Peter Keane, a solicitor and former rugby player from the Taylor’s Hill area, is seen as the most likely candidate to stand for Fianna Fáil in Galway City West in the 2009 Local Elections.
All FF city candidates wishing to stand for election in 2009 - with the exception of the party’s three sitting councillors - must be nominated by a cumann and go to Dublin for an interview, and Mr Keane is no exception.
However it is widely speculated that he will get the nod from the interview panel led by Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and there are high hopes among party members in Galway that Mr Keane could be the man to win back the seat Fianna Fáil lost in what was the old South Ward in 2004 - leaving them councillors in the city’s leafy suburbs.
Other names that are being considered to run on the ticket are city businesswoman Mairead Cosgrove and former NUI, Galway students union vice-president Phelim O’Neill. Former Mayor Val Hanley is determined to run as well, but the more other names emerge in Galway City West, the slimmer his chances of appearing on the ticket appear to be.
