Adrian Kavanagh (First posted on 19th April 2017).

This post will be (and has been) updated as and when new candidates are selected/declared). Any links in this post are to online announcements of candidate selections – there will be no specific links to candidate web pages.

This is what I posted back on 19th April 2017 when I started this post/page: “The run in to the next general election, which can take place at any stage over the next four years, has officially commenced given that the Labour Party has now started the process of selecting their candidates for the next general election contest, commencing with the selection of Ged Nash as their candidate for the Louth constituency on 12th April 2017. (See this post for a list of the candidates for the 2016 General Election and an analysis of candidate selection trends at that election.)”

This post will track all candidate selections or candidate declarations, with respect to the next general election, as and when these happen (and I become aware of them!). The rule of thumb here is that I will add party candidates in most cases only after they have been officially selected to run for the party at a selection convention or by some other means of candidate selection. I try my best to find information about candidate selection conventions at the local level, but in some cases this information is hard to find and occasionally it can be some time after a convention takes place before I find this information and hence am in a position to update this page accordingly. In some cases, a candidate may have withdrawn some time before I am aware of this and hence remain on this page after they should have been excluded. This post also takes account of the fact that there will be changes to Dáil constituencies at the next general election, as the report of the 2017 Constituency Commission has now been put into law (in December 2017) by a new Electoral Act.

The number of candidates selected by parties and political groupings (to date)/number of independents who have signaled their intention to contest the next general election are also outlined here, with web links to the official website candidate pages to be provided for these parties/groups in cases where these exist (see the bottom of this page)

Updated 23rd January 2020: After the official close of candidate nominations, 531 candidates were selected to contest the next general election, or  – in the case of independents – had declared their intention to contest the next general election. (This number increased to 532 if the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghail, who is automatically returned for his home (Kildare South) constituency, is also included.) Sadly, as noted below, a Tipperary independent candidate –  Marese Skehan – passed away during the general election campaign. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam. This means that there were now 530 candidates (although Ms. Skehan remains on the ballot paper in Tipperary following the decision not to postpone the vote there); 161 of these candidates were women (30.4%) and 369 of these candidates were men (69.6%).

Updated 5th February 2020: After the sad passing on 3rd February 2020 of Independent candidate, Marese Skehan, who was an officially nominated candidate to contest the Tipperary constituency, it was announced by the Returning Officer that there would be no voting in that constituency on 8th February and it seemed like that polling in Tipperary would take place a number of weeks after that date. (This would have meant that 517 candidates will be contesting 38 Dáil constituencies on 8th February 2020. A further 13 candidates would have remained officially nominated to contest the Tipperary constituency, but there would have had to be a fresh call for nominations in that constituency over the following days, which would have meant that new candidates could join the already nominated candidates on the ballot paper.) However, it was subsequently decided that voting would go ahead in Tipperary on 8th February 2020 after all. 

This list of candidates included 138 incumbents/sitting Dáil deputies (26.0%) – which increases to 139 when the Ceann Comhairle, Sean O Fearghail, who is automatically elected for the Kildare South constituency, is included – 23 Senators (4.3%), 1 Member of the European Parliament (0.2%), and 135 City/County Councillors (25.5%), including 22 former TDs/Dáil deputies (4.2%). In all, 297 General Election 2020 candidates (56.0% of the total number) currently hold some form of electoral office.

Carlow-Kilkenny (5 seats): Deputy John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael), Deputy Pat Deering (Fine Gael), Cllr. Patrick O’Neill (Fine Gael), Deputy John McGuiness (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Bobby Aylward (Fianna Fáil), Senator Jennifer Murnane O’Connor (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Kathleen Funchion (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Denis Hynes (Labour Party), Cllr. Adrienne Wallace (People Before Profit), Cllr. Malcolm Noonan (Green Party), Helena Byrne (Renua), Melissa O’Neill (Irish Freedom Party), Alan Hayes (Independent), Angela Ray (Independent).

Adrienne Wallace will be the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency. This selection convention took place in November 2017.

Deputy Kathleen Funchion was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention, which was held on 14th December 2017.

As confirmed by the KCLR News website (20th December 2017), Senator Jennifer Murnane O’Connor has been selected as the Carlow-based Fianna Fáil nomination – Cllr. Fintan Phelan had also been nominated to contest the Carlow slot on the Fianna Fáil ticket but he declined that nomination. The selection of Senator Jennifer Murnane O’Connor as the Carlow-based Fianna Fáil candidate was confirmed at a selection convention in Leiglinbridge on 18th January 2018. The selection convention for the Kilkenny Fianna Fail based candidates will take place in the Springhill Court Hotel in Kilkenny on 26th January 2018, as reported in the Kilkenny People (23rd January 2018), with the two incumbents – Deputies John McGuinness and Bobby Aylward – set to be selected at this.

As reported in the Kilkenny People (9th February 2018), Cllr. Malcolm Noonan was selected as the Green Party candidate for this constituency in early February 2018.

As reported on the Kilkenny People website (21st June 2018), Denis Hynes will be confirmed as the Labour Party candidate for this constituency at a selection convention to be held at Iona Dara in Goresbridge on 27th June 2018.

A report on the KCLR News website (1st October 2018) notes that Deputies John-Paul Phelan and Pat Deering are to contest the Fine Gael selection convention, along with Cllr. Patrick O’Neill. Deputies Pat Deering and John Paul Phelan were selected at this convention, which took place on Monday 1st October at the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny. Cllr. Patrick O’Neill was added to the party ticket on 26th February 2019, as reported by the Kilkenny Now website (27th February 2019).

The Kilkenny People (22nd January 2020) reported that Alan Hayes would contest this constituency as an independent candidate. The Carlow Live website (22nd January 2020) reports that Angela Ray will also contest Carlow-Kilkenny as an independent candidate. 

Cavan-Monaghan (5 seats): Deputy Heather Humphries (Fine Gael), Cllr. T.P. O’Reilly (Fine Gael), Sandra McIntyre (Fine Gael), Deputy Brendan Smith (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Niamh Smyth (Fianna Fáil), Senator Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fáil), Matt Carthy MEP (Sinn Féin), Pauline Tully (Sinn Féin), Liam van der Spek (Labour Party), Tate Donnelly (Green Party), Emmett Smith (People Before Profit Alliance), Cllr. Sarah O’Reilly (Aontú), Joseph Duffy (Independent).

An article in the Anglo Celt (26th July 2018) refers to Labour Cavan Local Area Representative, Liam van der Spek, as being the “first local name announced” in terms of being a general election candidate in Cavan-Monaghan.

As reported by the Northern Sound website (5th March 2018), it was confirmed that Emmett Smith will contest this constituency for the People Before Profit Alliance. 

On 7th March 2018, it was announced that Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Sinn Féin) would not be contesting the next general election, as reported on the RTÉ website (7th March 2018). As reported on the Ocean FM website (11th April 2018), Matt Carthy MEP has announced his intention to contest the Sinn Féin selection convention. As reported by The Anglo Celt (11th April 2018), Sinn Féin intend to run a gender-balanced ticket, with it being envisaged that a female candidate based in Cavan will run alongside Matt Carthy. Matt Carthy was indeed selected to contest the election for Sinn Féin on 26th April 2018, as reported on the Northern Sound website (27th April 2018); this was only to select a Monaghan-based candidate and he was selected unopposed. As reported in the Anglo Celt (24th May 2018), former Ballyjamesduff councillor, Pauline Tully, has announced that she will contest the Cavan selection convention. As reported on the Northern Sound website (7th June 2018), Pauline Tully was the only person to contest this convention and was selected to run in the general election as the Cavan-based Sinn Féin candidate on 7th June 2018. As reported by the Anglo-Celt (16th January 2020), a second/reconvened selection convention will take place in the Errigal Hotel in Cootehill on 16th January 2020, with Matt Carthy and Pauline Tully both nominated to contest this. 

As reported on the Northern Sound (9th March 2018) website, a selection convention was held on Friday 9th March to selected a Monaghan-based candidate for Fianna Fáil. Three candidates had been nominated ahead of this convention – Senator Robbie Gallagher, Cllr. Seamus Coyle and Mike Durkan – but Semaus Coyle withdrew ahead of the convention. This convention subsequently nominated Robbie Gallagher to contest the general election, as reported on the Northern Sound website (10th March). Deputies Brendan Smith and Niamh Smyth were selected as the Cavan-based Fianna Fáil candidates at a selection convention at the Hotel Kilmore on 28th June 2018, as reported on the Northern Sound website (29th June 2018). The Anglo-Celt (25th July 2018) subsequently reported on speculation that Cavan footballer, Seanie Johnston, could be added as a third Fine Gael candidate here.

As reported on the Northern Sound website (11th July 2018), three candidates have been nominated to contest the Fine Gael selection convention for Cavan-Monaghan, which is scheduled to take place in the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan on 23rd July 2018 – Heather Humphreys, Senator Joe O’Reilly and Councillor Peter McVitty. At this convention, Deputy Heather Humphries and Senator Joe O’Reilly were selected to contest the election as Fine Gael candidates for Cavan-Monaghan, after Peter McVitty withdrew on the night of the convention, as reported on the Northern Sound website (24th July 2018). A report on the Northern Sound website (3rd August 2018) claimed that Fine Gael is expected to add a third candidate in this constituency by the end of August 2018 – an article in the Anglo Celt (25th July 2018) had speculated earlier that Seanie Johnston might be added as a third Fine Gael candidate here. In November 2018, however, the party announced that they would be just running the two candidates selected at convention, as – as reported on the Northern Sound website (2nd November 2018) – they believed that there was not a “strong enough candidate to consider running a third person in Cavan-Monaghan”. However, as reported on the Northern Sound (14th January 2019) website, it was announced in January 2019 that Sandra McIntyre, from Templeport in Cavan, would be the third Fine Gael candidate in this constituency. As reported by the Anglo Celt (23rd December 2019), it was decided by the Fine Gael National Executive that Senator Joe O’Reilly would be replaced on the Fine Gael candidate list by Virginia-based County Councillor, TP O’Reilly – it was reported that the ticket change was made “for geographical reasons”.  

As reported on the Northern Sound website (23rd July 2019), Cllr. Sarah O’Reilly (after having topped the poll in Balieborough-Cootehill at the May 2019 Local Elections) was selected as the Aontú candidate for this constituency at a selection convention in Cootehill on 22nd July 2019, in what was that party’s first ever official general election candidate selection convention. Gráinne McPhillips was also nominated to contest this selection convention, but she withdrew on the night of the convention.

As reported on the Northern Sound website (8th January 2020), Jonathan Rainey declared that he would be contesting this constituency as an independent candidate. A week later, however, he announced that he was withdrawing from the contest, as reported on the Northern Sound website (14th January 2020).

On 14th January 2020 21-year old Tate Donnelly confirmed that he would be running for the Green Party in this constituency.   

Clare (4 seats): Deputy Pat Breen (Fine Gael), Deputy Joe Carey (Fine Gael), Senator Martin Conway (Fine Gael), Deputy Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fáil), Rita McInerney (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Cathal Crowe (Fianna Fáil), Violet-Anne Wynne (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Róisín Garvey (Green Party), Theresa O’Donohue (People Before Profit), Conor O’Brien (Renua), Michael Leahy (Irish Freedom Party), Michael McNamara (Independent), Joseph Woulfe (Independent), Trudy Leyden (Independent), David Barrett (Independent).

A report in the Clare Champion (30th June 2017) notes that Cllr. Cathal Crowe is thinking of contesting the Fianna Fail selection convention for this constituency, especially in light of a decision made in the 2017 Constituency Commission report to move the Ballyglass area in south-east Clare/the Limerick City suburbs back into this constituency with the rest of Clare County. A report by Andrew Hamilton in The Clare People (1st August 2017) noted that two of Fianna Fail’s candidates in the 2016 General Election – Michael “Malty” McDonagh and Cllr. Clare Colleran Molloy – appeared “to have signalled their intention not to run” in the next general election. As reported by the Clare Champion (5th August 2017), Cathal Crowe officially launched his bid to win the party nomination to contest the general election at an open air meeting in Meelick on 2nd August 2017. Rita McInerney will also be contesting the Fianna Fáil selection convention. A report by Andrew Hamilton in the Clare People (28th November 2017) reported that Dr. John Hillery, who contested this constituency for Fianna Fáil in 2011, was likely to also contest this selection convention. Timmy Dooley, Rita McInerney, Cathal Crowe, John Hillery and Michael McDonagh were all nominated to contest the party selection convention on 26th April 2018, but Michael McDonagh withdrew a week before the contest. As reported in the Clare Champion (26th April 2018), it was announced ahead of the convention that a West Clare-East Clare divide be used for the purposes of the candidate selection; a decision that led Cathal Crowe to withdraw from the contest. With Timmy Dooley left to be effectively selected unopposed as the “East Clare” candidate, John Hillery defeated Rita McInerney by a 154-123 vote margin to be selected as the second Fianna Fáil candidate. John Hillery, however, subsequently announced that he was withdrawing from the contest for personal reasons and on 1st October Fianna Fáil announced that they were adding Rita McInerney and Cllr. Cathal Crowe to the party ticket in Clare.

As reported by the Clare Champion (27th November 2017), Deputy Pat Breen, Deputy Joe Carey and Senator Martin Conway were all nominated to contest the Fine Gael selection convention in the Auburn Lodge Hotel on November 27th 2017, but Senator Conway decided not to push this to a vote, leaving Deputies Carey and Breen to be automatically selected. On 4th September 2018 the Fine Gael Executive Council decided to add Martin Conway to the Fine Gael ticket.

Detailed general election coverage in The Clare People (28th November 2017) confirmed that independent TD, Deputy Michael Harty, would be contesting the next general election, as would former Dáil deputy, Michael McNamara, although it was unclear whether he would be contesting this constituency as a Labour Party candidate again or whether he would instead be running as an independent. As reported in the Irish Independent (23rd July 2019), Michael McNamara announced that he was resigning from Labour in May 2019 and it subsequently was confirmed he would be contesting the election as an Independent candidate. (This was definitively confirmed on 13th January 2020.) The Clare People (28th November 2017) noted that former Dáil deputy, James Breen, was also considering whether or not to contest the next general election, as were Cllrs. Ian Lynch and Ann Norton. On 13th January 2020 Deputy Michael Harty announced that he would not, after all, be contesting the upcoming general election, as reported by the Irish Examiner (20th January 2020).

The Clare People (28th November 2017) had also reported that the Sinn Féin convention for this constituency would be contested; between the party’s 2016 candidate, Noeleen Moran, and Cllr. Mike McKee. Subsequently, however – as reported by Andrew Hamilton in The Clare People (6th December 2017) – Sinn Féin decided that they would run both candidates as part of a two-candidate strategy. As noted by the Páraic McMahon in the Clare Echo (20th October 2019), both candidates have now “been de-selected automatically “as the time period had lapsed” since they were selected” and a new general election selection convention is to be held in November 2019. Despite being one of the more successful Sinn Féin candidates nationally at the 2019 Local Elections, Cllr. Mike McKee has announced that he will not contest this new selection convention due to health reasons. Violet-Anne Wynne, who contested the Kilrush electoral area at the 2019 Local Elections, had declared interest in contesting this convention, but Noeleen Moran had yet to declare her intentions. This reconvened convention is set to take place at the end of the first week of the general election campaign in 18th January 2020. A day before this took place, Noeleen Moran said she would not be contesting this convention as she contended that the party “had chose to leave it until this very late stage” to hold this reconvened selection convention, as reported by the Clare Echo (17th January 2020) and also the Clare Champion (17th January 2020). Violet-Anne Wynne was selected at this convention, as reported by the Clare Echo (18th January 2020). 

As reported on the Farming Today website (21st November 2019), Joseph Woulfe will contest this constituency as an independent candidate.

As announced on Clare FM on 4th December 2019, Cllr. Róisín Garvey will be the Green Party candidate in Clare.

As reported by the Clare Champion (17th January 2020), Trudy Leyden, formerly a Fine Gael party member, will be contesting the election as an independent candidate. 

