It has been confirmed that the Leader of the Seanad, Mary O'Rourke, will face a challenge from an Athlone Councillor at the Fianna Fáil selection convention for the next general election in the Longford-Westmeath constituency.
The Fianna Fáil National Constituencies Committee said, this afternoon, the sitting TD for the party in Co Westmeath, Donie Cassidy, will be an automatic choice on the party ticket.
Mr Cassidy will be confirmed without an election at the convention in Mullingar next Sunday.
The party's sitting TD in Longford, Peter Kelly, will also be an automatic selection on the party ticket. However, Mrs O'Rourke will have to contest the third and final place on the ticket with her colleague Councillor Kevin 'Boxer' Moran from Athlone.
Mary O'Rourke lost her seat in the last general election and later accused the Fianna Fáil Party of drawing up division lines where she could and could not canvass for support in Co Westmeath.
The selection convention will take place in the Bloomfield House Hotel in Mullingar in Co Westmeath on Sunday evening at 5.30pm.
Davern not contesting next election
Elsewhere, The Fianna Fáil TD Noel Davern has said he will not be contesting the next general election in Tipperary South.
Mr Davern, who has just turned 60, was first elected to the Dáil in 1969 after winning a seat previously held by his brother, Dan.
In the 1990s, he served as Minister for Education and Junior Minister for Livestock Breeding and Horticulture.
Mr Davern currently chairs the Members' Interests Committee (Ethics) and is the leader of the Irish Delegation to the Council of Europe.
