Adrian Kavanagh, First posted 17th October 2018, with updates as new candidate nominations announced. Any links in this post are to online announcements of candidate selections – there will be no specific links to candidate webpages.

The fourth of my series of rolling blog posts, in which I detail the latest information as to candidate selections relating to the different political parties and grouping and/or candidate declarations (as in the case of the non-party grouping). 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 local election candidate selection conventions. However, 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.

The post will focus on Fine Gael candidate selections ahead of the 2019 City and County Council elections. 

After a very strong performance at the 2009 Local Elections, where the party outpolled Fianna Fáil in a national election for the first time in its history, Fine Gael lost a number of seats at the 2014 contest. Winning 235 seats in these contests, Fine Gael once again became the second largest party at the local authority level behind Fianna Fáil, although they would retain their position as largest party in the state at general election contest at the subsequent 2016 General Election. Defections from the party reduced the overall number of Fine Gael City and County Councillors over the coming years, but this has been somewhat offset by the fact that a number of other Councillors have decided to join the party over this same period. According to my best estimates, I currently estimate that there are 234 Fine Gael City and County Councillors.

Unusually for a party in government, Fine Gael may well approach the 2019 Local Elections with the expectation of a number of gains, especially in light of trends in opinion polls over the past year and a half which show the party on a level of support that is a number of percentage points above the level of support won by Fine Gael at the 2016 General Election (and indeed the 2014 City and County Council elections). The changing local election boundaries could potentially help Fine Gael (and work against the smaller parties), given that lower district magnitudes are generally expected to give the largest political parties a “seat bonus”. While this applies very much to general elections, however, sometimes the “local” nature of City and County Council elections can mean that the potential for such a “seat bonus” is not as strong as might be anticipated.

As of now (7th May 2019), four hundred and six Fine Gael local election candidates are listed on this page.

One hundred and eighteen of these candidates are women (29.1%) and two hundred and eighty eightof these are men (70.9%). Candidate selections have now taken place in each of the one hundred and sixty six electoral areas in the Republic of Ireland.

One hundred and ninety five (48.0%) of these selected Fine Gael candidates are currently incumbents (City/County Council members). 54.2% of male Fine Gael local election candidates are incumbents, as opposed to 33.1% of female Fine Gael candidates. At least twenty seven (6.7%) other candidates have previously held some form of electoral office.

The candidates that have been officially selected to contest the 2019 Local Elections as Fine Gael candidates include:

Area	Fine Gael candidates
Carlow
Carlow	Cllr. Fergal Browne, Tom O’Neill, Wayne Fennell
Tullow	Cllr. John Murphy, Cllr. Brian O’Donoghue, Maria Ansbro
Muinebeag	Cllr. Michael Doran, Cllr. Tom Kinsella, Cllr. Denis Foley
Cavan
Bailieborough- Cootehill	Cllr. Val Smith, Cllr. Carmel Brady, John O’Hare, Shirley Hall
Ballyjamesduff	Cllr. Winston Bennett, Trevor Smith, Thomas (T.P.) O’Reilly
Cavan- Belturbert	Cllr. Peter McVitty, Cllr. Madeline Argue, Sean McKiernan
Clare
Ennis	Cllr. Johnny Flynn, Cllr. Mary Howard, Cllr. Paul Murphy
Killaloe	Cllr Joe Cooney, Cllr Pat Burke, Ger O’Halloran
Shannon	Cllr. John Crowe, Garret McPhillips, Eugene Long
Ennistymon	Cllr. Bill Slattery, Joe Garrihy
Kilrush	Cllr. Gabriel Keating, Mike Taylor
Cork County
Carrigaline	Cllr. Aidan Lombard, Liam O’Connor, Michael Murtagh
Bandon-Kinsale	Cllr. John O’Sullivan, Cllr. Kevin Murphy, Gerard Seaman, Marie O’Sullivan
Macroom	Cllr. Michael Creed, Cllr. Ted Lucey, Áine Collins, Eileen Lynch
Cobh	Cllr. Sinead Sheppard, Cllr. Anthony Barry
Midleton	Cllr. Susan McCarthy, Cllr. Michael Hegarty, John Phillips
Fermoy	Cllr. Kay Dawson, Cllr. Noel McCarthy
Kanturk	Cllr. Gerard Murphy, Cllr. John Paul O’Shea
Mallow	Liam Madden, Cian Moriarty, Tony O’Shea
Bantry	Cllr. Noel Harrington, Katie Murphy, John Dineen
Clonakilty-Skibbereen	Karen Coakley, Yvonne Cahalane, JJ Walsh
Cork City
Cork City North East	Cllr. Joe Kavanagh, Lorraine O’Neill
Cork City North West	Julie O’Leary, Damian Boylan
Cork City South Central	Shane O’Callaghan
Cork City South East	Cllr. Deirdre Forde, Cllr. Des Cahill
Cork City South West	Cllr. PJ Hourican, Cllr. Derry Canty, Sinead Ronan, Garrett Kelleher
Donegal
Donegal	John Boyle, Barry Sweeny
Glenties	Michael McClafferty, Eamon Byrne, Evelyn Sweeney
Milford	Noel McBride, Eimer Friel
Buncrana	Cllr. Mickey Doherty, Michelle McKenna
Letterkenny	Cllr. Jimmy Kavanagh, Bernie Moran
Carndonagh	Cllr. Bernard McGuinness
Lifford- Stranorlar	Cllr. Martin Harley, Cllr. Frank McBrearty, Garvin Connolly
Dublin City
Ballyfermot-Drimnagh	Obi Ekoba
Ballymun- Finglas	Sean Tyrell
Artane- Whitehall	Cllr. Declan Flanagan
Donaghmede	Terence Flanagan, Maria Mulvany, Suzanne McDonnell
Cabra- Glasnevin	Colm O’Rourke, Siobhan Shovlin
Clontarf	Cllr. Naoise O Muiri, Jeff Johnston
Kimmage- Rathmines	Cllr. Anne Feeney, Patrick Kinsella
North Inner City	Cllr. Ray McAdam
South West Inner City	Eoghan Howe
South East Inner City	Danny Byrne
Pembroke	Cllr. Paddy McCartan, James Geoghegan, Linda O’Shea-Farren
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Blackrock	Cllr. Marie Baker, Cllr. Barry Ward, Rebecca Molloy
Dún Laoghaire	Cllr. John Bailey, Cllr. Mary Fayne, Lorraine Hall
Dundrum	Cllr. Pat Hand, Anna Grainger, Jim O’Leary
Glencullen-Sandyford	Cllr. Emma Blain, Kazi Ahmed, Sandra Stewart
Killiney- Shankill	Cllr. Jim Gildea, Frank McNamara, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Stillorgan	Cllr. Barry Saul, Cllr. John Kennedy, Maeve O’Connell
Fingal County
Balbriggan	Cllr. Tom O’Leary, Okezie E. Emuaga, Sam O’Connor
Rush Lusk	Bob Dowling, Jim Monks
Castleknock	Cllr. Ted Leddy, Emer Currie
Howth-Malahide	Cllr. Anthony Lavin, Aoibhinn Tormey
Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart	Punam Rane