At the start of the general election campaign (15th January 2020) it was confirmed that Theresa O’Donohue would be the People Before Profit candidate in Clare, as reported on the Clare Echo website (15th January 2020) and by the Clare FM website (15th January 2020). Although officially listed an an independent candidate, David Barrett will be contesting the election as a member of the Moderate Party, as noted on the Clare FM website (22nd January 2020). 

Cork East (4 seats): Deputy David Stanton (Fine Gael), Pa O’Driscoll (Fine Gael), Deputy Kevin O’Keeffe (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. James O’Connor (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Pat Buckley (Sinn Féin), Deputy Sean Sherlock (Labour Party), Cllr. Liam Quaide (Green Party), Conor Hannon (Aontú), Frank Shinnick (Irish Freedom Party), Cllr. Mary Linehan-Foley (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), Shane O’Grady (Independent), Thomas Kiely (Independent).

Deputy Kevin O’Keeffe was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate at a selection convention in Fermoy on 1st December 2017. A second candidate is expected to be added by the party later. Michael Ahern and Cllr. Padraig O’Sullivan were nominated to contest this convention, but they withdrew on the night. Cllr. Padraig O’Sullivan was subsequently added to the ticket as a second Fianna Fáil candidate on 12th March 2018. He was, however, subsequently selected as the party candidate for the Cork North-Central constituency at a selection convention on 1st August 2019, meaning that another candidate would need to found to fill the second spot on the Fianna Fáil ticket for Cork East. Cllr. James O’Connor, who won a seat in Midleton at his first electoral contest in the 2019 Local Elections, was added to the Fianna Fáil ticket on 27th September 2019.

Deputy Pat Buckley was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention on 9th December 2017.

On 20th July 2018, it was announced that Cllr. June Murphy would be the Social Democrats candidate for Cork East, as also reported on The Avondhu website (26th July 2018). However, she seems to have subsequently withdrawn her candidacy as she does not appear on the party’s final list of candidates. 

Deputy David Stanton and Pa O’Driscoll were selected to contest Cork East as Fine Gael candidates at a selection convention, which took place on 23rd July 2018. This was also contested by Cllr. Kay Dawson.

On 12th January 2020 Cllr. Mary Linehan-Foley announced that she would be contesting the general election as an Independent candidate.

Cork North-Central (4 seats): Senator Colm Burke (Fine Gael), Lorraine O’Neill (Fine Gael), Deputy Padraig O’Sullivan (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Tony Fitzgerald (Fianna Fáil), Sandra Murphy (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Thomas Gould (Sinn Féin), Cllr. John Maher (Labour Party), Deputy Mick Barry (Solidarity), Sinéad Halpin (Social Democrats), Cllr. Oliver Moran (Green Party), Finian Toomey (Aontú), James Coughlan (Workers Party), Cllr. Kenneth O’Flynn (Independent), Cllr. Ger Keohane (Independent), Timothy J. Hogan (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), Stephen James O’Donovan (Independent), Diarmaid Ó Cadhla (Independent).

An Evening Echo (16th August 2017) article reports that Cllrs. Kenneth O’Flynn and John Sheehan will be contesting the Fianna Fail selection convention, as will Deputy Billy Kelleher. Lord Mayor Tony Fitzgerald might also be contesting this convention. A later report in the Evening Echo (29th September 2018) noted that Cllr. John Sheehan had opted not to contest the nomination, leaving Cllrs. Tony Fitzgerald and Kenneth O’Flynn to contest for the nomination, alongside Deputy Billy Kelleher. Billy Kelleher subsequently contested the European elections in the Ireland South constituency in May 2019 and won a seat in, meaning that he would not now be contesting the general election but also that his Dáil seat would be vacated and a by-election would be required to fill this over the following six months, if a general election was not called in the meantime. As reported on the EchoLive (1st August 2019) website, a selection convention was held on 1st August 2019 to select a candidate for the by-election and/or the subsequent general election and this was contested by Cllrs. Tony Fitzgerald, Padraig O’Sullivan, and Kenneth O’Flynn. Padraig O’Sullivan won the convention vote, but he called for a second candidate to be added to the party ticket ahead of the general election contest – this looks likely to be either Tony Fitzgerald or Kenneth O’Flynn. In the end, Cllr. Tony Fitzgerald was the candidate to be added, as reported by the Evening Echo (14th January 2020) website, with Sandra Murphy also being added to the Fianna Fáil ticket for Cork North-Central, following a meeting of the Fianna Fáil National Constituencies Committee. On 14th January Cllr. Kenneth O’Flynn announced that he would now be contesting the election as an independent candidate. (Martin Condon, who contested the 2019 Cork North-Central by-election, will also be running as an independent here.)  

Kathleen Lynch was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a selection convention on 29th November 2017. In September 2019 she announced she would not be contesting the general election, as she believed it was time to let the next generation of Labour Party candidates come to the fore. Cllr. John Maher, who also ran in the 2019 Cork North-Central by-election, will now be the Labour Party candidate here. 

The Social Democrats are holding selection conventions for three Cork constituencies, including Cork North-Central, in the Imperial Hotel, South Mall, in Cork City on 30th November 2017. Sinéad Halpin, the local area representative for Cork City North-West was selected as the candidate here. As reported on by The Corkman (9th December 2017), this indeed turned out to be the case.

Deputy Jonathan O’Brien was selected as the Sinn Féin general election candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 20th January 2018. However, as reported on the Echo Live website (5th January 2020), in early January 2020 he announced that he would not be contesting the general election, with the expectation now being that Cllr. Thomas Gould – who had fared well in the November 2019 Cork North-Central by-election – would be selected to contest the constituency instead for Sinn Féin at a selection convention to be held on 18th January 2020. According to the Irish Examiner (15th January 2020), Cllr. Gould is the only candidate to be nominated to contest this selection convention – and effectively confirmed as the party candidate, as noted on the Evening Echo website (15th January 2020) – although Sinn Féin are considering whether they might also run a second candidate here. 

On 19th May 2018 Deputy Dara Murphy announced that he would not be contesting the next general election, as reported in the Irish Examiner (20th May 2018). The same article reported that Julie O’Leary, who contested the 2016 General Election, and Senator Colm Burke are both expected to contest the Fine Gael selection convention on 18th June 2018. According to the Evening Echo (5th June 2018), three other people have been nominated to contest this selection convention; Cllr. Sinéad Sheppard, Cllr. Joe Kavanagh and John Kelliher. Cllr. Sheppard withdraw from the contest ahead of the selection convention, which was held in The Commons Inn, leaving the other four candidates to contest this. Senator Colm Burke won the convention vote by a large margin, according to the Evening Echo (19th June 2018), with sources suggesting he won 236 of the 303 votes (78%) cast on the night, with 35 votes going to Joe Kavanagh, 27 votes going to Julie O’Leary and 4 votes going to John Kelliher. The Echo report noted that Fine Gael are likely to also add a second party candidate in this constituency. On 19th July 2018, it was announced that the Fine Gael Exceutive Council had decided to add Julie O’Leary as a second party candidate for this constituency. On 16th July 2019, as reported by the Irish Independent (17th July 2019), it was announced that Julie O’Leary would now not be contesting the general election as a Fine Gael candidate. She was replaced on the party ticket by Lorraine O’Neill, who had contested the Cork City North East electoral area in the May 2019 Local Elections and who was added onto the party ticket in November 2019.

Deputy Mick Barry was selected as the Solidarity general election candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 6th July 2018.

The Workers Party announced James Coughlan, who also contested the November 2019 by-election, as their candidate for this constituency on 15th January 2020.

As reported on the RTÉ News website (20th January 2020), Timothy Joseph Hogan will contest this constituency as an independent candidate.

Martin Condon had declared he intended to contest this election as an independent candidate, but did not appear on final list of officially declared candidates. 

Cork North-West (3 seats): Deputy Michael Creed (Fine Gael), Cllr. John Paul O’Shea (Fine Gael), Deputy Michael Moynihan (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Aindrias Moynihan (Fianna Fáil), Colette Finn (Green Party), Ciarán McCarthy (Social Democrats), Becky Kealy (Aontú), Tara Nic Domhnaill (Irish Freedom Party), Sean O’Leary (Independent). 

The Social Democrats are holding selection conventions for three Cork constituencies, including Cork North-West, in the Imperial Hotel, South Mall, in Cork City on 30th November 2017. Ciarán McCarthy the local area representative for Ballincollig, is expected to be the candidate here. As reported on by The Corkman (9th December 2017), this indeed turned out to be the case.

Martha Lyons was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate to contest this constituency at a selection convention that took place on 17th February 2018. However, she subsequently withdrew from the contest. 

As reported in The Irish Times (27th February 2018), Cllr. John Paul O’Shea – who contested the 2016 election in Cork North-West as an Independent – has joined Fine Gael, leading to speculation that he will join Deputy Michael Creed on the party ticket at the next general election. As reported by The Corkman (14th June 2018), Michael Creed and John Paul O’Shea were the only candidates to contest the Fine Gael selection convention in the Wallis Arms in Millstreet on 8th June 2018 and were both selected as party candidates.

Deputies Michael Moynihan and Aindrias Moynihan were selected as the Fianna Fáil candidates for this constituency at a selection convention in Millstreet on 20th April 2018.

Becky Kealy was selected as the Aontú candidate for the Cork North-West constituency at a selection convention, which took place on 17th September 2019. 

Colette Finn will be the Green Party candidate in Cork North-West, as announced in December 2019.

Cork South-Central (4 seats): Deputy Simon Coveney (Fine Gael), Senator Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael), Deputy Micheál Martin (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Michael McGrath (Fianna Fail), Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Sinn Fein), Ciara Kennedy (Labour Party), Bobby Murray Walsh (People Before Profit), Patricia O’Dwyer (Social Democrats), Cllr. Lorna Bogue (Green Party), Anna Daly (Aontú), Sean O’Leary (Independent), John Donohoe (Independent), William O’Brien (Independent), Paudie Dineen (Independent). 

Deputies Micheal Martin and Michael McGrath were selected as the Fianna Fail candidates to contest this constituency at a convention in the Rochestown Hotel on 29th September 2017.

Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire was selected as the Sinn Fein candidate to contest this constituency at a convention in the South Parish Community Centre in Cork City on 26th October 2017.

The Social Democrats are holding selection conventions for three Cork constituencies, including Cork South-Central, in the Imperial Hotel, South Mall, in Cork City on 30th November 2017. Patricia O’Dwyer is expected to be the candidate here. As reported on by The Corkman (9th December 2017), this indeed turned out to be the case.

Ed Fitzgerald was selected as the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency. This selection convention took place in November 2017. However, in January 2020 it was announced that Bobby Murray-Walsh would be the People Before Profit candidate here, as noted on the Evening Echo website (16th January 2020).

Deputy Simon Coveney and Senator Jerry Buttimer were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention on 29th November 2017.

On 15th January 2020 Ciara Kennedy was announced as the Labour Party candidate for this constituency.

Cork South-West (3 seats): Senator Tim Lombard (Fine Gael), Cllr. Karen Coakley (Fine Gael), Deputy Margaret Murphy O’Mahony (Fianna Fail), Cllr. Christopher O’Sullivan (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Paul Hayes (Sinn Féin), Bernie Connolly (Green Party), Cllr. Holly Cairns (Social Democrats), Kevin O’Connor (People Before Profit), Mairéad Ruane (Aontú), Deputy Michael Collins (Independent), Cllr. Alan Coleman (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent).

Deputy Margaret Murphy O’Mahony was selected as the Fianna Fail candidate for the Cork South-West constituency at a selection convention in the Parkway Hotel in Dunmanway on 26th July 2017. This was also contested by Cllr. Christopher O’Sullivan. As reported by the Southern Star (9th January 2020), it was announced on 9th January 2020 that Christopher O’Sullivan was being added as a second candidate on the Fianna Fáil ticket for this constituency. 

The Sinn Féin convention for this constituency will take placed on 8th December 2017 in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway. Cllr. Paul Hayes was nominated to contest this convention wand was selected to contest the election for Sinn Féin.

Deputy Jim Daly and Senator Tim Lombard were selected as the Fine Gael candidates at the party’s selection convention, which took place in Dunmanway on 27th July 2018. In September 2019, however, Jim Daly announced that he would not be contesting the election, as reported in The Southern Star (20th September 2019). On 18th December 2019 it was confirmed that Skibbereen-based, Cllr. Karen Coakley, was being added to the Fine Gael ticket for Cork South-West by the Fine Gael National Executive, as reported on the Southern Star website (20th December 2019). 

As reported by the Southern Star (4th November 2019), Cllr. Holly Cairns has been selected as the Social Democrats candidate for Cork South-West.

Cllr. Alan Coleman is identified as one of two independent candidates to contest this constituency, along with Deputy Michael Collins, in a Southern Star (20th January 2020) article.    

On 21st January 2020, it was announced that Bernie Connolly would be the Green Party candidate in Cork South-West.

Donegal (5 seats): Deputy Joe McHugh (Fine Gael), Cllr. Martin Harley (Fine Gael), Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Charlie McConologue (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Pearse Doherty (Sinn Féin), Senator Pádraig MacLochlainn (Sinn Féin), Michael White (Green Party), Mary T Sweeney (Aontú), Deputy Thomas Pringle (Independent), Cllr. John O’Donnell (Independent), Niall McConnell (Independent), Peter Casey (Independent), Arthur Desmond McGuinness (Independent).

Deputy Pearse Doherty and Senator Pádraig MacLochlainn were selected as the Sinn Féin candidates for this constituency at a party convention in the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny on 4th December 2017, as reported on the Highland Radio website (4th December 2017).

Deputies Pat The Cope Gallagher and Charlie McConologue were selected as the Fianna Fáil candidates for this constituency at a selection convention, which took place in the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny on 25th June 2018. As noted in the Donegal News (2nd July 2018), former Dail deputy, Niall Blaney, had intended to contest this convention, but withdrew ahead of the convention and following on the results of the Seanad by-election contest.

Deputy Joe McHugh was selected as the Fine Gael general election candidate for Donegal at a selection convention in Kee’s Hotel in Stranorlar on 26th July 2018, as reported by the Donegal Democrat (27th July 2018). The report noted that it was unclear, at that point in time, whether there would be a second Fine Gael candidate in this constituency. As reported by the Donegal Democrat (1st November 2019), Cllr. Martin Harley was added to the party ticket by the Fine Gael party executive on 31st October 2019. 

An article in Donegal Democrat (1st November 2018) indicated that it was the intention of non-party Dáil deputy, Thomas Pringle, to contest the next general election.

As reported by the Donegal Democrat (22nd October 2019), Mary T. Sweeney will be the Aontú candidate in this constituency.

As reported on the Highland Radio website (4th February 2019), Peter Casey has announced his intention to contest this constituency as an independent candidate. 

The Highland Radio (13th January 2020) website reports that Michael White will be the Green Party candidate in the Donegal constituency.

As noted on the Donegal Daily (15th January 2020) website, Cllr. John O’Donnell will be contesting the election. His candidacy is also noted on the Highland Radio website (16th January 2020) and the Ocean FM Donegal candidate listing also includes Niall McConnell as another Donegal independent candidate.

Dublin Central (4 seats): Deputy Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael), Deirdre Duffy (Fine Gael), Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Mary Lou McDonald (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Joe Costello (Labour Party), Gillian Brien (People Before Profit Alliance), Rita Harrold (Solidarity), Cllr. Garry Gannon (Social Democrats), Cllr. Neasa Hourigan (Green Party), Ian Smyth (Aontú), Éilis Ryan (Workers Party), Cllr. Christy Burke (Independent), Sarah Louise Mulligan (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Dublin Central), Patrick Clohessy (Independent), Dolores Webster (Independent). 

Cllr. Garry Gannon was selected as the Social Democrats candidate for the Dublin Central constituency at a selection convention on 3rd August 2017. This convention was not contested.

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Neasa Hourigan would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency.

As reported on the Dublin Live website (25th November 2017), Cllr. Christy Burke has announced that he will be contesting the next election in this constituency.

