Donnell ran as a candidate in the Donegal constituency at the 2020 general election, finishing in seventh place behind Pat "the Cope" Gallagher in the five-seat constituency, and ahead of fellow independent candidate and former presidential hopeful Peter Casey.

O'Donnell lost his seat at the 2024 Donegal County Council election.

RTÉ Investigates programme O'Donnell was one of three politicians secretly filmed for Standards in Public Office, which aired on RTÉ One straight after the Nine O'Clock News on 8 December 2015. For the purposes of its programme, RTÉ established an imaginary company it named Vinst Opportunities, with imaginary investors searching for ways to set up wind farms without having to deal with any problems that might arise if the imaginary company and its imaginary investors sought planning permission. Discovering that – five times over the previous four years – companies belonging to him had come to the attention of Revenue for their use of unmarked diesel and under-declaring of income, RTÉ contacted O'Donnell and claimed he "did not hesitate when asked to meet with the company".

In April 2018, the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) announced that O'Donnell would face an ethics hearing on 11 September as part of its response to the programme. In March 2019, the Commission announced it had found against O'Donnell, stating that he "conflated his roles as councilor and businessman and used his position as councilor in order to promote his private interests as a businessman" and breached the Local Government Act on three occasions, including not having "regard to and be guided by the Code of Conduct for Councillors".

Arrest and trial On 4 July 2016, O'Donnell was arrested at New Line Road in Letterkenny. He appeared in court later that month on two counts of assaulting two men on 23 February 2015, one at a bus stop in Gortlee, Letterkenny, and the other at a kebab and pizza takeaway elsewhere in the town. The judge instructed the jury to find O'Donnell "not guilty" on the charge of assault at the takeaway.