20 candidates are set to contest the upcoming General Election on Friday, 29 November in the newly-expanded Longford-Westmeath Dáil constituency, with five Dáil seats up for grabs.
In County Westmeath, outgoing TDs Peter Burke (Fine Gael), Robert Troy (Fianna Fáil) and Sorca Clarke (Sinn Féin) are hoping to make a return to the 34th Dáíl.
In Athlone, Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran (Independent) will be hoping to build on his dramatic return to politics at June’s Local Election, when he clinched close to 40% (3,782) first-preference votes in the Athlone electoral area.
Across the border in County Longford, outgoing TD Joe Flaherty (Fianna Fáil) hopes to make a return to the lower house, while Senator Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) is hoping to win a seat for his party in the county.
Along with the mainstream parties of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, candidates are also contesting the General Election for Labour (Fidelma Bennett), Independent Ireland (Paul Hogan), Green Party (Carol Okeke), Aontú (Laura O’Neill), People Before Profit (Dave Smyth) and Ireland First (Margaret Maguire).
Other independent candidates hoping to secure a seat are Paul Bradley, Louise Heavin, Donal Jackson, Charlotte Keenan and Gerry Warnock.
Voting gets underway on Friday, 29 November at 7am, with polls closing at 10pm that night.
Counting will get underway at the Count John McCormack Hall at TUS (Athlone) on Saturday morning, 30 November.