Deputy Paschal Donohoe was selected as the Fine Gael candidate at a selection convention in Jury’s Inn on Parnell Street on 27th November 2017. On 27th September 2018 it was announced that Deirdre Duffy was being added as a second candidate here, as reported in the Irish Independent (28th September 2018).

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency at selection convention in the Gresham Hotel on 4th December 2017. This was not contested.

Mary Fitzpatrick was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate at a selection convention on. This was not contested.

As noted on the party website, Gillian Brien will be the People Before Profit candidate in the Dublin Central constituency.

Cllr. Éilis Ryan will be the Workers Party candidate in this constituency.

On 16th January 2020 Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan confirmed that she would not be contesting the general election.  

Dublin Mid-West (4 seats): Cllr. Emer Higgins (Fine Gael), Cllr. Vicki Casserly (Fine Gael), Deputy John Curran (Fianna Fáil), Catriona McClean (Fianna Fail), Deputy Eoin Ó Broin (Sinn Féin), Deputy Mark Ward (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Joanna Tuffy (Labour Party), Deputy Gino Kenny (People Before Profit), Cllr. Peter Kavanagh (Green Party), David Gardiner (Workers Party), Cllr. Francis Timmons (Independent), Cllr. Paul Gogarty (Independent).

Anne-Marie McNally was selected as the Social Democrats candidate for the Dublin Mid West constituency at a selection convention in Lucan on 10th July 2017. This convention was not contested. On 14th January 2020, however, she announced that she was withdrawing from the contest. 

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Peter Kavanagh would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency.

In November 2017, former Councillor, Ruth Nolan, announced that she would be contesting the general election. However her name does not appear on the list of final candidates.

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald and Cllr. Emer Higgins were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for Dublin Mid-West at the party’s selection convention in Finnstown House in Lucan on 28th November 2017, as reported by the Irish Examiner (27th November 2017). Frances Fitzgerald, however, was subsequently elected to the European Parliament in May 2019, which means she will not be contesting the general election. On 9th January 2020 it was announced that Cllr. Vicki Casserly was being added as a second candidate onto the Fine Gael ticket for Dublin Mid-West. 

Deputy Gino Kenny was selected to contest this constituency for People Before Profit in 2018.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 18th December 2017. On 13th January 2020 it was confirmed that Deputy Mark Ward, who won the 2019 Dublin Mid-West by-election, would also be contesting this election alongside Eoin Ó Broin. 

Deputy John Curran was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate at a selection convention in the Lucan Spa Hotel on 10th January 2018. This convention was also contested by Caitriona McClean. On 9th January 2020 it was announced that Catriona McClean was being added as a second candidate onto the Fianna Fáil ticket for Dublin Mid-West. 

Dublin Fingal (5 seats): Deputy Alan Farrell (Fine Gael), Senator James Reilly (Fine Gael), Deputy Darragh O’Brien (Fianna Fáil), Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Louise O’Reilly (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Duncan Smith (Labour Party), Cllr. Paul Mulville (Social Democrats), Deputy Joe O’Brien (Green Party), Terry Kelleher (Solidarity), John Uwhumiakpor (People Before Profit), Alistair Smith (United People), Cllr. Tony Murphy (Independent), Cllr. Dean Mulligan (Independent/Independents 4 Change), Gemma O’Doherty (Independent), Glenn Brady (Independent), Sandra Sweetman (Independent).

The Green Party selection for this constituency took place on 19th October 2017. Joe O’Brien, who contested the 2016 General Election for the party, was selected to contest the constituency for the Green Party.

Deputy Alan Farrell and Senator James Reilly were selected as the Fine Gael candidates at a selection convention on 27th November 2017.

Deputy Louise O’Reilly was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention on 7th December 2017.

The declared candidates for the Fianna Fáil selection convention include Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, Cllr. Darragh Butler and Deputy Darragh O’Brien. Lorraine Clifford-Lee and Darragh O’Brien were selected at a convention on Tuesday 17th April 2018.

Deputy Brendan Ryan was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a meeting in Murray’s of Lusk on 15th February 2018. However, as reported by the Irish Examiner (8th January 2020), Brendan Ryan announced on 8th January 2020 that he would not be contesting the general election. As reported by the Irish Examiner (13th January 2020), he will be replaced on the ticket by Cllr. Duncan Smith, who contested the 2019 Dublin Fingal by-election for Labour. 

As reported on the party website, a selection convention will take place on 31st May 2018 to select a Social Democrats candidate for this constituency, with the report suggesting that three party members are set to contest this convention. Tracy Carey was selected at this convention, with this convention also being contested by Paul Mulville and Garrett Mullan. However, after contesting the 2019 by-election here, she seems to have withdrawn her candidacy and has been replaced by Cllr. Paul Mulville as the Social Democrats candidate here.

As reported on the BalbrigganInfo webpage (15th January 2020), Cllr. Tony Murphy announced his intention to contest the general election in Dublin Fingal in January 2020.

Dublin Bay North (5 seats): Deputy Richard Bruton (Fine Gael), Senator Catherine Noone (Fine Gael), Deputy Sean Haughey (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Deirdre Heney (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Denise Mitchell (Sinn Féin), Sen. Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour), Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan (Social Democrats), Cllr. David Healy (Green Party), Bernard Mulvany (People Before Profit), Michael O’Brien (Solidarity), Proinsias Ó Conaráin (Aontú), Ben Gilroy (Irish Freedom Party), Cllr. John Lyons (Independent), Brian Garrigan (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), Conor Creaven (Independent), Michael Burke (Independent), Linda McEvoy (Independent). 

Sen. Aodhán Ó Ríordáin was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Dublin Bay North constituency at a selection convention in Donnycarney on 27th June 2017. This convention was not contested.

Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan was selected as the Social Democrats candidate for the Dublin Bay North constituency at a selection convention in Fairview on 4th July 2017. This convention was not contested.

Sean Haughey TD was selected as the Fianna Fail candidate for the Dublin Bay North constituency at a selection convention ion 5th October 2017. This convention was not contested. An article in the Irish Times on 21st March 2018 reported that Cllr. Deirdre Heney had been recently added to the Fianna Fáil party ticket for the upcoming general election in this constituency.

Cllr. John Lyons was selected as the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency, but he left the party early in 2019.

Deputy Denise Mitchell was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 18th December 2017.

Deputy Richard Bruton was selected as a Fine Gael candidate for this constituency at a constituency meeting in mid-June 2018. On 23rd July 2018, it was announced that Senator Catherine Noone had been added as a candidate to the Fine Gael ticket for Dublin Bay North by the Fine Gael Executive Council.

Dublin North-West (3 seats): Deputy Noel Rock (Fine Gael), Cllr. Paul McAuliffe (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Dessie Ellis (Sinn Féin), Andrew Montague (Labour), Deputy Roisin Shortall (Social Democrats), Cllr. Caroline Conroy (Green Party), Conor Reddy (People Before Profit), Stephen Redmond (National Party), Ian Croft (Independent), Niall Fitzgerald (Independent). 

Cllr. Andrew Montague was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Dublin North-West constituency at a selection convention on 18th April 2017. This convention was not contested.

Roisin Shortall was selected to be the Social Democrats candidate for the next general election at a convention on 27th July 2016. This convention was not contested.

Cllr. Paul McAuliffe was selected as the Fianna Fail candidate for the Dublin North-West constituency at a selection convention in the Shamrock Lodge in Finglas on 27th July 2017. This convention was not contested.

Noel Rock TD was selected as the Fine Gael candidate for the Dublin Bay North constituency at a selection convention at the Autobahn Pub on Glasnevin Avenue on 16th November 2017. This convention was not contested.

Former City Councillor, Andrew Keegan, was selected as the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency. This selection convention took place in November 2017. The University Times (12th January 2020) website notes that Conor Reddy will be a People Before Profit candidate in this constituency and Andrew Keegan will now not be contesting Dublin North-West.  

Dublin Rathdown (3 seats): Deputy Josepha Madigan (Fine Gael), Senator Neale Richmond (Fine Gael), Cllr. Shay Brennan (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Deirdre Conroy (Fianna Fáil), Sorcha Nic Cormaic (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Lettie McCarthy (Labour Party), Deputy Catherine Martin (Green Party), Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin (People Before Profit), Liam Coughlan (Aontú), Deputy Shane Ross (Independent), Patrick Noonan (Independent). 

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Deputy Catherine Martin would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency.

On 20th November 2017 Deputy Josepha Madigan and Senator Neale Richmond were selected as the Fine Gael candidates to contest this constituency at a selection convention in the Talbot Hotel in Stillorgan. This was not contested.

Cllr. Sorcha Nic Cormaic was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention on 19th December 2017.

Cllr. Lettie McCarthy was selected as the Labour Party candidate for this constituency at a selection convention, which was not contested, on 12th June 2018.

The Irish Examiner (13th September 2018) reported that Justin McAleese was “widely expected” to be the Fianna Fáil candidate for this constituency, ahead of the party selection convention taking place later in Autumn 2018. However an article in The (Irish) Sunday Times (25th November 2018) reported that he had subsequently decided not to put his name forward for selection. According to the Irish Times (4th December 2018), it was now expected that Olivia Buckley will be the Fianna Fáil candidate in Dublin Rathdown – she was to contest the Dundrum electoral area in the 2019 Local Elections. However, after she failed to win a seat in Dundrum, it was Cllr. Shay Brennan who was to be selected as the party candidate here and party headquarters also added Cllr. Deirdre Conroy to the party ticket here. 

Dublin South-Central (4 seats): Deputy Catherine Byrne (Fine Gael), Senator Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Aengus O Snodaigh (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Rebecca Moynihan (Labour), Deputy Bríd Smith (People Before Profit), Cllr. Tara Deacy (Social Democrats), Cllr. Patrick Costello (Green Party), Selina Irvine (National Party), Deputy Joan Collins (Independent/Independents 4 Change), Richard Murray (Independent), Alan Kerrigan (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), Robert Foley (Independent). 

Cllr. Rebecca Moynihan was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Dublin South-Central constituency at a selection convention on 18th April 2017. This convention was not contested.

Senator Catherine Ardagh was selected as the Fianna Fail candidate for the Dublin South-Central constituency at a selection convention in Drimnagh, chaired by Senator Lorraine-Clifford-Lee, on 11th October 2017. This convention was not contested.

In November 2017 it was announced that Tara Deacy would be the Social Democrats candidate in this constituency.

Deputy Bríd Smith will be the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency. This selection convention took place in November 2017.

Deputy Catherine Byrne was selected as the Fine Gael candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 27th November 2017.

Deputy Aengus O Snodaigh and Senator Máire Devine were selected as the Sinn Féin candidates at a selection convention on 30th November 2017. The selection of Aengus O Snodaigh was confirmed at a second Sinn Féin selection convention in this constituency, which took place on 13th November 2019, but Máire Devine did not contest this. 

Tony Murray will be the Renua candidate in Dublin South-Central.

In March 2018, Richard Murray – who had also contested the 2016 General Election in this constituency – announced that he would again be contesting Dublin South-Central at the next general election as an independent candidate.

Dublin Bay South (4 seats): Deputy Eoghan Murphy, (Fine Gael), Deputy Kate O’Connell (Fine Gael), Deputy Jim O’Callaghan (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Chris Andrews (Sinn Féin), Senator Kevin Humphreys (Labour Party), Sarah Durcan (Social Democrats), Deputy Eamon Ryan (Green Party), Annette Mooney (People Before Profit), Jacqui Gilborne (Renua), Ben Scallan (Irish Freedom Party), Cllr. Mannix Flynn (Independent), Peter Dooley (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), John Dominic Keigher (Independent), Norma Burke (Independent).

Deputy Jim O’Callaghan was selected as the Fianna Fail candidate for the Dublin Bay South constituency at a selection convention in late July 2017.

Senator Kevin Humphreys was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a selection convention on 6th September 2017.

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Deputy Eamon Ryan would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency.

Deputies Eoghan Murphy and Kate O’Connell were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention on 29th November 2017.

Cllr. Chris Andrews was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for the Dublin Bay South constituency at a selection convention on 12th December 2017.

Peter Dooley announced he would be contesting this constituency as an independent candidate on 19th January 2020.  

Sarah Durcan will be the Social Democrats candidate for this constituency and her candidacy will be launched on 29th May 2018.

Jacqui Gilborne will be the Renua candidate in this constituency.

Dublin South-West (5 seats): Deputy Colm Brophy (Fine Gael), Ellen O’Malley Dunlop (Fine Gael), Deputy John Lahart (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Charlie O’Connor (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Deirdre O’Donovan (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Sean Crowe (Sinn Féin), Ciarán Ahern (Labour Party), Deputy Paul Murphy (RISE), Cllr. Sandra Fay (Solidarity), Cllr. Carly Bailey (Social Democrats), Cllr. Francis Noel Duffy (Green Party), Anne Marie Condren (Renua), Philip Dwyer (National Party), Deputy Katherine Zappone (Independent), Cllr. Mick Duff (Independent), Colm O’Keeffe (Independent).

Cllr. Martina Genockey was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Dublin South-West constituency at a selection convention in Tallaght on 24th May 2017. This convention was not contested. However on 28th September 2018 she announced that she was leaving the Labour Party and would not be the party’s candidate in the upcoming general election. On 14th January 2020 it was confirmed that Ciarán Ahern would be the party’s candidate in Dublin South-West.

The Echo (2nd October 2017) reported that three candidates were to contest the Fianna Fail Dublin South West convention in the Maldron Hotel on 2nd October 2017 – Deputy John Lahart, Cllr. Charlie O’Connor and Cllr. Paul Foley, with only one candidate to be selected at this. John Lahart was selected at this convention. On 15th March 2018, Charlie O’Connor was added by party headquarters as a second candidate onto the Fianna Fáil ticket. On 4th December 2019, it was announced that Cllr. Deirdre O’Donovan was being added as a third Fianna Fáil party candidate for this constituency. 

Cllr. Francis Noel Duffy was selected to be the Green Party candidate for the Dublin South-West constituency in October 2017, as noted on the In Tallaght website.

Deputy Sean Crowe was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 18th December 2017.

Carly Bailey was selected to contest Dublin South-West for the Social Democrats at a party selection convention on 28th May 2018.

Deputy Colm Brophy was selected as the Fine Gael candidate for this constituency at a selection convention, which was held in the Spawell Hotel in Templeogue on 9th July 2018. This convention was also contested by Cllr. Brian Lawlor. On 31st Octonber 2018, it was announced that Ellen O’Malley Dunlop, the chair of the National Women’s Council, would be added to the Fine Gael ticket in this constituency, as reported in The Irish Times (31st October 2018). 

On 14th January 2020 Cllr. Mick Duff announced he would be running here as an independent candidate.

Dublin West (4 seats): Deputy Leo Varadkar (Fine Gael), Cllr. Emer Currie (Fine Gael), Deputy Jack Chambers (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Paul Donnelly (Sinn Féin), Deputy Joan Burton (Labour Party), Deputy Ruth Coppinger (Solidarity), Cllr. Roderic O’Gorman (Green Party), Aengus Ó Maoláin (Social Democrats), Edward Mac Manus (Aontú), Stephen O’Loughlin (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), Peter Casey (Independent). 

Jack Chambers became the first Fianna Fail candidate to be selected to contest the next general election on 25th July 2017.

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Cllr. Roderic O’Gorman would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency.

Cllr. Paul Donnelly was selected as the Sinn Féin at a selection convention on 11th December 2017.

Aengus Ó Maoláin was selected as the Social Democrats candidate for Dublin West at a selection convention on 10th April 2018.

A report in the Irish Independent (2nd June 2018) claimed that the Fine Gael selection convention is likely to be contested by An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, and Cllrs. Ted Leddy and Kieran Dennison, as well as Emer Currie, the daughter of former Dublin West Fine Gael TD, Austin Currie. Deputy Leo Varadkar and Emer Currie were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention in Luttrelstown Castle Golf Club on 9th July 2018. Cllrs. Ted Leddy and Kieran Dennison had been nominated to contest this selection convention, but withdrew following an announcement that a gender directive (one female candidate and one male candidate to be selected) would be applied, as reported in the Irish Independent (9th July 2018).