Ongar	Jagannadha R Muttumula, Cllr. Kieran Dennison
Swords	Helen Dunne
South Dublin County
Clondalkin	Cllr. Emer Higgins, Cllr. Kenneth Egan
Palmerstown- Fonthill	Derek Keating
Lucan	Cllr. Vicky Casserly, Caroline Brady
Tallaght Central	Teresa Duffy
Tallaght South	Baby Pereppadan
Rathfarnham-Templeogue	Mary Seery Kearney, David McManus, Lynn McCrave, Cllr. Conor McMahon
Firhouse- Bohernabreena	Cllr. Brian Lawlor, Becky Smith
Galway City
Galway City Central	Cllr. Frank Fahy, Eddie Hoare
Galway City East	Cllr. John Walsh, Donal Lynch
Galway City West	Cllr. Pearce Flannery, Clodagh Higgins
Galway County
Athenry-Oranmore	Helen Jennings, Liam Carroll, David Collins
Gort Kinvara	Cllr. Joe Byrne, Fionn Kiely, P. J. Murphy
Ballinasloe	Cllr. Michael Finnerty, Cllr. Aidan Donoghue, Cllr. Peter Keaveney
Conamara North	Cllr. Eileen Mannion
Conamara South	Padraig Ridge, Ann Flaherty
Loughrea	Cllr. Jimmy McClearn, Cllr. Michael Maher
Tuam	Cllr. Tom McHugh, Cllr. Pete Roche, Andrew Reddington
Kerry
Killarney	Cllr. John Sheahan
Listowel	Cllr. Aoife Thornton, Cllr. Mike Kennelly, Michael Foley
An Daingean	Cllr Seamus Cosaí Fitzgerald, Tommy Griffin
Kenmare	Cllr. Patrick O’Connor-Scarteen, Pat Lyne, Donie O’Sullivan Rua
Castleisland	Cllr. Bobby O’Connell, Cllr. Pat McCarthy
Tralee	Cllr. Jim Finucane, Bridget O’Brien
Kildare
Athy	Cllr. Ivan Keatley, Ciara O’Keeffe
Celbridge	Philip Slattery
Leixlip	Cllr. Joe Neville
Maynooth	Cllr. Tim Durkan, Riona Mulligan
Clane	Cllr. Brendan Weld, Seamus Langan, Brendan Wyse
Kildare	Cllr. Mark Stafford, Kevin Duffy
Newbridge	Peggy O’Dywer, Tracey O’Dwyer, Tom Dempsey
Naas	Cllr. Fintan Brett, Cllr. Darren Scully, Evie Sammon
Kilkenny
Castlecomer	Cllr. Mary Hilda Cavanagh, Cllr. John Brennan, Patrick O’Neill Snr
Kilkenny	Cllr. David Fitzgerald, Martin Brett, Orla Kelly
Callan- Thomastown	Cllr. Patrick O’Neill, Cllr. Michael Doyle, Joe Lyons
Piltown	Cllr. Pat Dunphy, Cllr. Fidelis Doherty, John Hayes
Laois
Borris in Ossory-Mountmellick	Cllr. John King, Cllr. David Goodwin, Conor Bergin, Fergal Conroy
Graiguecullen-Portarlington	Cllr Tom Mulhall, Vivienne Phelan, Aisling Moran
Portlaoise	Cllr. Willie Aird, Cllr. Mary Sweeney, Thomasina Connell
Leitrim
Ballinamore	Ita Reynolds-Flynn, Enda McGloin
Carrick-on- Shannon	Cllr. Finola Armstrong-Maguire, Thomas Mulligan
Manorhamilton	Cllr. Frank Dolan, Cllr. Sean McDermott, John Joe Dowdican
Limerick
Limerick City East	Cllr. Marian Hurley, Cllr Michael Sheahan, Michael Murphy, Sarah Lee Kiely
Limerick City North	Olivia O’Sullivan, Denis McCarthy, Eleanor McSherry, Brian O’Connor
Limerick City West	Cllr. Daniel Butler, Cllr. Elenora Hogan, Daniel McSweeney
Adare- Rathkeale	Cllr. Stephen Keary, Cllr. Adam Teskey, Leo Walsh
Cappamore- Kilmallock	Cllr. Ger Mitchell, John Egan, Noreen Stokes, Gregory Conway
Newcastle West	Cllr. Liam Galvin, Cllr. John Sheahan, Tom Ruddle, Cllr. Jerome Scanlan
Longford
Ballymahon	Cllr. Paul Ross, Cllr. Colm Murray, Cllr. Ger Farrell
Granard	Cllr. Micheal Carrigy, Cllr. Pauric Brady, Frank Kilbride, Gary Murtagh
Longford	Cllr. John Browne, Cllr. Peggy Nolan, Cllr. Gerry Hagan, Gerry Cooney
Louth
Ardee	Cllr. Dolores Minogue, Cllr. Colm Markey, Finnan McCoy
