Fianna Fáil members in Castlebar say they are confident the party can win back a Dáil seat in the county town.
Councillor Lisa Chambers was last week given the green light as a candidate for the next general election at a meeting of Castlebar Cumann Fianna Fáil.
The 28-year-old barrister from Ballyheane was unanimously endorsed at the meeting.
Cumann chairman, Martin McLoughlinn, said the nomination has formally cleared the way for Cllr Chambers' candidacy for the general election.
“Fianna Fáil members in Castlebar have supported Lisa’s nomination and we have no doubt but that she will present a formidable challenge in our objective of returning a Fianna Fáil Dáil seat to the town,” outlined Mr McLoughlinn.
He said Cllr Chambers had “proved her credentials” in the general election of 2011, in spite of her late entry into the race and her relatively low profile at that time outside of party circles.
In that election, Cllr Chambers collected a respectable 3,343 first preference votes.
“Since then, she has been successful in being elected to Mayo County Council on a strong wave of popular support, and we in Fianna Fáil are confident that she is capable of winning back the Dáil seat which the party always held in Castlebar,” added Mr McLoughlinn.
Cllr Chambers polled the second highest number of first preference votes, at 1,481, in the local election for the Castlebar Municipal District last May.