As reported on the Donegal Live website (21st January 2020), Peter Casey has announced that he will be contesting Dublin West as an independent candidate, as well as Donegal.

Dún Laoghaire (4 seats): Deputy Mary Mitchell O’Connor (Fine Gael), Cllr. Barry Ward (Fine Gael), Cllr. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Cllr. Cormac Devlin (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Mary Hanafin (Fianna Fail), Shane O’Brien (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Juliet O’Connell (Labour Party), Deputy Richard Boyd-Barret (People Before Profit), Cllr. David Quinn (Social Democrats), Cllr. Ossian Smyth (Green Party), Mairéad Tóibín (Aontú), Con Óg Ó Laoghaire (Irish Freedom Party), John Waters (Independent). 

Cllr. Deirdre Kingston was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Dun Laoghaire constituency at a selection convention on 19th April 2017. This convention was not contested. However, on 19th July 2019 she announced that she would not be in a position to contest the election and hence was withdrawing her candidacy. On 14th January 2020 it was announced that Cllr. Juliet O’Connell would be the Labour candidate in this constituency. 

Deputy Richard Boyd-Barret will be the People Before Profit candidate, having been selected at a convention in November 2017.

Fianna Fail held their selection convention the Royal Marine Hotel on 29th November 2017. Cllrs. Mary Hanafin, Cormac Devlin and Kate Feeney were nominated to contest the convention. Cormac Devlin won the vote at this convention. A report in The Irish Sun (5th December 2017) notes that Cormac Devlin won 74 votes, Kate Feeney won 64 votes and Mary Hanafin won 45 votes. (The Dublin Gazette later reported that Kate Feeney won 61 votes.) This report also suggests that Cllr. Mary Hanafin is likely to be added as a second Fianna Fáil candidate in this constituency. This indeed turned out to be the case, as she was added by party headquarters on 21st December 2017.

Cllr. Shane O’Brien was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 8th December 2017.

Sinéad Gibney was selected as the Social Democrats candidate for this constituency and her candidacy will be launched on 30th May 2018. However, she withdrew her candidacy just ahead of the close of nominations. Cllr. David Quinn will now be the party candidate here. 

Deputies Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Maria Bailey and Cllr. Barry Ward were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention, which took place on 7th June 2018. A meeting of party members on 31st October 2019, however, called for a review of the party candidate list, as reported on the RTÉ News website (1st November 2019). A meeting of the Fine Gael Executive Council on 14th November 2019 made the decision to deselect Deputy Maria Bailey and add Cllr. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill onto the party ticket in her place. 

Galway East (3 seats): Deputy Ciaran Cannon (Fine Gael), Cllr. Pete Roche (Fine Gael), Deputy Anne Rabbitte (Fianna Fáil), Clllr, Donagh Killilea (Fianna Fáil), Louis O’Hara (Sinn Féin), Marian Spelman (Labour Party), Eoin Madden (Green Party), Peter Reid (Social Democrats), Martin Ward (Aontú), Declan McCann (Renua), Deputy Sean Canney (Independent), David O’Reilly (Independent)

Peter Reid was selected as the Social Democrats candidate to contest the Galway East constituency on 19th May 2018.

Neil O’Mahony was selected as the Renua candidate in Galway East, but subsequently withdrew.

Deputy Ciaran Cannon and Cllr. Pete Roche were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention in Loughrea in late June 2018, as reported in the Connacht Tribune (29th June 2018). This convention was not contested.

Deputy Anne Rabbitte was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate for Galway East at a selection convention, which took place in the Raheen Woods Hotel in Athenry on 23rd July 2018. This was also contested by Gort-based Shaun Hennelly and Loughrea-based Cllr. Michael Regan. As reported in the Connacht Tribune (27th July 2018), Anne Rabbitte won 178 votes in the selection contest, while Michael Regan won 96 votes and Shaun Hennelly won 51 votes. Party Headquarters is expected to subsequently add a second candidate, who would be based in the northern part of the constituency, with Cllr. Donagh Killelea being spoken as a potential contender for the second place on the Fianna Fáil Galway East ticket. On 17th January 2020 Cllr. Donagh Killilea was added to the party ticket, as reported on the Midwest Radio (17th January 2020) website.

Marian Spelman was contested to select this constituency for Labour in a selection convention that took place in early November 2019, as reported on the Galway Bay FM website (9th November 2019).   

In early 2020 it was announced that Eoin Madden would be the Green Party candidate for Galway East.

Joe Campbell was selected as the Aontú candidate here, but subsequently withdrew from the contest. Martin Ward, the former Mayor of Tuam, was selected as party candidate, instead, on 17th January 2020.

The Sinn Féin selection convention is scheduled to take place on 17th January 2020. Louis O’Hara was selected at this, as reported on the Galway Daily website (21st January 2020).

Galway West (5 seats): Deputy Hildegrade Naughten (Fine Gael), Deputy Sean Kyne (Fine Gael), Deputy Éamon O Cuiv (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Niall McNelis (Labour), Mairéad Farrell (Sinn Féin), Conor Burke (Solidarity), Joe Loughnane (People Before Profit), Niall O Tuathail (Social Democrats), Cllr. Pauline O’Reilly (Green Party), Cormac O Corcorán (Aontú), Deputy Catherine Connolly (Independent), Deputy Noel Grealish (Independent), Cllr Mike Cubbard (Independent), Daragh O’Flaherty (Independent).

A review of potential general election candidates for Galway West in the Galway Advertiser (20th April 2017) reported that Cllr. Peter Keane and John Connolly, who ran in 2016, are likely to be contesting the Fianna Fail nomination to run alongside Eamon O Cuiv in this constituency as the party’s Galway City-based candidate, with a third candidate expected to be running from the Oranmore area. The account also speculates that Cllr. Nial McNeilis will be asked to run for Labour in this constituency, while it also noted that some local Sinn Fein party members would like to see Cllr. Mairead Farrell join Senator Trevor O Clocharthaigh on the Sinn Fein ticket for the next general election.

The Galway Independent (26th July 2017) has noted that Cllr. Peter Keane has declared his intention to seek a nomination to contest the general election at the upcoming Fianna Fail selection convention.

Niall O Tuathail was selected to be the Social Democrats candidate for the next general election at a convention on 27th July 2016,

In late October 2016, it was announced that Pauline O’Reilly would be the Green Party candidate in Galway West, as reported by the Galway Advertiser (26th October 2016).

In November 2016, Nicola Daveron was identified as being the Renua candidate for Galway West – she was also the Renua candidate in that constituency at the 2016 General Election.

Joe Loughnane will be the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency. This selection convention took place in November 2017. This selection was confirmed at a further selection convention which took place in November 2019, as reported by the Galway Advertise (21st November 2019).

Deputies Hildegrade Naughten and Sean Kyne were selected as the Fine Gael candidates at a selection convention on 27th November 2017.

According to the Galway Advertiser (28th November 2017), Labour will hold their selection convention in the Meyrick Hotel on 30th November 2017. Cllr. Niall McNelis is expected to be selected as the Labour Party candidate.

An article in the Galway Advertiser (30th November 2017) identifies Cllr. Mike Cubbard as being a candidate for the next general election here.

Mairéad Farrell was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention on 3rd December 2017. She was unopposed at this. This selection was confirmed at a follow up selection convention on 1st November 2019. 

Jessy Kelly was selected as the Solidarity candidate for Galway West at a selection convention on 14th December 2017, but since then defected to Paul Murphy’s new RISE grouping (which remains part of the Solidarity-People Before Profit political grouping). As reported by the Galway Bay FM website (14th January 2020), Conor Burke has been selected to contest Galway West for Solidarity.  

A Galway Advertiser (12th September 2019) article predicted that Fianna Fáil would be running two candidates in Galway West at the next general election, with Cllr. Ollie Crowe expected to be the only other candidate to join Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív on the party ticket. Indeed, Deputy Éamon O Cuiv and Cllr. Ollie Crowe were to be the Fianna Fáil candidates selected at the party’s selection convention, which took place in the Galway Bay Hotel on 31st October 2019, as reported on the Galway Daily website (2nd November 2019).

Kerry (5 seats): Deputy Brendan Griffin (Fine Gael),  Cllr. Mike Kennelly (Fine Gael), Deputy John Brassil (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Norma Moriarty (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Norma Foley (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Pa Daly (Sinn Féin), Cleo Murphy (Green Party), Sonny Foran (Aontú), John Bowler (Irish Freedom Party), Ted Cronin (Independent), Sean O’Leary (Independent), Deputy Michael Healy-Rae (Independent), Deputy Danny Healy-Rae (Independent)

The Irish Times (20th November 2017) reported that Cllr. Toiréasa Ferris was expected to be the only candidate to contest the Sinn Féin selection convention for the Kerry constituency on 1st December 2017. This article also reported that Cllr. Aoife Thornton was expected to contest the Fine Gael selection convention, while Norma Moriarty and Cllr. Norma Foley were listed as potential candidates for the Fianna Fáil selection convention.

The Killarney Today website (9th January 2018) reported that Cllr. Michael Cahill, who returned to the part from the independent ranks in 2016, would be contesting the Fianna Fail nomination. This account and a report on the Radio Kerry website (9th January 2018) also reported that Senator Mark Daly, Cllr. Niall Kelleher, Cllr. Norma Foley, Cllr. Thomas McEllistrim and Cllr. Michael O’Shea were all like to also be contesting the Fianna Fail selection convention. Balloting for he Fianna Fail selection convention will take place from 4pm to 7pm on 28th January 2018, with voting taking place at two separate venues; the Ballygarry House Hotel, Tralee, and the Brehon Hotel, Killarney. As reported by the Kiullarney Advertiser (26th January 2018), it was decided that only one candidate would be selected at this convention; a decision that led Niall Kelleher and Mark Daly to withdraw from the contest. Based on details provided on the Radio Kerry website (28th January 2018), just over one thousand votes (1,010) were cast in this selection convention. Deputy John Brassil won this vote; winning 456 votes on the first count and eventually exceeded the quota on the third count. Cllr. Thomas McEllistrim was second on the first count, with 256 votes, followed by Cllr. Michael Cahill (119), Cllr. Norma Moriarty (104) and Cllr. Michael O’Shea (66). Ahead of a decision on which candidate to add to the ticket follow the convention, interviews were held with a number of potential candidates in the Rose Hotel in Tralee on 16th May 2018, as reported on the Radio Kerry website (16th May 2018). It was reported that interviews were to be held with Cllrs. Norma Foley, Norma Moriarty, Michael Cahill, Michael O’Shea and Thomas McEllistrim, while it was also reported that Senator Mark Daly and Cllr. Niall Kelleher were also in contention to be selected as John Brassil’s running mate. As reported on the Radio Kerry website (3rd August 2018), Fianna Fáil headquarters subsequently decided to add Cllr. Norma Moriarty as a second candidate for the Kerry constituency. As reported on the TraleeToday website (16th December 2019), Cllr. Norma Foley was also added as an additional candidate on the Fianna Fáil ticket for Kerry. 

As reported on the Radio Kerry website (2nd December 2017), Cllr. Toiréasa Ferris was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention in Kerins O’Rahilly’s club in Tralee on 1st December 2017. This convention was not contested. On 18th June 2019, however, she announced that she was withdrawing from contesting the general election on health grounds, as reported on the Radio Kerry website (18th June 2019). A new selection convention was to be held at a later date (August 2019). Cllr. Pa Daly was selected to run for Sinn Féin at this convention, which was uncontested and took place on 4th October 2019, as reported on the Radio Kerry website (5th October 2019). 

As reported by the Radio Kerry website (15th January 2018), Brian Finucane was selected as the People Before Profit candidate for the Kerry constituency, but subsequently withdrew.

An article in the Irish Independent (17th March 2018) reported that the Kerry Vintners Association are considering running a candidate in Kerry at the next general election.

The Fine Gael selection convention was moved forward to late July/early August 2018, as reported on the Radio Kerry (20th June 2018) website. This report noted that Fine Gael are expected to operate a two-candidate strategy in Kerry, with a candidate based in the north of the county expected to join Deputy Brendan Griffin on the ticket. Cllr. Mike Kennelly has announced his intention to contest the selection convention, with Jim Finucane has been nominated by the Tarbert branch of the party, although he has yet to confirm when he intends to contest the party nomination. A later report on the Radio Kerry website (26th September 2018) reported that the party convention would now take place in the Earl of Desmond Hotel in Tralee on 21st October 2018. This reported that – to date – Listowel-based Cllr. Mike Kennelly was the only candidate to put his name forward to contest the convention, along with Deputy Brendan Griffin, although the close of nominations was still some time away (5th October 2018). However, as reported on the Radio Kerry website (10th October 2018) some days later, Cllr. Kennelly had decided not to contest the convention in order to focus on his Council work and Kerry Fine Gael members had instead nominated Deputy Brendan Griffin and Cllr. Aoife Thornton to contest the convention, although it remained unclear as to whether Cllr. Thornton would accept the nomination, or not. In the end Cllr. Thornton decided not to go forward for selection and Deputy Brendan Griffin was ultimately the only candidate to contest the selection convention and was selected as a Fine Gael candidate for Kerry for the next general election. On 6th January 2020 Fine Gael’s Executive Council announced it was adding Cllr. Mike Kennelly as a second party candidate for the Kerry constituency.

As reported on the TraleeToday.ie website (29th October 2019), Cleo Murphy will be the Green Party candidate in this constituency. 

As reported on the TraleeToday website (30th October 2019), Sonny Foran was selected as the Aontú candidate for Kerry at a selection convention, which took place on 29th October 2019.

As noted on the Radio Kerry (16th January 2020) website, it looks as if there will ne no Labour Party candidate in Kerry for the first time since 1933, after Cllr. Terry O’Brien declined to run for health reasons.

There will be no Kerry Independent Alliance candidate in this election, as reported on the Radio Kerry website (17th January 2020). 

Kildare North (4 seats): Deputy Bernard Durkan (Fine Gael), Senator Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael), Deputy Frank O’Rourke (Fianna Fail), Deputy James Lawless (Fianna Fail), Réada Cronin (Sinn Féin), Emmet Stagg (Labour Party), Deputy Catherine Murphy (Social Democrats), Cllr. Vincent P Martin (Green Party), Pól Mac Mathuna/Paul Mahon (People Before Profit), Séamus Ó’Riain (Renua), Wayne Swords (Independent), David Monaghan (Independent).

Catherine Murphy was selected to be the Social Democrats candidate for the next general election at a convention on 17th July 2016, as reported by the KFM Radio website.

James Lawless and Frank O’Rourke were both selected unopposed to be the Fianna Fail candidates for the next general election at a convention in Clane on 25th July 2016, as reported by the KFM Radio website.

As reported by the KFM Radio website (22nd September 2017), for Dail deputy, Emmet Stagg, was selected to be the Labour Party candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 22nd September 2017. This convention was also contested by Sallins-based, Fergus Carpenter.

As reported by the Leinster Leader (12th March 2018), Vincent P. Martin will be the Green Party candidate in Kildare North at the next general election.

Cllr. Réada Cronin was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention in the Town House Hotel in Naas on 8th March 2018, as reported in the Leinster Leader (13th March 2018).

As reported by the KFM Radio website (18th July 2018), Deputy Bernard Durkan and Senator Anthony Lawlor were selected to contest the next general election as Fine Gael candidates in a selection convention in the Westgrove Hotel in Clane, which took place on 17th July 2018.

Kildare South (4* seats – effectively 3 seats due to automatic re-election of the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl): Deputy Martin Heydon (Fine Gael), Deputy Fiona O’Loughlin (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Suzanne Doyle (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Patricia Ryan (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Mark Wall (Labour), Ronan Maher (Green Party), Róisín Ui Bhroin (People Before Profit), Linda Hayden (Social Democrats), Anita Mhic Gib (Aontú), Cllr. Fiona McLoughlin Healy (Independent), Cathal Berry (Independent). 