Drogheda Urban	Cllr. Richie Culhane, Caroline Kavanagh
Drogheda Rural	Cllr. Oliver Tully
Dundalk- Carlingford	Cllr. John McGahon, Roisín Duffy
Dundalk-South	Cllr. Maria Doyle, Linus English
Mayo
Ballina	Cllr. Jarlath Munnelly, Cllr. John O’Hara, Aileen Horkan, Kieran Gill
Castlebar	Cllr. Cyril Burke, Ger Deere, Eugene McCormack, Donna Sheridan
Claremorris	Cllr. Patsy O’Brien, Cllr. John Cribben, Cllr. Tim Connolly, Michael Burke
Swinford	Cllr. Neil Cruise, Tom Lavin
Belmullet	Cllr. Gerry Coyle, Breege Grealis
Westport	Cllr. Tereasa McGuire, Peter Flynn, Austin Francis O’Malley
Meath
Ashbourne	Cllr. Suzanne Jamal, Cllr. Alan Tobin, John Stillman
Kells	Cllr. Sarah Reilly, Cllr. Eugene Cassidy, Peter Farrelly
Laytown-Bettystown	Cllr. Paddy Meade, Cllr. Sharon Tolan
Navan	Yemi Adenuga, Karen Byrne, Ross Kelly
Ratoath	Cllr. Maria Murphy, Cllr. Gerry O’Connor, Bee Flanagan
Trim	Cllr. Joe Fox, Cllr. Noel French, Niamh Souhan
Monaghan
Ballybay-Clones	Cllr. Sean Gilliland, Cllr. Richard Truell
Carrickmacross-Castleblaney	Cllr. Aidan Campbell, Mary Kerr-Conlon
Monaghan	Cllr. David Maxwell, Fiona McCaffrey Jones, Barra Flynn
Offaly
Birr	Cllr. John Clendennen, Marian Pilkington, Hughie Egan
Edenderry	Cllr. Noel Cribbin, Cllr. Liam Quinn
Tullamore	Deirdre Fox, Neil Feighery, Bernard Westman
Roscommon
Athlone (Roscommon)	Cllr. John Naughten, Ger Grehan
Boyle	Cllr. Liam Callaghan, Keith Suffin, Andrew Reynolds
Roscommon	Gerry Coffey
Sligo
Ballymote-Tobercurry	Cllr. Dara Mulvey, Blair Feeney, Martin Connolly, Gerard Mullaney
Sligo-Drumcliff	Tom Fox, Thomas Walsh Jnr, Ciara McLoughlin
Sligo-Strandhill	Cllr. Sinéad Maguire, Blaine Gaffney
Tipperary
Carrick-on-Suir	Cllr. Louise McLoughlin, Cllr. Mark Fitzgerald, Margaret Croke
Cahir	Cllr. Marie Murphy
Cashel-Tipperary	Cllr. John Crosse, Cllr. Michael Fitzgerald, Cllr. Mary Hanna Hourigan, Declan Burgess
Clonmel	Cllr. Michael Murphy, Garret Ahearn
Nenagh	Cllr. Ger Darcy, Conor Delaney
Newport	Cllr. Phyl Bugler
Roscrea-Templemore	Noel Coonan, Jonathan Cullen
Thurles	Peter Ryan
Waterford
Waterford City East	Cllr. Sharon Carey, Fiona Dowd
Waterford City South	Cllr. John Cummins
Tramore-Waterford City West	Cllr. Lola O’Sullivan, Maxine Kehon
Portlaw-Kilmacthomas	Cllr. Seanie Power, Cllr. Liam Brazil, Mairead Coffey Jacob
Dungarvan	Cllr. Damien Geoghegan, Cllr. Pat Nugent, Ian Noctor
Lismore	Cllr. Declan Doocey
Westmeath
Athlone (Westmeath)	Cllr. John Dolan, Alan Shaw
Moate	Cllr. Tom Farrell, Damien Clear
Mullingar	Cllr. Andrew Duncan, Gerry Heery
Kinnegad	Cllr. Frank McDermott, Cllr. Emily Wallace, Becky Loftus Dore
Wexford
Gorey	Cllr. Anthony Donohoe, Elaine O’Malley Clarke, Diarmuid Devereux
Kilmuckridge	Cllr. Oliver Walsh, Edel Gahan
Enniscorthy	Cllr. Paddy Kavanagh, Cllr. Kathleen Codd Nolan, Cathal Byrne
New Ross	Cllr. Willie Fitzharris, Brídín Murphy
Rosslare	Cllr. Jim Moore, Cllr. Frank Staples, Paul Codd
Wexford	Cllr. John Hegarty, Angela Reville, Ger Walsh.
Wicklow
Arklow	Cllr. Sylvester Bourke, Chantel Kangowa
Baltinglass	Cllr. Edward Timmins, Cllr. Edward Blake, Avril Cronin
Bray East	Aoife Flynn Kennedy, Edward Whelan
Bray West	Melanie Corrigan, David Miller
Greystones	Cllr. Derek Mitchell, Alice O’Donnell
Wicklow	Cllr. Irene Winters, Cllr. Shay Cullen

