Six candidates will tonight be competing for four places on the Fine Gael ticket as the party holds its selection convention for the new Oranmore-Athenry ward in the 2014 Local Elections.
The convention takes place at 8pm in The Claregalway Hotel and while no specific directive has come from party GHQ on how many candidates to run in the new seven seat constituency, it is understood that the party will run four.
It is likely that there will be a candidate for the Oranmore area; another to cover the Athenry region; a third to look after Claregalway and the surrounding area; and a fourth for Turloughmore/Lackagh. The idea is to have the four main population areas of the ward covered and maximise the vote in each region.
The Mayor of County Galway, Liam Carroll, and Cllr Peter Feeney will both seek a mandate to run in 2014 and are virtually certain to be on the ticket. The remaining two places will be fought for among Josette Farrell, who ran in the 2009 locals; Frank Kearney; Martin Concannon; and Michael O’Brien.
Fine Gael will hold its selection convention for Connemara on November 14, while the conventions for the Loughrea and Tuam wards will be held in December. No date has yet been set for Ballinasloe.