Kildare South becomes a 4-seat constituency at this contest, gaining territory from the old Laois, Offaly and Kildare North constituencies in the process.

Cllr. Mark Wall was selected as the Labour Party candidate to contest this constituency on 10th September 2017.

Deputy Martin Heydon was selected as the Fine Gael candidate in a selection convention at the Crookstown Inn in Ballitore on 27th November 2017.

Deputy Fiona O’Loughlin was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate to contest this constituency at a selection convention held at the Hotel Keadeen in Newbridge on 18th February 2018, after winning out in a convention vote that was also contested by Cllr. Suzanne Doyle. Cllr. Martin Miley and Gerry Bridgett were also nominated to contest this convention, but withdrew from the contest after it was announced that just one candidate would be selected at this convention. Some months later, it was announced that party Headquarters were adding Cllr. Suzanne Doye as the second party candidate in this constituency, as reported by the KFM Radio website (14th June 2018).

Ger O’Neill was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention in the Town House Hotel in Naas on 8th March 2018, as reported in the Leinster Leader (13th March 2018). This was also contested by the party’s 2016 election candidate, Patricia Ryan. However, in the wake of the 2019 Local Elections contest, Ger O’Neill announced that she was stepping down as the Sinn Féin candidate for Kildare South on May 27th 2019.  A selection convention in early November 2019 saw Cllr. Patricia Ryan being selected as the party candidate for Kildare South.

Linda Hayden was selected as the general election candidate for this constituency for the Social Democrats at a selection convention which took place on 9th December 2018. 

As reported on the Leinster Express (4th December 2019) website, Ronan Maher will be the Green Party candidate for Kildare South.

As reported on the KFM website (12th January 2020), Cathal Berry has announced his intention to contest Kildare South as an independent candidate. Sarah Walshe decalred that she would also be contesting Kildare South as an independent candidate, but withdrew from the contest some says later, as noted on the KFM Radio (17th January 2020) website. On 16th January 2020 Cllr. Fiona McLoughlin Healy announced she would be contesting Kildare South as an independent candidate, as reported on the KFM Radio (17th January 2020) website and the Leinster Leader website (17th January 2020).

Anita Mhic Gib will be the Aontú candidate in Kildare South, as reported on the KFM Radio website (20th January 2020). 

Laois-Offaly (5 seats): Deputy Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy (Fine Gael), Deputy Charlie Flanagan (Fine Gael), Deputy Barry Cowen (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Sean Fleming (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Peter Ormond (Fianna Fáil), Pauline Flanagan (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Brian Stanley (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Noel Tuohy (Labour Party), Cllr. Pippa Hackett (Green Party), Stephen Tynan (People Before Profit), Noel O’Rourke (Renua), Cllr. Ken Smollen (Irish Democratic Party), John Daly (National Party), Deputy Carol Nolan (Independent), Cllr. John Leahy (Independent)

As the 2017 Constituency Commission report recommendations have been put into law ahead of the next general election, the Laois and Offaly three-seaters will cease to exist at this election and Laois-Offaly will again become a five seat constituency (with the loss of the Portarlington area to Kildare South.)

The Leinster Express (19th March 2017) reported on a speech by Micheal Martin in Durrow where he announced that Fianna Fail would be targeting a second seat in Laois at the next general election. A report on the LaoisToday.ie website (1st March 2018) further underpinned the fact that Fianna Fail were planning to run two Laois-based candidates in this constituency at the next general election (and probably four in total). A report on the Leinster Express website (16th June 2018) reports that two Edenderry-based candidates were expected to contest the Fianna Fáil selection convention; Christine Traynor and John Furey. A report on the LaoisToday website (27th July 2018) noted that former Dáil deputy, John Moloney, had decided to let his name go forward as a candidate at the upcoming Fianna Fáil selection convention. As reported on the Laois Today website (3rd October 2018), there would be two separate Fianna Fáil conventions for the Laois and Offaly parts of the constituency, with the Laois convention set to take place in the Midlands Park Hotel on 18th October 2018. Three candidates are expected to contest the Laois convention; Deputy Sean Fleming, former Dáil deputy, John Moloney, and Cllr. Pauline Flanagan (née Madigan).  However, as reported on the Laois Today (17th October 2018) website, John Moloney subsequently decided to withdraw from contesting the convention. A separate selection convention for Offaly took place on a later date – Deputy Barry Cowen was expected to contest this and it was expected that Cllrs. Eddie Fitzpatrick and Peter Ormond might also do so. A report in the Leinster Express (12th October 2018) claims that only one candidate would be selected at the Laois convention and that this would take place behind closed doors. This convention vote was won won by Deputy Sean Fleming, as reported on the Laois Today website (18th October 2018). The Offaly convention took place in the Tullamore Court Hotel on 1st November 2018. Five people were nominated to contest this; Deputy Barry Cowen, Cllrs. Peter Ormond and Eddie Fitzpatrick, Christine Traynor and John Furey. Barry Cowen was selected to contest the next general election as a Fianna Fáil candidate at this convention.  As reported in the Leinster Express (2nd November 2018), Barry Cowen ” needed transfers from Ms Traynor and Cllr Fitzpatrick to get over the line. The Fianna Fáil front bench man won 170 votes on the first count with Edenderry’s based Mr Furey polling strong with 101″. It was expected that one or two other candidates would be subsequently added to the ticket. As reported in the Offaly Express (26th November 2018), Christine Traynor announced that she was withdrawing her name for consideration to be one of the added candidates as “it is not easy to manoeuvre the party structures and the political climate that exists is challenging”. On 6th December 2018 it was announced that Cllr. Peter Ormond and Pauline Flanagan were both being added to the Fianna Fáil ticket for Laois-Offaly, as reported by the Laois Voice (6th December 2018). 

As reported by LaoisToday.ie (1st March 2017), the Laois branch of the Labour Party have started the process of planning for the next general election and have announced their intention to field a candidate in this contest.

As reported on the Midlands 103 website (27th November 2017), a selection convention to select candidates for Fine Gael in (the) old Laois (constituency) was to be held in the Manor Hotel in Abbeyleix on 27th November 2017, which was contested by Thomasina Connell, who ran for the party in Laois in 2016, and Deputy Charlie Flanagan. As reported by Midlands 103 (28th November 2017), Charlie Flanagan was “given the nod” at this convention ahead of Thomasina Connell, although it was noted that Ms. Connell could be subsequently added to the Laois Fine Gael ticket should a snap general election be called. As no snap election was called in Winter 2017/18, the results of this convention did not subsequently hold as a new, stand-alone, convention for the reunited Laois-Offaly constituency was to be held in Summer 2018. According to the Laois Today website (9th July 2018), this convention will be held in the Community Centre in Clonaslee on 30th July 2018. This convention is expected to be contested by sitting deputies, Marcella Corcorcan-Kennedy and Charlie Flanagan, while it is also speculated that Thomasina Connell may contest this, as well as Cllr. John Clendennen (who contested the selection convention for the old Offaly constitiency ahead of the 2016 General Election). As reported on the Laois Today (29th July 2018) website, the confirmed candidates for the Fine Gael selection convention were Deputies Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy and Charlie Flanagan, Cllr.. John Clendennen and Thomasina Connell. As reported on the Laois Today website (30th July 2018), it was announced that three candidates would be selected at this convention. Thomasina Connell withdrew at the convention, leaving Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy, Charlie Flanagan and John Clendennen to be selected without a vote being required. On 24th October 2019, however, John Clendennen announced that he was withdrawing from the contest as he felt a two-candidate strategy offered Fine Gael the best chance to retain their two Dáil seats in Laois-Offaly.

The Leinster Express (27th November 2017) has reported that the Portlaoise Hospital Action Committee will run a candidate in the next general election unless a HSE proposal to downgrade Portlaoise Hospital is rejected by the Minister for Health.

As reported by the Leinster Express (4th December 2017), Deputy Brian Stanley was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for Laois at a selection convention in the Parish Centre in Portlaoise on 1st December 2017. On 19th June 2018 Deputy Carol Nolan announced that she was resigning from Sinn Féin over its policy stance on abortion, which probably means that Brian Stanley is likely to be the only Sinn Féin candidate in this constituency at the next general election. As noted in a post on her Facebook page on 20th September 2018, Deputy Carol Nolan will be contesting the general election in Laois-Offaly as an Independent candidate.

Renua leader, John Leahy, who is likely to contest the next general election in Laois-Offaly, argues that the re-creation of the Laois-Offaly five-seat constituency will improve his chances of winning a seat at the general election, as reported by the Offaly Express (30th June 2017). According to the Tullamore Tribune (6th July 2017), “two other candidates almost certain to be in the race for a Dail seat are Pippa Hackett, the Geashill-based Green Party representative, and Ken Smollen, the founder of the Irish Democratic Party who contested the 2016 election”. This report notes that Pippa Hackett intends to contest the Green party nomination to contest the re-established Laois-Offaly five-seat constituency.

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Pippa Hackett would be the Green Party candidate in the Laois-Offaly constituency.

As reported in the Offaly Indepedent (18th October 2018), Ken Smollen of the Irish Democratic Party has announced his intention to contest the next general election in this constituency.

With Laois party representative, Eoin Barry, noting  on 14th January 2020 that he would not be contesting the election and that Laois Labour would instead be supporting Mark Wall’s campaign in Kildare South, it looked as if there will be no Labour candidate in Laois-Offaly at this election – the first general election in Laois-Offaly to no feature a Labour candidate in the history of the state. (Labour held a seat here for many decades between the foundation of the state and the death of Labour TD, William Davin,in 1956 – and actually won two seats in the June 1927 election.) However, as reported on the Laois Today (20th January 2020) website, on 20th January 2020 it was reported that Cllr. Noel Tuohy would be the party candidate in Laois-Offaly. 

As reported by Laois Today (15th December 2020), Portlaoise-based Stephen Tynan will become the first People Before Profit candidate to contest Laois-Offaly at General Election 2020.

Limerick City (4 seats): Senator Maria Byrne (Fine Gael), Senator Kieran O’Donnell (Fine Gael), Deputy Willie O’Dea (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. James Collins (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Maurice Quinlivan (Sinn Féin), Deputy Jan O’Sullivan (Labour Party), Cllr. Brian Leddin (Green Party), Mary Cahillane (Solidarity), Jenny Blake (Social Democrats), Michael Ryan (Aontú), Rebecca Barrett (National Party), Cllr. Frankie Daly (Independent).

Sarah Jane Hennelly, who had also contested the 2016 in this constituency for the Social Democrats, was selected unanimously as the Social Democrat candidate for this constituency at the next general election at a convention in Limerick City on 6th July, as reported by the Limerick Leader (14th July 2017). However, in Autumn 2019 Sarah Jane Hennelly announced that she would not be contesting the election and would be instead taking time out from politics, as reported by the Limerick Leader (7th September 2019). Jenny Blake will be the party candidate in Limerick City, as noted by the Limerick Leader (14th January 2020). 

The Limerick Leader (27th November 2017) reports that the Fine Gael selection convention for this constituency is scheduled to be held in the Castletroy Park Hotel on 27th November 2017. With Deputy Michael Noonan retiring ahead of the next general election, this convention was to be contested by Senator Maria Byrne, Senator Kieran O’Donnell and Cllr. Daniel Butler. However, as reported by the Limerick Leader (27th November 2017), Daniel Butler withdrew ahead of the convention, leaving Senators O’Donnell and Byrne to be automatically selected.

Deputy Jan O’Sullivan was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a selection convention on 30th November 2017.

A report by the Limerick Leader (3rd October 2017) notes that Sinn Fein have not discounted the possibility of running a second candidate in this constituency, along with Deputy Maurice Quinlivan. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention on 9th December 2017. His selection was confirmed at a second selection convention, which took place on 9th January 2020. 

The Limerick Leader (7th December 2017) has reported on speculation that former Limerick hurler, Ciarán Carey, is contemplating on being a candidate at the next general election and may opt to contest the Fianna Fáil selection convention. The general expectation however, as noted in a later Limerick Leader (15th January 2018) report, is that Cllr. James Collins will be Deputy Willie O’Dea’s running mate in this constituency. Deputy Willie O’Dea and Cllr. James Nolan were indeed selected as the Fianna Fáil candidates at a selection convention on 6th April 2018, as reported on the RTÉ website (6th April 2018).

The Limerick Leader (15th January 2018) reported that Cllr. Cian Prendiville would be the Solidarity candidate in this constituency. However in October 2018, at a selection convention for Solidarity local election candidates, he announced he was retiring from politics for personal reasons and would not be contesting the next general election.

Michael Ryan was selected as the Aontú candidate for Limerick City at a selection convention on 10th September 2019.

Cllr. Brian Leddin will be the Green Party candidate for the Limerick City constituency, as reported by the Limerick Leader (3rd December 2019).

A report in the Limerick Leader (2nd January 2020) suggests that Independent Councillor, Frankie Daly, may contest the general election in this constituency. On 14th January 2020, as noted by the Limerick Leader (14th January 2020), Frankie Daly confirmed that he would be contesting the general election. 

Limerick (County) (3 seats): Deputy Patrick O’Donovan (Fine Gael), Deputy Tom Neville (Fine Gael), Deputy Niall Collins (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Michael Collins (Fianna Fáil), Séighin Ó Ceallaigh (Sinn Féin), Claire Keating (Green Party), John Dalton (Renua), Conor O’Donoghue (Aontú), Cristín Ní Mhaoldhomhnaigh (National Party), Cllr. Richard O’Donoghue (Independent), Robert O’Donnell (Independent), Con Cremin (Independent).

Deputies Patrick O’Donovan and Tom Neville were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention in the Dunraven Arms in Adare on 1st November 2017.

As reported by the Limerick Leader (2nd December 2017), Cllr. Emmett O’Brien has confirmed that he will not be running in the next general election, but the same article claims that Cllr. Richard O’Donoghue will be contesting this election.

Former County Councillor Seamus Browne was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention in Abbeyfeale on 12th December 2017, as reported by the Limerick Leader (16th December 2017). The Limerick Leader (14th January 2020) reports that a reconvened Sinn Féin selection convention is to be held on 17th January 2020 and the only candidate to contest this will be former County Councillor, Séighin Ó Ceallaigh, meaning that Seamus Browne will not now be the party candidate.

The Avondhu Press (10th January 2018) webite reports that Cllr. Eddie Ryan had expressed his intention to contest the Fianna Fáil selection convention in this constituency.  In November 2018 he announced that he was no longer seeking the party nomination, but changed his mind some months later, meaning that three people are now seeking the two slots on the Fianna Fáil ticket in Limerick County; Deputy Niall Collins, Cllr. Eddie Ryan and Aidan Gleeson, as reported by the Limerick Leader (13th January 2019). The selection convention took place on 18th January 2019, with just one candidate to be selected at this based on a party headquarters directive. As reported by the Limerick Leader (19th January 2019), this vote was won by Deputy Niall Collins; he secured 208 votes, Eddie Ryan won 75 votes and Aidan Gleeson won eight votes. Either Eddie Ryan or Aidan Gleeson will be added as a second candidate in this constituency, with this decision to be made by Fianna Fáil’s National Constituencies Committee. A meeting of the Fianna Fáil National Executive at the state of the official general election campaign made no decision on adding a second candidate in Limerick County, as reported in the Limerick Leader (15th January 2020), leading to an expectation that Niall Collins would be the only Fianna Fáil candidate here. However, as reported by the Limerick Leader (20th January 2020), Cllr. Eddie Ryan was indeed added to the party ticket on 20th January 2020. However, twelve hours after he was added to the ticket, he announced he was withdrawing from the election, as reported by the Limerick Leader (21st January 2020). Cllr. Michael Collins was instead added to the ticket just before the close of nominations, as reported by the Limerick Leader (22nd January 2020).  

As reported by the Limerick Leader (2nd January 2020), Claire Keating has been selected by the Green Party to contest this constituency.

