Fianna Fáil Senator Shane Cassells has confirmed that he will not seek the party's nomination to run for the Dáil in Meath-West.
The announcement came as a surprise to many of his colleagues in Leinster House, who believed he was well placed to regain the Dáil seat he lost in 2020.
But 46-year-old said that after 25 years in politics and having contested ten elections across local and national politics, he wanted to do other things.
"I'm just out of gas," he said.
Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil Leader Micheál Martin described Mr Cassells as an extremely hard working and committed Meath man that has delivered a lot for his county and town of Navan.
"I spoke to Shane, and I have a lot of respect and admiration for Shane's work over the years but I fully understand his reasons for wanting to move on to a new chapter in his life," he said.
Meanwhile, former Kerry footballer Billy O'Shea is seeking to run for Fine Gael in the five-seat Kerry constituency.
The Killorglin publican and auctioneer captained the Kerry football team in 1996 and started the 1997 All-Ireland Final when the county ended an 11-year wait for Sam Maguire to return to the Kingdom.
Outgoing Fine Gael Kerry TD Brendan Griffin is not standing in the general election.
The party's selection convention will take place in Tralee on Monday, 16 September.