(Please note that, as in the other similar posts, any links that are provided here are to posts/newspaper reports offering “evidence” of their candidatures and will normally not link back to candidate websites.):

I will be adding to this list as and when I come across further declarations of intentions to contest these elections on the part of other non-party candidates. This cohort of candidates often tends to be the hardest to glean information on, so this list may not be as up to date/accurate as the similar posts for the different parties.

The Fine Gael selection convention for Ratoath took place on 16th October 2018 and three candidates – all incumbents – were selected at this. However, as reported by the Meath Chronicle (12th March 2019), Cllr. Gillian Toole later announced in March 2019 that she was resigning from Fine Gael and would be contesting the local elections instead as an independent candidate. On 29th March it was announced that Bee Flanagan would be added as a third party candidate in this electoral area.

The selection convention for Limerick City East took place on 22nd October, as reported in the Limerick Leader (23rd October 2018), and three candidates, including two incumbents, were selected at this. As reported by the Limerick Leader (28th March 2019), Sarah Lee Kiely was added as a fourth party candidate here.

Cllr. John Kennedy was selected as the party candidate for the Stillorgan electoral area at a selection convention on 1st November 2018. Eoghan Howe was selected to contest the South West Inner City electoral area as the Fine Gael party candidate on 5th November 2018.  As reported by the Limerick Leader (3rd November 2018), Cllrs. Daniel Butler and Elenora Hogan were selected to contest the Limerick City West electoral area for Fine Gael at a convention which took place on 3rd November 2018 – two Patrickswell-based nominees lost out at the convention; Fergus Kilcoyne and 20-year-old Daniel McSweeney. As reported by the Limerick Leader (18th March 2019), Daniel McSweeney was later (in March 2019) added as a third party candidate here.

Eight candidates were selected to contest the three electoral areas located within the Dún Laoghaire Dáil constituency on 9th November 2018 at a selection convention held at the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel. Cllr. Aidan Campbell and Mary Kerr-Conlon were selected as candidates for Carrickamacross-Castleblaney at a selection convention which took on that same day – this convention was also contested by Pat Cassidy, as reported on the Northern Sound website (9th November 2018). (He was later added to the party ticket.) The Killaloe selection convention took place on 12th November and selected three candidates. Selection conventions in the North City of Dublin (Artane/Donaghmede) took place on 14th November, while a number of conventions in the east of Galway County (Loughrea, Gort, Tuam) took place on the following day. Cllr. Pat Hand, Anna Grainger and Jim O’Leary were selected as the Fine Gael candidates for the Dundrum electoral area at a selection convention on 16th November 2018. Fine Gael selections for the Dublin West Dáil constituency area took place on 19th November 2019. Cllr Joe Neville was selected as the Fine Gael candidate for the Leixlip electoral area on that same night. The convention for the Clontarf electoral area took place on 26th November 2018, while the convention for Ballybay-Clones took place on the following night. Conventions for the electoral areas on the northside of Cork City took place on 29th November, while conventions for the southside electoral areas took place later in that week, as reported in the Evening Echo (1st December 2018).