A report in the Limerick Leader (2nd January 2020) suggests that Independent Councillor, Richard O’Donoghue, may contest the general election in this constituency. 

Longford-Westmeath (4 seats): Deputy Peter Burke (Fine Gael), Senator Gabrielle (Gab) McFadden (Fine Gael), Cllr. Michael Carrigy (Fine Gael), Deputy Robert Troy (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fail), Sorca Clarke (Sinn Féin), Alan Budda Mangan (Labour Party), Cllr. Louise Heavin (Green Party), Barbara Smyth (People Before Profit), Dom Parker (Solidarity), James Reynolds (National Party), Deputy Kevin “Boxer” Moran (Independent), Anna Kavanagh (Independent), Donal Jackson (Independent), Frank Kilbride (Independent)

The Longford Leader (7th November 2016) reported that Fine Gael intended to hold a “Declaration Convention” on 21st November in the Longford Arms Hotel to start the process of selecting a Longford candidate, with the intention of holding a selection convention in early 2017. The Longford Leader (8th June 2017) reported that Cllrs. Gerald Farrell and Colm Murray had decided not to contest the Fine Gael selection convention for the Longford part of this constituency, leaving Cllrs. Paul Ross and Michael Carrigy to fight it out in the upcoming selection convention to the Longford-based Fine Gael candidate at the next general election. As reported by the Shannonside Radio website (10th June 2017), Michael Carrigy won this convention vote on 9th June 2017 by a margin of 232-166 over Paul Ross. This meeting was attended by the new Fine Gael party leader, Leo Varadkar, as reported by The Longford Leader (10th June 2017). As reported on the Midlands 103 website (27th November 2017), a selection convention to select candidates for Fine Gael in (the rest of) the Longford-Westmeath constituency will be held in the Mullingar Park Hotel on 28th November 2017. Deputy Peter Burke and Senator Gabrielle McFadden were selected as the two Westmeath-based Fine Gael candidates at this convention. As reported on the Midlands 103 website (29th November 2017), “Athlone councillor Tom Farrell withdrew his name following a directive from the party that one of the three runners must be female”.

A report in the Longford Leader (8th March 2017) notes that Pat O’Rourke and Seamus Butler intend to once again contest the Fianna Fail selection convention for the Longford part of the constituency. The article also reports that the party candidate in 2016 General Election, Connie Gerrety-Quinn, and Joe Flaherty may also contest this. A subsequent report in the Longford Leader (28 April 2017) noted that a selection convention in Longford was expected to be held either in June or September, with the report noting that “Cllr Seamus Butler, Pat O’Rourke and Joe Flaherty” had confirmed their intention to contest this convention. A report in the Longford Leader (3rd July) noted that a decision had been made to “fast track” the Fianna Fail convention to a date in late July. This report noted that, at that stage, Cllr. Seamus Butler and Joe Flaherty were the only candidates to officially declare their intention to contest that selection convention, with Connie Gerrety-Quinn claiming that she would not comment on this until a definite date for this convention has been announced. A Longford Leader (17th July 2017) report later confirmed that this convention would take place on 1st September, with a 31st July deadline for nominations. Pat O’Rourke, Joe Flaherty and Seamus Butler were all confirmed as likely nominees in this report. The convention was to be held on 1st September 2017 in the Longford Arms Hotel. By the time that the convention was scheduled to take place, as reported by the Longford Leader (1st September 2017), there were three confirmed candidates – Cllr Seamus Butler, Connie Gerety Quinn and Joe Flaherty. Joe Flaherty won this convention – winning 220 votes, as against 87 votes for Connie Gerrety Quinn and 49 votes for Seamus Butler. An article in the Westmeath Independent (16th November 2017) reported that Cllr. Aengus O’Rourke had decided not to let his name go forward to contest the Fianna Fáil selection convention for the Westmeath part of this constituency. This convention is scheduled to take place in the Bloomfield House Hotel on 5th December. Deputy Robert Troy is likely to be the candidate selected at this, after a party decision to run just one Westmeath-based candidate lead Athlone-based Cllr. Frankie Keena to withdraw from this, as reported by the Athlone Advertiser (30th November 2017). Robert Troy was selected as the sole Westmeath-based Fianna Fáil candidate at the party selection convention.

As reported by the Shannonside Radio (4th December 2017), Mullingar-based Cllr. Sorca Clarke was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a selection convention on 3rd December 2017. This convention was not contested.

As reported in the Longford Leader (20th March 2018), former Fine Gael councillor, Frank Kilbride has announced his intention to contest the next general election as an independent candidate. The “That’s Farming” website (15th January 2020) notes that Anna Kavanagh will be contesting the constituency, while the Longford Leader (15th January 2020) lists her, Frank Kilbride and Donal Jackson as independent candidates contesting, or likely to contest, the general election here. Tony Reilly had declared his intention to run as an independent here, but did not appear on the final list of candidates.   

Ahead of the Labour Party selection convention, which took place in the Mullingar Park Hotel on 5th July 2018, it was announced that Deputy Willie Penrose would not be contesting the next general election, as reported in the Westmeath Independent (5th July 2018). Alan Mangan, a former Westmeath footballer, was the only person to contest this and was subsequently selected as the Labour Party candidate for Longford-Westmeath.

As noted on the Westmeath Independent (16th January 2020), Dom Parker will be contesting this constituency as the Solidarity candidate. According to the Longford Leader (17th January 2020), Barbara Smyth will be contesting Longford-Westmeath for People Before Profit.

Séamus Burke was selected to contest this constituency for Aontú but did not appear on the official list of nominated candidates. 

Louth (5 seats): Deputy Fergus O’Dowd (Fine Gael), Cllr. John McGahon (Fine Gael), Deputy Declan Breathnach (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. James Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Imelda Munster (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Ruairí Ó Murchú (Sinn Féin), Sen. Ged Nash (Labour Party), Mark Dearey (Green Party), Audrey Fergus (People Before Profit), Eamon Sweeney (Renua), Cathal Ó Murchú (Irish Freedom Party), Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick (Independent), Topanga Bird (Independent), David Bradley (Independent), Albert Byrne (Independent).

As reported by the Dundalk Democrat (13th April 2017), Senator Ged Nash was selected as the Labour Party for the Louth constituency at a selection convention on 12th April 2017. This convention was not contested.

In 2017 it was announced that Gareth Weldon would be the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency. This selection convention took place on 27th November 2017, as reported by the Talk of the Town website (28th November 2017). However in March 2018 he announced that he was withdrawing from the general election contest due to work commitments, as reported by the Talk of the Town website (26th March 2018). Audrey Fergus will now be the party candidate, as reported by the Dundalk Democrat (17th January 2020),

With Gerry Adams retiring at the next general election, Sinn Féin were looking to select a new Dundalk-based candidate to run in the next general election. It had been expected that Cllr. Tomás Sharkey would be contesting this selection convention, but he confirmed on 15th December 2017 that he would not be running in the election. With Drogheda-based Deputy Imelda Munster being selected, the other slot on the Sinn Féin ticket was contested at the convention at the Ramada Hotel in Dundalk on 18th December 2017, as reported by the Talk of the Town website (18th December 2017), by two first-time Councillors (both of whom had been co-options); Cllrs. Ruairí Ó Murchú and Anne Campbell, with this vote being won by Ruairí Ó Murchú. The selection of these two candidates was reconfirmed at a follow-up selection convention almost two years later, which was held in the Grove Hotel in Dunleeer in November 2019, as reported by The Argus (16th November 2019). 

Deputy Declan Breathnach was selected to contest the general election in Louth for Fianna Fáil at the party convention in the Ballymascanlon House Hotel on 5th February 2018, as reported on the Talk Of The Town website (6th February 2018). This convention does not seem to have been contested. This report also notes that the party will be adding a second candidate to the ticket at a later date. According to The Mid Louth Independent (13th February 2018), this convention was also contested by Cllr. Emma Coffey and Anthony Moore. As reported on the Drogheda Life website (13th July 2019), Cllr. James Byrne was added to the Fianna Fáil ticket for Louth a few weeks after the 2019 Local Elections took place.

On 9th August 2018 Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick announced that he would not be looking to contest the upcoming Fine Gael selection convention, as reported in The Dundalk Democrat (9th August 2018). He, however, subsequently announced that he would be contesting the election as an Independent candidate, having announced that he was resigning from the Fine Gael party on 1st October 2018, as reported in the Irish Times (2nd October 2018). Deputy Fergus O’Dowd and Cllr. John McGahon were selected at the Fine Gael selection convention, which took place in Dundalk on 27th September 2018. Cllrs. Maria Doyle, Colm Markey, Dolores Minogue, Paddy Meade and Sharon Tolan were also nominated to contest this selection convention. Paddy Meade and Dolores Minogue withdrew on the night of the convention, but Maria Doyle, Sharon Tolan and Colm Markey all contested the vote. 

After Mark Dearey retired from Louth County Council ahead of the 2019 Local Elections, some had expected that he would also not be contest the general election. However, as reported on the Talk of the Town (10th January 2020) website, he confirmed in January 2020 that he had been selected by the Green Party to contest the Louth constituency.

As reported by the Talk of the Town website (14th January 2020), Topanga Bird will be contesting Louth as an independent candidate. The Talk of the Town website (21st January 2020) reports that David Bradley will be contesting Louth as an independent candidate. 

Mayo (4 seats): Deputy Michael Ring (Fine Gael), Senator Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael), Alan Dillon (Fine Gael), Deputy Dara Calleary (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fáil), Senator Rose Conway-Walsh (Sinn Féin), Kamal Uddin (Labour Party), Joe Daly (People Before Profit), Saoirse McHugh (Green Party), Paul Lawless (Aontú), Daithí Ó’Fallamháin (Irish Freedom Party), Gerry Loftus (Independent), Seán Forkin (Independent), Grainne de Barra (Independent), Stephen Manning (Independent).

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Mags Sheehan would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency. However, in October 2019 Saoirse McHugh, who had performed strongly in the May 2019 European Elections, was selected to contest Mayo for the Green Party, as reported by the Mayo News (22nd October 2019). 

As reported by The Connaught Telegraph (6th November 2017), Enda Kenny has announced that he will not be contesting the next general election in Mayo. The Fine Gael selection convention took place at The Royal Theatre in Castlebar on 25th March 2018. This was contested by Deputy Michael Ring, Senator Michelle Mulherin, Cllr. Patsy O’Brien and Alan Dillon. Michael Ring, Michelle Mulherin and Alan Dillon were selected to contest the election in Mayo for Fine Gael at this convention. The Mayo News (27th March 2018) reports that unofficial first count figures for this convention put Michelle Mulherin on 256 votes, Michael Ring on 254 votes, Alan Dillon on 193 votes and Patsy O’Brien on 140 votes, with Dillon winning 33 of the Mulherin surplus votes on the next count to assure him of his place on the three-candidate Fine Gael ticket.

Deputies Lisa Chambers and Dara Calleary were selected as the Fianna Fáil candidates for the Mayo constituency at a selection convention in the Ivy Tower Hotel in Castlebar on 19th November 2017. This convention was not contested.

Joe Daly will be the People Before Profit candidate in this constituency, as reported by the Connagcht Telegraph (13th January 2020). This selection convention took place in November 2017.

As reported by The Connaught Telegraph (3rd December 2017), Senator Rose Conway-Walsh was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate in a selection convention in The Gateway Hotel, Swinford, on 2nd December 2017. This convention was not contested.

Paul Lawless was selected as the Aontú candidate on 13th October 2019 at a selection convention in the TF Royal Hotel in Castlebar, as reported by The Connaught Telegraph (14th October 2019).

The Connaught Telegraph (14th January 2020) reports that Gerry Loftus will contest Mayo as an independent candidate. The Mayo News (21st January 2020) website includes Gerry Loftus and Seán Forkin among the group of independent candidates contesting Mayo.

Kamal Uddin will contest Mayo for the Labour Party, as reported on the Connaught Telegraph website (22nd January 2020). 

Michael Farrington, who was selected to contest Mayo as the Renua candidate, dropped out of the race on 15th January 2020 because of ongoing heath issues.  

Meath East (3 seats): Deputy Regina Doherty (Fine Gael), Deputy Helen McEntee (Fine Gael), Deputy Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Deirdre Geraghty-Smith (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Darren O’Rourke (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Annie Hoey (Labour Party), Seán McCabe (Green Party), Andrew Keegan (Solidarity-People Before Profit), Cllr. Emer Tóibín (Aontú), Seamus McDonagh (Workers Party), Cllr. Sharon Keogan (Independent), Cllr. Joe Bonner (Independent).

Deputy Regina Doherty and Deputy Helen McEntee were selected as the Fine Gael party candidates at a selection convention on 27th November 2017. This was not contested.

Cllr. Darren O’Rourke was selected as the Sinn Féin party candidate at a selection convention on 30th November 2017. This was not contested.

The Meath Chronicle (16th September 2018) has reported that Cllrs. Damien O’Reilly and Wayne Harding have been nominated to contest the Fianna Fail selection convention for Meath East. Deputy Thomas Byrne was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate at a selection convention on 25th September 2018. Deirdre Geraghty-Smith, Niamh Reilly, Cllr. Damien O’Reilly and Cllr. Wayne Harding were also nominated to contest this convention. Niamh Reilly withdrew ahead of the convention and Deirdre Geraghty-Smith and Damien O’Reilly withdrew on the night of the convention, as only one candidate was to be selected as this, while Wayne Harding contested the selection vote. On 16th November it was announced that Deirdre Geraghty-Smith was being added as a second candidate on the Fianna Fáil ticket, as reported by the Meath Chronicle (16th November 2018).

As reported on the Drogheda Life website (19th November 2019), Cllr. Sharon Keogan will be contesting the general election in Meath East. 

Seán McCabe will be the Green Party candidate here.

On 14th January 2020 it was confirmed that Cllr. Annie Hoey would be the Labour Party’s candidate in Meath East, as also reported by the Meath Chronicle (15th January 2020).

Meath West (3 seats): Deputy Damien English (Fine Gael), Cllr. Sarah Reilly (Fine Gael), Cllr. Noel French (Fine Gael), Deputy Shane Cassells (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Johnny Guirke (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Ronan Moore (Social Democrats), Seamus McMenamin (Green Party), Deputy Peadar Tóibín (Aontú), John Malone (Renua).

Deputy Shane Cassells was selected as the Fianna Fáil candidate at a selection convention which was held on 28th September 2017. As reported by the Meath Chronicle (15th December 2018), Sinead Geraghty – who had previously been selected as a party candidate for the Trim electoral area – was added to the Fianna Fáil ticket here. Having failed to win a seat in the 2019 Local Elections, however, Sinead Geraghty later stepped down from the Fianna Fáil ticket, as reported in the Meath Chronicle (11th September 2019), with Cllr. Aisling Dempsey now strongly tipped to replace her on the Fianna Fáil ticket.

Trim-based Ronan Moore will be the Social Democrats candidate in this constituency.

Deputy Damien English and former Dáil Deputy Ray Butler were selected as the Fine Gael party candidates at a selection convention on 27th November 2017. This was also contested by Cllr. Noel E. French. On 23rd July 2018 it was announced that Cllr. Sarah Reilly was being added to the Fine Gael ticket for Meath West by the Fine Gael Executive Council. On 16th July 2019, as reported by the Irish Independent (17th July 2019), it was announced that Ray Butler would now not be contesting the general election as a Fine Gael candidate. As reported by the Meath Chronicle (11th September 2019), Cllr. Noel French was added to the Fine Gael ticket on 11th September 2019, replacing the deselected Ray Butler. 

Tracy McElhinney was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a selection convention on 29th November 2017. She does not appear on the party’s list of candidates on the Labour Party website, however, which does suggest she may have withdrawn from the contest in the interim period.  

