Club and college McElhinney's club reached the final of the 2011
Donegal Senior Football Championship— their first ever senior final—but lost, though McElhinney scored during the game. McElhinney also played for
DCU.
Inter-county McElhinney scored two goals for Donegal at
Croke Park in the 2006 Ulster Minor Football Championship final, which Donegal won. He made his debut at senior inter-county level under the management of
Brian McIver in 2007. In the 2012 Ulster final against
Down, his appearance as a second-half substitute was credited with being vital to the victory. He started Donegal's next game, a comprehensive All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final defeat of
Kerry at
Croke Park. He came on as a second-half substitute for
Patrick McBrearty in the
2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final, won by Donegal. He was treated like a VIP when himself and
Maxi Curran brought the
Sam Maguire Cup to Mulroy College in Milford. McElhinney started
Rory Gallagher's first match in charge of the county, a
2015 Dr McKenna Cup away defeat to
Derry. He came on a substitute in the first match of the
2015 National Football League (also against Derry but at home), contributing 0–1 to the team's victory. He also made a substitute appearances in the next game against Dublin at Croke Park, the third fixture against Cork in Ballyshannon and the fourth fixture against Monaghan. He started the fifth fixture against Kerry at
Austin Stack Park and contributed 0–1. He started the sixth fixture against Tyrone and scored 0–2 in what RTÉ described as an "impressive" performance. He followed this up with a further point in the seventh fixture against Mayo. Donegal qualified for the NFL semi-final. McElhinney started and scored 0–2. McElhinney started the
2015 Ulster Senior Football Championship final. He had previously started the preliminary round against Tyrone (scoring 1–2), the quarter-final against Armagh (scoring 0–1) and the semi-final against Derry (scoring 0–1). McElhinney made substitute appearances in the
2015 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier defeat of Galway at Croke Park and the next game against Mayo at the same venue. McElhinney made a substitute appearance in the second fixture of the
2016 National Football League against Cork, a ten-point win in Ballyshannon. He also made substitute appearances in the third and fourth fixtures against Mayo and Kerry. He started the fifth fixture against Roscommon. Another substitute appearance followed in the next game away to Dublin at Croke Park, during which
James McCarthy used his left hand to seemingly
gouge McElhinney's eye. McCarthy, who had actually just been shown a red card before he did this, escaped punishment and Dublin manager
Jim Gavin said: "To be suggesting there was something malicious, I don't think that's very fair". The
Irish Independent called for McCarthy to be investigated. But the incident was dismissed as a push by
Setanta Sports pundits
Senan Connell (former Dublin player) and former Armagh player
Aaron Kernan dismissed the incident as a push. McElhinney started the seventh fixture away to Monaghan in
Castleblayney and scored a goal. Donegal qualified for the NFL semi-final. McElhinney also started this game, scoring a point. McElhinney made a substitute appearance in the
2016 Ulster Senior Football Championship final. He had previously started the quarter-final against Fermanagh (scoring 0–1), the semi-final against Monaghan and the semi-final replay against the same opposition (scoring 0–1). McElhinney also started the
2016 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier defeat of Cork at Croke Park and the next game against Dublin at the same venue. McElhinney made a late substitute appearance in the fifth fixture of the
20017 National Football League against Tyrone. He made further substitute appearances in the sixth and seventh fixtures against Monaghan and Mayo. McElhinney made substitute appearances in the
2017 Ulster Senior Football Championship quarter-final victory against Antrim and semi-final loss to Tyrone. He made a further substitute appearance in the
2017 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier defeat of Meath at
Páirc Tailteann. He then made a substitute appearance in the qualifier loss to Galway at
Markievicz Park and scored 0–1. Under the management of
Declan Bonner, McElhinney made his 100th appearance for Donegal against Cavan in the
2019 Dr McKenna Cup. These were a substitute appearance in the opening fixture of the competition against
Clare in
Ennis,
Meath in the second fixture (starting then making way for
Jason McGee), and again as a substitute, on this occasion for
Oisín Gallen, in the third fixture against
Tipperary. ==Personal life==