The selection convention for the Edenderry electoral area took place on 3rd December 2018, also did the conventions for the Rush-Lusk and Balbriggan electoral areas, as well as the conventions for Ennistymon, as reported by the Clare Echo (4th December 2018) and An Daingean. A number of selection conventions took place in County Cork in early December 2018, including Carrigaline and Clonakilty-Skibbereen (7th December 2018) and Macroom (9th December 2018) – John Kelliher also contested the Macroom selection convention. The selection convention for Castleisland took place on 7th December 2018, as reported on the Radio Kerry website (8th December 2018). The Swords selection convention took place on 10th December 2018. As reported by the Longford Leader (12th December 2018), the selection convention for the Longford (Town) electoral area took place on 11th December 2018 in the Longford Arms Hotel. The Muinebeag selection convention took place on 13th December 2018 with the convention for the Pilltown electoral area being held on the following night, while the selection convention for the Cashel-Tipperary electoral area took place on 16th December 2018. As reported on the Kildare Now website (14th December 2018), the selection convention for the Clane electoral area took place on 13th December 2018 in the Westgrove Hotel in Clane. The selection convention for the Howth-Malahide electoral area took place on 17th December 2018. The selection convention for the Listowel electoral area took place on 20th December 2018 in the Listowel Arms Hotel; as reported on the Radio Kerry website (21st December 2018), this was contested, with Clare Creighton and Mike Foley losing out in the vote to select just two candidates. On 30 January 2019, it was confirmed that Michael Foley would be added to the patrty ticket for Listowel.

The selection convention for the Westport electoral area took place on Friday 11th January 2019, as reported by The Connaught Telegraph (12th January 2019); this was also contested by Johnny O’Malley. The selection convention for the Tullow electoral area took [place on 14th January 2019. As reported by the Laois Today (14th January 2019) website, the Portlaoise selection convention is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 16th January 2019. Four candidates have been nominated to contest this and all of these may be selected to run. The convention for Cappamore-Kilmallock, which took place on 14th January 2019, was contested, with Greg Conway and Tommy O’Sullivan losing out, as reported by the Limerick Leader (19th January 2019). Gregory Conway was subsequently added to the ticket.

As reported by Donegal Now (19th January 2019), the Letterkenny convention took place on 17th January 2019. Bernie Moran was added as a second candidate for Letterkenny on 25th March 2019, as reported in the Donegal Democrat (26th March 2019). The convention for North Inner City took place on the same day. Selection conventions for the Graiguecullen-Portarlington and Ballymote-Tubbercurry electoral areas took place on 18th January 2018, as well as the Killarney selection convention (as reported on the Radio Kerry website (19th January 2019)). As reported on the Laois Today news site (18th January 2019), there was no contest for the Graiguecullen-Portarlington convention. The Ballymote-Tubbercurry convention was contested, as reported on the Ocean FM website (19th January 2019), with former Dáil deputy, John Perry, losing out in this vote. The selection convention for the Portlaoise electoral area took place two days earlier – as reported on the Laois Today news site (16th January 2019), this was uncontested after 2014 candidate, Jim Ring, announced he was withdrawing from contesting the convention.

The Greystones electoral area selection convention took place on 21st January 2019. The selection convention for the Midleton electoral area took place on 24th January 2019. As reported in the Tullamore Tribune (23rd January 2019), the selection convention for the Tullamore electoral area took place in late January 2019, with Bernard Westman losing out in that vote (but he was subsequently added to the ticket some weeks later after Noelle O’Donoghue – who was selected at that convention – withdrew).