On 1st November 2018 it was revealed that Deputy Peadar Tóibín would be suspended from Sinn Féin for six months for voting against the introduction of abortion legislation. This would mean that he would not be able to contest the next general election as a Sinn Féin candidate if this were to be held at any stage over the next six months. On 15th November 2018 he announced that he was resigning from Sinn Féin. Cllr. Sinéad Burke was subsequently selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency on 20th December 2018. She later withdrew her candidacy and Cllr. Johnny Guirke was subsequently selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for Meath West at a convention on 10th October 2019, as reported by the Meath Chronicle (10th October 2019).

Roscommon-Galway (3 seats): Cllr. Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael), Deputy Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Orla Leyden (Fianna Fáil), Claire Kerrane (Sinn Féin), Julie O’Donoghue (Green Party), Kenny Tynan (People Before Profit), James Hope (Aontú), Paul Hanley (National Party), Deputy Denis Naughten (Independent), Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice (Independent), Thomas D Fallon (Independent).

A report on the Shannonside website (12th October 2017) notes that Ballinasloe-based, Cllr. Michael Connolly, has declared his intention to contest the Fianna Fail selection convention. Others to declare an intention to contest this include Deputy Eugene Murphy and South Roscommon-based, Cllr. John Keogh. Cllr. Orla Leyden has also expressed an interest in contesting this convention, as reported by the Shannonside website (16th October 2017). However, she subsequently decided not to do so and – as reported on the Shannonside Radio website (15th January 2017) – four party members have been nominated to contest this convention; Deputy Eugene Murphy and Cllrs. Michael Connolly, Sean Óg Higgins and John Keogh. This convention was scheduled to take place on 2nd February 2018 in the Abbey Hotel in Roscommon. After it was announced that there would only be one candidate selected at this, Cllr. John Keogh announced on 26th January 2018 that he was withdrawing from the contest “in deference to Deputy Eugene Murphy TD”. Michael Connolly and Seán Óg Higgins also withdrew ahead of the convention, leaving Deputy Eugene Murphy to be selected without a vote being required. As reported by the Leitrim Observer (13th January 2020), Cllr. Orla Leyden was added to the Fianna Fáil ticket in January 2020. 

In November 2017 it was announced that Ken Campbell would be the Social Democrats candidate in this constituency. However, he seems to have subsequently withdrawn his candidacy as he does not appear on the party’s final list of candidates. 

Claire Kerrane was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate at a convention in Durkin’s in Ballaghaderreen on 2nd December 2017.

The Connacht Tribune (20th July 2018) reported that – in the face of speculation that he would be joining Senator Maura Hopkins on the Fine Gael ticket for Roscommon-Glaway – former Dáil deputy, Paul Connaughton, had announced that he did not to go forward as a candidate to contest the selection convention here and did not intend to contest the next general election. The same article reported that New Inn-based Cllr. Aidan Donohue intended to contest the selection convention. A report in The Roscommon People (11th October 2018) notes that, with no date yet set for a Fine Gael selection convention in this constituency, Senator Maura Hopkins has not yet decided on whether she will contest this convention, or not. As reported on the Midwest Radio website (26th November 2018), Senator Frank Feighan – a former Dáil deputy for the old Roscommon-South Leitrim constituency – has confirmed his intention to seek a nomination to contest this constituency at the Fine Gael selection convention, which was now expected to take place in January 2019. Maura Hopkins subsequently decided that she would contest the Fine Gael nomination – as reported on the MidWest Radio website (4th February 2019) – leading Frank Feighan to withdraw from the contest, saying that he was “happy to withdraw his interest in the role now that the party has a candidate who is from the constituency”, as reported on the OceanFM website (February 6th 2019). As reported on the Shannonside radio website (8th February 2019), Cllr. Peter Finnerty has called on the party to also run a Galway-based candidate and expressed an interest in contesting the nomination himself. Ballinasloe-based, Cllr. Michael Finnerty, has also been nominated to contest this selection convention, which is now scheduled to take place on 12th April 2019, as reported on the Shannonside Radio News website (1st April 2019). As reported on the MidWest Radio website (13th April 2019), Maura Hopkins was selected to contest Roscommon-Galway for Fine Gael at this convention, which took place at Gleeson’s in Roscommon on 12th April 2019, although there was an expectation that Michael Finnerty would be added to the ticket late. In November 2019, speculation arose that independent Ballinasloe-based councillor, Cllr. Aisling Dolan, would join Fine Gael and be added to the ticket as the second party candidate in Roscommon-Galway, as reported on the Shannonside News website (26th November 2019). As reported on the Midwest Radio website (28th November 2019), the Fine Gael national executive agreed to add Cllr. Dolan as a second candidate on the Fine Gael ticket for Roscommon-Galway at a meeting on the night of 27th November 2019. As reported on the Shannonside Radio website (7th January 2020), Senator Maura Hopkins announced on 7th January 2020 that she would now not be contesting the general election. 

As reported by the Westmeath Examiner (18th October 2018), Deputy Denis Naughten has announced that he intends to contest the next general election.

As reported on the Shannonside Radio website (18th October 2019), Julie O’Donoghue will be the Green Party candidate in this constituency.

The Shannonside Radio website (22nd January 2020) included Kenny Tynan and Thomas D Fallon among its final list of candidates.  

Sligo-Leitrim (4 seats): Senator Frank Feighan (Fine Gael), Cllr. Thomas Walsh (Fine Gael), Deputy Eamon Scanlon (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Marc McSharry (Fianna Fáil), Shane Ellis (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Martin Kenny (Sinn Féin), Nessa Cosgrove (Labour Party), Cllr. Gino O’Boyle (People Before Profit Alliance), Bláithin Gallagher (Green Party), Ann McCloskey (Aontú), Oisin O’Dwyer (Renua), Paul McWeeney (National Party), Cllr. Declan Bree (Independent/Independents 4 Change), John Perry (Independent), Marian Harkin (Independent), James Conway (Independent), Bernie O’Hara (Independent), Sean Wynne (Independent), Mary O’Donnell (Independent).

Finbar Filan, who also contested the 2016 General Election for the party, is expected to be the Renua candidate in Sligo-Leitrim. However he subsequently withdrew.

As reported on the Ocean FM website (12th December 2017), Sinn Féin will be holding separate conventions for the Leitrim part of the constituency (on Friday 15th December 2017) – where Deputy Martin Kenny is expected to be selected – and the Sligo/South Donegal part of the constituency (on Sunday 17th December 2017) – where Cllr. Chris MacManus is expected to be selected. This indeed turned out to be the case. Deputy Martin Kenny was selected as the Sligo-based Sinn Féin candidate at an uncontested convention in the Bush Hotel in Carrick on Shannon on 15th December 2017. Cllr. Chris MacManus was selected as the Sligo-based Sinn Féin candidate at an uncontested convention in the Glasshouse Hotel in Sligo on 17th December 2017. As reported on the Shannonside Radio website (17th January 2020), Chris MacManus announced he was withdrawing from the contest in January 2020, leaving Martin Kenny as the sole Sinn Féin candidate here. In doing so, Cllr. MacManus argued that he was placing “the national objectives of Sinn Féin and its leadership before personal ambition”, as reported by the Leitrim Observer (21st January 2020).

 According to the Shannonside News website (8th February 2018), five candidates have been nominated to contest the Fianna Fáil selection convention, including Deputies Eamon Scanlon and Marc McSharry. The other nominees are Leitrim-based Cllr. Paddy O’Rourke and and Shane Ellis (son of former Dáil deputy, John Ellis) and Roscommon-based Cllr. Rachel Doherty. The Leitrim Observer (18th April 2018), however, later reported that Paddy O’Rourke had decided not to contest the convention due to the impact of the boundary change (involving the loss of the West Cavan area) on his potential vote. The Ocean FM (18th April 2018) website also reported that Rachel Doherty would not be contesting the convention and noted that this meant that there would be no vote required at the selection convention at the Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon on 27th April 2018. This would mean that Eamon Scanlon, Marc McSharry and Shane Ellis would be selected as the party candidates, as indeed transpired to be the case.

In late June 2018 Deputy Tony McLoughlin announced that he would not be contesting the next general election. As reported on the Leitrim Observer website (28th June 2018), this also reports that the Fine Gael selection convention will take place on 19th July 2018 at the Clayton Hotel in Ballinode, Sligo, with no confirmation yet as to who will be seeking the party nomination at this convention. A report on the OceanFM website (2nd July 2018) suggests that the following potential candidates are “already in the frame”; namely “longtime constituency party official Noel Merrick, former Junior Minister John Perry, Cllr Sinead Maguire, Cllr Hubert Keaney, former Senator Imelda Henry, and from Leitrim, former TDs and senators Gerry Reynolds and Michael Comiskey”. Following the close of nominations on 6th July, the Shannonside Radio website (7th July 2018) noted that there were nine candidates nominated to contest these, including “Senator Frank Feighan, former TD Gerry Reynolds, former TD and Minister John Perry, former Senator Michael Comiskey, Chairman of the Fine Gael Constituency Executive in Sligo/Leitrim Noel Merrick, Cllrs Sinead McGuire and Hubert Keaney, Fine Gael representative Blaine Gaffney and Eddie Mitchell, from Manorhamilton, who was prominent in the Love Leitrim anti-fracking campaign.” On 16th July Eddie Mitchell announced he was withdrawing from the contest, as he had not been able to spend enough time meeting the membership ahead of the selection convention. As noted on the Midwest Radio website (20th July 2018), Senator Frank Feighan withdrew from the contest on the night and “told the convention that he would apply to the National Executive to add his name to the ticket”. As reported by the Midwest radio website and by the Ocean FM website (20th July 2018), Gerry Reynolds and Sinéad Maguire polled the strongest on the night – on the final count Gerry Reynolds was on 295 votes and Sinéad Maguire was on 285 votes, with John Perry in third place on 222 – and were both selected as Fine Gael candidates for Sligo-Leitrim. According to the Leitrim Observer (26th July 2018), the number of votes won by each candidate on the first count was: Reynolds 241, Perry 135, Comiskey 122, Maguire 113, Merrick 110, Gaffney 68 and Keaney 14. The poll-topper, Gerry Reynolds, of course, went on to secure a party nomination, but Sinead Maguire went on to overtake Michael Comiskey and John Perry on subsequent counts thanks to vote transfers. However, on 3rd July 2019, as reported on the Shannonside Radio website (3rd July 2019), Gerry Reynolds announced that he would not be contesting the general election. On 16th July 2019, it was announced that Senator Frank Feighan was being added to the Fine Gael ticket. On 11th September Cllr. Sinéad Maguire announced that she was withdrawing from contesting the general election as a candidate due to family reasons, as reported on the Shannonside Radio (11th September 2019) website. In December 2019, it was announced that Cllr. Thomas Walsh would be added to the Fine Gael ticket in Sligo-Leitrim, as reported on the Leitrim Observer (11th December 2019) website. Some days after this, John Perry announced that he would be contesting the general election as an independent candidate, as reported in the Leitrim Observer (17th December 2019).

As reported on the Shannonside radio website (29th October 2019), Bláithin Gallagher was selected to contest this constituency for the Green Party in October 2019.

Nessa Cosgrove was selected as the Labour Party candidate for Sligo-Leitrim at a selection convention, which took place on 9th November 2019.

The Ocean FM website (8th January 2020) reported in early 2020 that James Conway was the “latest Independent” to enter the electoral race in Sligo-Leitrim. As noted on the Ocean FM website (20th January 2020), Sean Wynne announced his intention to contest Sligo-Leitrim as an independent candidate on 20th January 2020. 

The Leitrim Observer (13th January 2020) reported that former TD and MEP, Marian Harkin, was to contest the general election, while this report also listed Cllr. Declan Bree among the list of independents candidates for this constituency. The Leitrim Observer (16th January 2020) also lists Bernie O’Hara (Sligo-Leitrim) among the list off independent candidates in this constituency, while the Shannonside Radio website (22nd January 2020) also includes Mary O’Donnell as an independent candidate.

Tipperary (5 seats): Cllr. Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael), Mary Newman Julian (Fine Gael), Deputy Jackie Cahill (Fianna Fáil), Sandra Farrell (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Imelda Goldsboro (Fianna Fáil), Martin Browne (Sinn Féin), Deputy Alan Kelly (Labour Party), Rob O’Donnell (Green Party), Dolores Cahill (Irish Freedom Party), Deputy Seamus Healy (WUAG/Independent), Deputy Michael Lowry (Independent), Deputy Mattie McGrath (Independent), Cllr. Joe Hannigan (Independent). 

During the Dail debate on the election of Leo Varadkar on 14 June 2017, Michael Lowry signaled his intention to be a candidate in the next general election, stating that he hoped to be re-elected to the Dail by the people of Tipperary at the next general election.

Clonmel-based councillor, Michael Murphy, has announced his intention to contest the Fine Gael selection convention for the Tipperary constituency, as reported in The Nationalist (3rd July 2017). The Tipperary Star (6th August 2017) notes that Fine Gael will be holding a “Declaration Convention” on 15th September 2017 for prospective Fine Gael general election candidates in this constituency. As reported by the Irish Independent (12th September 2017), former Fine Gael Minister/Dail Deputy, Tom Hayes, has announced that he does not intend to contest the next election and will not be going forward to contest the party selection convention. This report notes that the list of people expected to contest the Fine Gael selection convention includes “ex-TD Noel Coonan, councillors Michael Murphy, Michael Fitzgerald and Mary ‘Hanna’ Hourigan, as well as Garret Ahearn, Shelagh Marshall and Mary Newman” (Doyle, 2017). A report in The Nationalist (11th September 2017) had earlier predicted that eight people (including Tom Hayes) would contest this convention. The vote to decide the Fine Gael candidates for Tipperary is expected to be held in February 2018, with a series of candidate hustings to be held at five different locations across Tipperary before that vote, as reported by The Tipperary Star (27th October 2017). As reported in The Nationalist (17th January 2018), this selection convention was to take place in the Premier Hall in Thurles on 4th March 2018. However, as reported by The Tipperary Star (2nd March 2018), the combined forces of the “Beast From The East” and Storm Emma forced Fine Gael to postpone this convention until 10th March 2018. This convention vote was won by Garret Ahearn, ultimately winning out on the last count by a very narrow 6-vote margin over Mary Newman, as reported in The Irish Examiner (11th March). A report in The Nationalist (3rd July 2018) suggested that Cllr. Mary Hourigan would be added as a second candidate in this constituency by Fine Gael party headquarters. However, as subsequently reported by The Nationalist (5th July 2018), a Fine Gael National Executive meeting on 4th July 2018 opted to instead add Mary Newman as a second Fine Gael party candidate in Tipperary.

As reported in The Nationalist (16th November 2017), Cllr. Catherine Carey, who was then the Mayor of Clonmel, announced her intention to contest the Sinn Féin selection convention for Tipperary, following on the decision of 2016 General Election candidate, Cllr. Seamus Morris, to resign from the party. The convention was held in late April 2018 and, as noted by the TippFM website (28th April 2018), was only open to female candidates. Two candidates contested this – Catherine Carey and Ciara McCormack – and the vote was won by Ciara McCormick. Having failed to win a seat in the 2019 Local Elections, Ciara McCormack subsequently withdrew from the general election contest and a new selection convention to select a replacement candidate is to take place on 29th October 2019, as reported on the Tipp FM website (23rd October 2019). Former Cashel councillor, Martin Browne, was the candidate selected as this convention, as reported on the TippFM website (30th October 2019). 

As reported in The Nationalist (5th March 2018), the Fianna Fáil selection convention was to take place in the Anner Hotel in Thurles on 9th March 2018. This was contested by Deputy Jackie Cahill and Cllrs. Siobhán Ambrose, Imelda Goldsboro and Michael Smith. As reported in The Irish Examiner (11th March), this was won by Jackie Cahill, who won 535 votes, as compared with 240 votes for Michael Smith, 111 votes for Siobhán Ambrose and 47 votes for Imelda Goldsboro. In September 2018, as reported by The Nationalist (14th September 2018), Sandra Farrell was added as a second Fianna Fail candidate in this constituency. On 15ht November 2018, as reported on the Tipperary Live (15th November 2016) website, it was announced that Cllr. Imelda Goldsboro was also being added to the Fianna Fáil candidate ticket for this constituency. 

