Senator Joe McHugh topped the poll as Fine Gael captured the first seat in one of the strongest FF constituencies in the country.
Despite getting over 50 per cent of the vote, Fianna Fáil ended up under pressure to return two of its three outgoing TDs - almost losing a second seat to Sinn Féin's Pádraig Mac Lochlainn, who increased his party's share of the vote from 9.9 per cent to 17.5 per cent.
Following a count that lasted 19 and a half hours, Fianna Fáil's James McDaid and Niall Blaney were re-elected, with Cecilia Keaveney losing the seat she has held since 1996.
McHugh polled well in all parts of the constituency as he reclaimed the seat his party lost in 1997. He was elected on the fifth count. A titanic struggle then ensued between the three Fianna Fáil candidates and Sinn Féin as they battled it out for the final two seats.
In 2002, McDaid and Keaveney ran for Fianna Fáil, while Blaney was a member of the Independent Fianna Fáil party.
When Blaney took his organisation back into Fianna Fáil last year, the party planned to run him and Keaveney as McDaid had indicated he was going to retire. However, when he changed his mind and received strong backing in the Letterkenny area, tensions arose between the Blaney and McDaid camps.
Keaveney's seat was regarded as the safest, and she was "bitterly disappointed" to be eliminated on the sixth count. Her vote fell by 2,102 votes, with Mac Lochlainn and McHugh taking votes in her Inishowen stronghold. McDaid, who topped the poll in 2002, saw his first preferences drop by over 2,800, but Keaveney's elimination and geographical factors in transfers from other candidates pushed him over the line.
Overall change: FF loss, FG gain
Outgoing TDs
Jim McDaid FF
Ceceilia Keaveney FF
Niall Blaney FF