The selection convention for the Kenmare electoral area took place on 27th January 2019, while the conventions for the Bantry electoral area, as well as the Manorhamilton (as reported in the Leitrim Observer (27th January 2019) electoral area and the Boyle electoral area (as reported on the Shannonside Radio website (26th January 2019)), took place on 25th January 2019. The Boyle convention was also contested by Andrew Reynolds, who was subsequently added to the party ticket, as reported on the Shannonside News website (6th March 2019). As reported by the Longford Leader (28th January 2019), the selection convention for the Granard electoral area took place on 27th January 2019. The selection convention for Limerick City North took place on 28th January 2019 (as reported by the Limerick Leader (29th January 2019)); the other candidates that contested this convention were Eleanor McSherry, Brian O’Connor and Richard Delaney. Eleanor McSherry and Brian O’Connor were subsequently added to the ticket on 20th February 2019, as reported by the Limerick Post (5th March 2019). The convention for Sligo-Strandhill also took place on that same day. As reported on the Northern Sound website (30th January 2019), the selection convention for the Ballyjamesduff electoral area took place on 29th January 2019. The selection conventions for the Cabra-Glasnevin and Shannon electoral areas took place on 31st January 2019, as well as the Borris-in-Ossory-Mountmellick selection convention (as reported by Laois Today (1st February 2019)). Eugene Long was added as a third party candidate for the Shannon electoral area in March 2019, as reported on the Clare FM website (15th March 2019). Siobhan Shovlin was added as a second candidate for Cabra-Glasnevin on 16th April 2019. The selection convention for the Kilkenny City electoral area also took place on 31st January 2019, as reported by the Kilkenny Now website (1st February 2019).

As reported by the Southern Star (4th February 2019), the convention for Bandon-Kinsale took place on 2nd February 2019 – this was also contested by Marie O’Sullivan and Catherine O’Donoghue. Marie O’Sullivan was added to the ticket in late March 2019. As reported on the Northern Sound website (5th February 2019), the convention for the Monaghan (Town) electoral area took place on 4th February 2019. The selection conventions for the constituencies in mid/south Louth also took place on 4th February 2019. The Nenagh selection convention took place on 5th February 2019 in the Nenagh Arts Centre, as reported on the Tipperary Live website (7th February 2019), with the convention for Cavan Town also taking place on that same day, as reported by the Northern Sound website (5th February 2019). The selection convention for the Roscrea-Templemore electoral area took place on 6th February 2019 in Clonmore; as reported on the Tipperary Live (21st February 2019) website, the addition of Jonathan Cullen as a second candidate here is expected to be ratified officially by the National Executive of Fine Gael on 26th February 2018. The selection convention for Ballina is scheduled to take place on 8th February 2019, as reported by The Connaught Tribune (5th February 2019), with the selection of four candidates to be confirmed at this. The selection conventions for the Cobh, Kilrush and Birr electoral areas took place on 7th February 2019. Hughie Egan was added to the ticket for Birr a few weeks after that convention, while Oliver Garry was added to the Kilrush ticket in March 2019. Some weeks later, however, Oliver Garry announced that he was withdrawing from the local election race, as reported by the Clare Echo (3rd April 2019).

The selection convention for the Mullingar electoral area took place on 8th February 2019, as reported by the Westmeath Examiner (21st February 2019); this was also contested by Gerry Heery and Jordan Cole. Gerry Heery was subsequently added to the party ticket. As reported in the Connaught Telegraphy (10th February 2019), the Castlebar selection convention took place on 10th February 2019. This was also contested by Darren McCormack and Padraig Corcoran. Donna Sheridan was subsequently added to the party ticket, as reported by the MidWest radio website (20th February 2019).

The selection conventions for the Ashbourne and Enniscorthy electoral areas took place on 11th February 2019. As reported on the Northern Sound website (13th February 2019), the selection convention for Bailieborough-Cootehill took place on 12th February 2019. The Thurles selection convention took place on 13th February 2019. As reported on the Kilcullen Diary blog (15th February 2019), the Newbridge selection convention took place on 14th February 2019.

The selection convention for the Waterford City East and Tramore-Waterford City West electoral areas took place on 17th February 2018. Selection conventions for Dundalk South and Dundalk Carlingford (as reported on the Talk of the Town website (19th February 2019)), as well as Kinnegad, took place on 18th February 2018.

The selection convention for the Rathfarnham-Templeogue electoral area took place on 20th February 2019 (Lynn McCrave was added to the ticket in late March 2019, while Cllr. Conor McMahon was also added to the party ticket in early April 2019), while the Clonmel and Trim selection conventions took place on 19th February 2019. Selections conventions for the Kells and Glencullen-Sandyford electoral areas took place on 21st February 2019. The selection convention for Athy also took place on 21st February 2019, as reported by the Kildare Nationalist (6th March 2019).