As reported in the Tipperary Star (9th July 2018), former Tipperary GAA Board Chairman Donal Shanahan announced over the weekend of 7th-8th July 2018 that he would be contesting the next general election in Tipperary as an independent candidate. However, he withdrew just ahead of the election, as reported in the 18th January edition of the Nenagh Guarian.

The Tomorrowspoliticsnow website (6th August 2018) has identified Deputies Seamus Healy and Mattie McGrath as being “declared candidates” for the Tipperary constituency.

As reported on the Tipperary Live website (19th December 2019), 23-year-old Rob O’Donnell was selected as the Green Party candidate for Tipperary in December 2019.

The Tipperary Live website (22nd January 2020) includes Malrese Skehan among the list of independents contesting Tipperary.

Sadly, Marese Skehan passed away on 3rd February 2020. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam. Initially the Tipperary Returning Officer announced that voting in Tipperary would be postponed in line with the provisions of electoral acts, but a subsequent decision by the Attorney General and the Department of Local Government was made to allow voting to take place in Tipperary on February 8th. This means that Ms. Skehan’s name will still remain on the ballot paper.  

Waterford (4 seats): Cllr. John Cummins (Fine Gael), Cllr. Damien Geoghegan (Fine Gael), Deputy Mary Butler (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Eddie Mulligan (Fianna Fáil), Deputy David Cullinane (Sinn Féin), Cllr. John Pratt (Labour Party), Una Dunphy (People Before Profit), Cllr. Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Green Party), Ronan Cleary (Aontú), Cllr. Matt Shanahan (Independent), Bernadette Philips (Independent).

The Irish Times (1st February 2017) has reported that hospital campaigners are considering running a candidate in this constituency at the next general election over the issue of cardiac services in University Hospital Waterford.

On 1st November 2017 it was announced that Senator Grace O’Sullivan would be the Green Party candidate in this constituency. After she won a seat in the European Parliament elections in 2019, a new Green Party selection convention selected Cllr. Marc Ó Cathasaigh to contest this constituency for the Green Party, as reported on the Waterford Live (22nd October 2019) website. 

It was announced that Lee Walsh would be the Renua candidate for this constituency. His campaign was launched in Waterford City on 16th November. However, he subsequently decided to contest the election as an Independent candidate.

Una Dunphy was selected as the People Before Profit candidate for the Waterford constituency in November 2017.

The Waterford News & Star (8th October 2019) reported that Deputy John Halligan giving a cautious confirmation that he intended to contest the general election, claiming that “Right now, I am standing”. An interview with the Munster Express (9th October 2018) has provoked some speculation that Deputy John Halligan may not contest the next general election, with him being quoted as follows: “I think I’ve done a lot and maybe I’ve done my time, maybe. It’s certainly something I am going to have to think about but I’ve not reached that point yet”. On 14th January 2020 he confirmed that he would not be contesting the general election.

On 22nd October 2019 the Fine Gael Executive Council announced they were adding Cllrs. John Cummins and Damien Geoghegan to the Fine Gael party ticket alongside Senator Paudie Coffey, who had previously been selected.  In December 2019, however, Paudie Coffey announced that he would not be contesting the general election, as reported on the WLR FM (16th December 2019) website.

As reported by the Irish Times (27th November 2017), at the Fine Gael selection convention on 27th November 2017, Deputy John Deasy announced that “would not be available to run in a snap general election due to health concerns”. This left Senator Paudie Coffey as the only candidate to be selected at that convention, with the party to add another candidate later. Cllrs. John Cummins and Damien Geoghegan were also nominated to contest this convention – while Cllr. Geoghegan withdrew his nomination, Cllr, Cummins did contest this.

Deputy David Cullinane was unanimously selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for this constituency at a selection convention on 2nd December 2017.

As reported by The Avondhu (7th December 2017), Cllr. John Pratt will be the Labour Party candidate for this constituency, having defeated Brendan Byrne in a vote at the party selection convention on 1st December 2017.

As reported in The Irish Examiner (11th March), the Fianna Fáil selection convention was held in Lawlor’s Hotel, Dungarvan on 10th March, with two candidates contesting this. This was won by Deputy Mary Butler, who won 225 votes at this convention to Cllr. Eamon Quinlan’s 108 votes. On 15th November 2018, it was announced that Cllr. Eddie Mulligan – who won a seat in Waterford City East in 2014 as an independent candidate before subsequently joining Fianna Fáil in 2015 – would be added as a second candidate to the Fianna Fáil party ticket. 

On 14th January 2020 it was confirmed that Cllr. Matt Shanahan and Bernadette Philips would be contesting the election as independent candidates. The Waterford Live (16th January 2020) website includes Kieran Hartley, along with these, among their list of independent candidates contesting this constituency. Kieran Hartley and Lee Walsh, however, did not appear on the final list of officially nominated candidates. 

Wexford (5 seats): Deputy Michael D’Arcy (Fine Gael), Deputy Paul Kehoe (Fine Gael), Deputy James Browne (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fáil), Cllr. Michael Sheehan (Fianna Fáil), Johnny Mythen (Sinn Féin), Deputy Brendan Howlin (Labour Party), Paula Roseingrave (Green Party), Deirdre Wadding (People Before Profit), Cllr. Jim Codd (Aontú), Cllr. Ger Carthy (Independent), Seanie O’Shea (Independent/Independents 4 Change), Verona Murphy (Independent), Bart Murphy (Independent).

The Renua candidate for the Wexford constituency is Ger O’Donoghue. He launched his campaign on 1st November 2017 at a launch event at the Enniscorthy Athenaeum Museum and Historic Theatre.

Cllr. Johnny Mythen was selected to contest Wexford for Sinn Féin at a party selection convention in Ferns in early November 2018, as reported by the Gorey Guardian (18th November 2017). He was not opposed at this convention.

Deputies Michael D’Arcy and Paul Kehoe were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for this constituency at a selection convention in the Talbot Hotel in Wexford on 27th November 2017. Verona Murphy was added to the party ticket on 17th April 2019 by the Fine Gael party executive. On 18th December 2019 it was confirmed that Verona Murphy was being deselected as a Fine Gael general election candidate, with the official decision being taken that evening at a meeting of the Fine Gael Executive Council. A report in the New Ross Standard (4th January 2020) suggested that Cllrs. Brídin Murphy and John Hegarty were being considered as options in terms of replacing Verona Murphy on the Fine Gael party ticket for Wexford. A report in the 24th December 2019 edition of the new Ross Standard noted that Verona Murphy had not ruled out the possibility of contesting the election as an independent candidate and was expected to make a decision on this by mid-January 2020. As reported on the Irish Independent website (14th January 2020), she announced that she would be contesting the constituency as an independent candidate on 14th January 2020.

David Lloyd had declared he was going to run for Direct Democracy Ireland here (see comments below)…but subsequently did not… Righhhhtttttt….

Deputy Brendan Howlin was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a selection convention on 1st December 2017.

It was initially noted on the party website that Susan Breen would be the People Before Profit candidate in the Wexford constituency. However, at the start of the campaign it was confirmed that former County Councillor, Deirdre Wadding, would be the party candidate.

As reported in the Wexford People (12th June 2018), eight people have been nominated to contest the Fianna Fail selection convention, which is scheduled to take place at the end of June 2018. These include Deputy John Browne, as well as Cllrs. Barbara Ann Murphy, Lisa McDonald, Michael Sheehan, Malcolm Byrne, John Fleming, Michael Whelan and Joe Sullivan. Fianna Fail party headquarters are expected to confirm the date of the convention, as well as the number of candidates being selected, at a meeting on 20th June 2018, according to this report. As reported in the Wexford People (17th July 2018), this convention took place in the Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy on 9th July 2018. The candidates contesting the convention included Deputy James Browne, as well as Cllrs. Lisa McDonald, Michael Sheehan, Joe Sullivan, Barbara Ann Murphy, Malcolm Byrne and Michael Whelan – Cllr. John Fleming withdrew from the contest before the convention. The National Executive of Fianna Fáil decided in June that a two-candidate strategy would be used, with one candidate to be based in the north of the constituency and the other candidate to be based in the south, as reported in the Wexford People (19th June 2018). James Browne won the most first preference votes at the convention and was selected. The next highest candidates, in terms of first preference votes – Lisa McDonald and Michael Sheehan – were the last two candidates left contesting the other slot on the party ticket. As reported by the WexfordToday (9th July 2018) website, James Browne headed the poll in the contest for North Wexford candidates with 157 votes, followed by Joe Sullivan (58 votes), Barbara Ann Murphy (52 votes) and Malcolm Byrne (49 votes). He was deemed to be selected on the following count, with transfers from Malcolm Byrne edging him over the quota. In the conteest for South Wexford candidates, Lisa McDonald won the most first preference votes (107 votes), followed by Michael Sheehan (95 votes) and Michael Whelan (31 votes). Cllr. McDonald won this contest by a 126-107 margin on the final count, following the transfer of Michael Whelan’s votes, and was duly deemed to be selected as a Fianna Fáil general election candidate for Wexford. On 10th September 2019, it was announced that Cllrs. Malcolm Byrne and Michael Sheehan were being added to the Fianna Fáil ticket. 

As reported on the Wexford Today website (13th January 2020), Seanie O’Shea will be contesting the Wexford constituency as the Independents 4 Change candidate. Cllr. Ger Carthy announced his intention to contest the general election on 15th January 2020.

Karin Dubsky was selected to contest this constituency for the Green Party, but withdrew from the contest a few days into the campaign, as reported by the Irish Examiner (17th January 2020). A few days later it was announced that Paula Roseingrave would instead be the Green Party candidate in this constituency. 

Wicklow (5 seats): Deputy Simon Harris (Fine Gael), Deputy Andrew Doyle (Fine Gael), Billy Timmins (Fine Gael), Deputy Pat Casey (Fianna Fáil), Deputy Stephen Donnelly (Fianna Fáil), Deputy John Brady (Sinn Féin), Cllr. Paul O’Brien (Labour Party), Cllr. Jennifer Whitmore (Social Democrats), Sharon Briggs (People Before Profit), Cllr. Steven Matthews (Green Party), Seamus Connor (Aontu), Eileen Gunning (National Party), Cllr. Joe Behan (Independent), Cllr John Snell (Independent), Charlie Keddy (Independent), John Larkin (Independent), Valerie Cox (Independent), Tom Dunne (Independent), William King (Independent), Anthony Fitzgerald (Independent).

As reported in The Sunday Times (9th June 2017), as well as local media sources, Cllr. Jennifer Whitmore was expected to be selected to contest this constituency for the Social Democrats, replacing Deputy Stephen Donnelly, who left the party after months after the 2016 General Election and subsequently went on to join Fianna Fail. On 15th September 2017, it was confirmed that Jennifer Whitmore would be the Social Democrats candidate.

Jack O’Connor was selected as the Labour Party candidate at a selection convention on 28th November 2017 and was officially confirmed as such on 4th April 2018. In September 2019 it was announced that Cllr. Paul O’Brien was replacing Jack O’Connor as the Labour Party candidate for Wicklow, as reported on the Wicklow News website (18th September 2019). 

Deputy John Brady was selected as the Sinn Féin candidate for the Wicklow constituency at a selection convention on 12th December 2017. This selection was confirmed at a second Sinn Féin selection convention in this constituency, which took place on 14th November 2019.

A report in the Irish Independent (6th January 2018) notes that the three former Sinn Fein councillors in Wicklow are likely to be running a candidate in the next general election, with this most likely to be Cllr. John Snell, who indeed has confirmed his intention to contest the general election. 

The Fine Gael selection convention took place on 11th May 2018. Three candidates were selected; Deputy Simon Harris and Deputy Andrew Doyle, as well as Billy Timmins, a former Fine Gael Dáil deputy who had contested the 2016 election for Renua, at which he had lost his seat, before subsequently returning to the party.

Deputies Pat Casey and Stephen Donnelly were both selected as the Fianna Fáil candidates for this constituency at a selection convention on 14th March 2018.

Cllr. Joe Behan announced on 14th January 2020 that he would be contesting the election.  As reported on Morning Ireland on 17th January 2020, Cllr. John Snell, Charlie Keddy, Daragh Fitzgerald and John Larkin will also be contesting the Wicklow constituency as independents. (Daragh Fitzgerald did not however subsequently appear in the list of nominated candidates on the Returning Officer’s webpage.) The Wicklow News website (21st January 2020) has noted that Valerie Cox will also be an independent candidate contesting the Wicklow constituency. 

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I currently estimate that there are 529 officially selected/declared general election candidates so far, based on the information that I’ve managed to attain. 162 of these candidates are females (30.6%) and 367 of these candidates are males (69.4%).

As of now, Dublin is the region with the highest proportion/percentage of female candidates. Females account for 35.5% of all of the candidates – selected/declared to date – in the Dublin region (54 women, 98 men), as compared with levels of 30.7% in (the Rest of) Leinster, 27.8% in Connacht-Ulster and 27.3% in Munster.

By contrast, at least sixty seven potential candidates have, to date, lost out in a vote at party selection conventions, including twenty three female candidates (34.3%) and forty four male candidates (65.7%). Forty five of these unsuccessful convention candidates were City/County Councillors (67.2%). 

Selections by Political Party/Groupings:

131 of these candidates are Non Party/Independent candidates (24 (18.3%) female candidates, 107 (81.7%) male candidates) – including four Independents 4 Change candidates (25.0% are female, 75.0% are male).

84 of these are Fianna Fáil candidates (26 (31.0%) female candidate, 58 (69.0%) male candidates) – all 39 local/Dáil constituency selection conventions now completed.

82 of these are Fine Gael candidates (25 (30.5%) female candidates, 57 (69.5%) male candidates) – all 39 local/Dáil constituency selection conventions now completed.

42 of these are Sinn Féin candidates (14 (33.3%) female candidates, 28 (66.7%) male candidates) – 38 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

39 of these are Green Party candidates (16 (41.0%) female candidates, 23 (59.0%) male candidate) – 39 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

31 of these are Labour Party candidates (10 (32.3%) female candidates, 21 (67.7%) male candidates) – 31 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

10 of these are Solidarity candidates (4 (40.0%) female candidate, 6 (60.0%) male candidates) – 10 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

27 of these are People Before Profit candidates (11 (40.7%) female candidates, 16 (59.3%) male candidates) – 27 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

(37 of these are Solidarity-People Before Profit candidates (including RISE candidate) (15 (40.5%) female candidates, 22 (59.5%) male candidates) – candidates now in 31 (out of 39) Dáil constituencies.)

26 of these are Aontú candidates (9 (34.6%) female candidates, 17 (65.4%) male candidate) – 26 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

20 of these are Social Democrat candidates (11 (55.0%) female candidates, 9 (45.0%) male candidates) – 20 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

11 of these are Renua candidates (3 (27.3%) female candidates, 8 (72.7%) male candidate) – 11 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

11 of these are Irish Freedom Party candidates (3 (27.3%) female candidates, 8 (72.7%) male candidates) – 11 (out of 39) selection conventions completed.)

10 of these are National Party candidates (4 (40.0%) female candidates, 6 (60.0%) male candidate) – 10 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

3 of these are Workers Party candidates (1 (33.3%) female candidate, 2 (66.7%) male candidates) – 2 (out of 39) selection conventions completed.)

1 of these is an Irish Democratic Party candidate (0 (0.0%) female candidates, 1 (100.0%) male candidate) – 1 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

1 of these is a United People candidate (0 (0.0%) female candidates, 1 (100.0%) male candidate) – 1 (out of 39) selection conventions completed

Some Dáil constituencies had a significant number of candidates contesting them on 8th February, while there were relatively smaller numbers of candidates contesting some of the other constituencies, as illustrated in the chart above. The constituency of Wicklow (20) had the largest numbers of selected/declared general candidates, just ahead of Sligo-Leitrim on 19 candidates, with Cork North-Central and Dublin Bay North just behind these constituencies (on 18 candidates), with these constituencies being followed by Dublin Central, Dublin Fingal and Dublin South-West (all on 16 candidates).