Former minister Mary Hanafin has narrowly missed out on a Fianna Fáil nomination in Dún Laoghaire after local councillor Cormac Devlin pipped her by four votes.
After the elimination of Cllr Kate Feeney, Mr Devlin had 68 votes to Ms Hanafin's 64.
The result immediately led to speculation that Fianna Fáil party headquarters would decide to add Ms Hanafin to the party ticket.
Dún Laoghaire is a four-seat constituency but only three are contested as Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett is automatically re-elected.
Meanwhile, Minister for State Dara Murphy has been selected to contest the General Election for Fine Gael in Cork North Central.
Senator and former MEP Colm Burke had also sought the nomination.
Mr Murphy was recently at the centre of controversy after he asked the gardaí to take him from Cork to Dublin airport after his car broke down.
In the other Cork city constituency, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney was selected along with sitting TD Jerry Buttimer.
Elsewhere, Fianna Fáil members in Louth selected Cllr Declan Breathnach and Emma Coffey to contest the next election.