As reported on the Galway Advertiser (21st February), Clodagh Higgins was added as a second candidate on the party’s ticket for Galway City West, joining Cllr. Pearse Flannery. As reported by the Anglo Celt (21st February 2019), three candidates were also added across the three different electoral areas in Co. Cavan; Shirley Hall, Thomas (T.P.) O’Reilly and Sean McKiernan.

The selection convention for the Swinford electoral area took place on 25th February 2019, as reported on the Midwest Radio website (26th February 2019).

The Baltinglass selection convention took place on 25th February 2019. The selection convention for the Newport electoral area took place on 26th February 2019, while the selection convention for Athlone took place on 28th February 2019. As noted on the Tipperary Live (8th March 2019) website, the selection convention for Carrick on Suir took place on 27th February 2019. As reported in the Carlow Nationalist (7th March 2019), the Carlow (Town) selection convention took place on 28th February 2019.

As reported on the Ocean FM website (3rd March 2019) and the Midwest radio website (1st March 2019). The selection convention for the Donegal (Town) and Belmullet electoral areas took place on 1st March 2019. As reported on The Connaught Telegraph website (1st March 2019), it was agreed that Breege Grealis would also run for Fine Gael in Belmullet if party headquarters agrees to a two-candidate strategy for that electoral area (which they did). The convention for the Wexford (Town) electoral area also took place on 1st March 2019. Two further candidates were added to the party ticket for Donegal after that selection convention, including Barry Sweeney, initially, and then John McNulty, as reported on the Ocean FM website (29th March 2019)as well as the Donegal Democrat (29th March 2019).

The Ballinamore selection convention took place on 8th March 2019 – as reported by the Leitrim Observer (10th March 2019), this was also contested by Mary McKiernan and Des Donegan. As reported by the Leitrim Observer (3rd April 2019), Enda McGloin was added as a second party candidate for this electoral area. The Bray West and Bray East selection conventions took place on Monday 11th March 2019 in the Martello in Bray (David Miller was added to the Bray West candidate list a few days later), while the Moate and Carndonagh selection conventions also took place on that same night. As reported by the Leinster Leader (15th March 2019), the Kildare (Town) selection convention also took place on the 11th March 2019.

The selection convention for Roscommon (Town) took place on 14th March 2019, while the Killarney selection convention took place on 13th March 2019, as reported on the Radio Kerry (15th March 2019) website. The Lucan selection convention also took place on 14th March 2019.

On 19th March 2019 Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was added to the list of Fine Gael candidates in Killiney-Shankill by the Fine Gael Executive Council, while Caroline Kavanagh was added to the Fine Gael ticket for Drogheda Urban (but she later withdrew from the election contest).

Having lost out to Tom Fox and Thomas Walsh at the selection convention, Ciara McLoughlin was subsequently added to the party ticket for Sligo-Drumcliffe, as reported on the Ocean FM website (24th March 2019).

Cllr. Niamh Byrne was selected to contest Conamara South, but later decided to quit politics, as reported in the Connacht Tribune (15th March 2019). Mary Bourke, who replaced her on the ticket, also withdrew from the election contest later and was replaced by Ann Flaherty in May 2019.

With former Councillor Noel McBride having been selected earlier, Eimer Friel was selected as a second party candidate for the Milford electoral area, as reported by the Donegal Democrat (26th March 2019), while Evelyn Sweeney was also added to the candidate list in Glenties, as reported on the Donegal Woman (26th March 2019) website. Eamonn Byrne, who was initially selected to contest Glenties, did not appear on the ballot paper.

The Palmerstown-Fonthill selection convention took place on 28th March 2019, while the selection convention for Firhouse-Bohernabreena took place on 5th April 2019.

Cllr. Padraig Conneely had been selected to contest the local elections for Fine Gael, but – as reported by the Connacht Tribune (29th March 2019) – he later decided not to contest the election and was replaced on the ticket by Eddie Hoare.

As reported by the Donegal Democrat (19th April 2019), Independent Councillor, Frank McBrearty, will be contesting the Lifford-Stranorlar electoral area as a Fine Gael candidate.