The closing date for nominations for the upcoming general election passed on Wednesday and 15 people handed in their nomination papers to returning officer Fintan Murphy to contest for the four seats up for grabs.
Fine Gael led the way with the largest number of nominees, with three from the party contesting for the seats, with two from Fianna Fáil and one each from Sinn Féin, Green Party, Aontú, Labour, People Before Profit and the Irish Freedom Party and four independent candidates.
Eight of the 15 candidates all put themselves forward in the last general election in the county, with three of them - Michael Ring (FG ), Dara Calleary (FF ) and Lisa Chambers (FF ) all looking to retain the seats they won four years ago. The five other candidates who went forward in that election are Michelle Mulherin (FF ), Rose Conway-Walsh (SF ), Séan Forkin (Ind ), Stephen Manning (Ind ) and Kamal Uddin (Labour - who ran as Independent in 2016 ).
The new faces that have thrown their hats into the ring for this year's election are the Green Party's Saoirse McHugh, who rose to prominence in the European Elections last year, Aontú's Paul Lawless, who contested the 2016 local elections, People Before Profit's Joe Daly, who contested the 2019 local elections in the Castlebar area, Fine Gael's Alan Dillon, who is looking to hold on to the seat in Castlebar the party has held for decades through the Kenny family, the Irish Freedom Party's Daithí Ó Fallamháin and Independents, Gerry Loftus and Gráinne Sinéad de Barra.
In the last general election there was a 69.1 per cent turnout in Mayo with a quota of 12,730 needed to take one of the four seats.
Candidates for Mayo constituency
Fine Gael: Michael Ring, Michelle Mulherin, Alan Dillon;
Fianna Fáil: Dara Calleary, Lisa Chambers;
Sinn Féin: Rose Conway-Walsh;
Green Party: Saoirse McHugh;
Aontú: Paul Lawless;
People Before Profit: Joe Daly;
Labour: Kamal Uddin;
Irish Freedom Party: Daithí Ó Fallamháin;
Independent: Gerry Loftus, Seán Forkin, Gráinne Sinéad de Barra, Stephen Manning.
