Fianna Faíl will run only two candidates for the Longford-Westmeath constituency in the general election, despite a county councillor’s interest in running for the party as a third nominee.
Current TDs, Robert Troy and Joe Flaherty will be the party nominees after Westmeath County Councillor, Aengus O’Rourke, withdrew his nomination after the party decided to run only two candidates in the five-seat constituency.
The political analyst, Patrick Donohue, felt that party officials of Fianna Fáil thought Cllr O’Rourke did not have the required support of his hometown, Athlone, after the results of this year’s local elections.
He said: “It is a case of what we have, we hold for Fianna Fáil in the expanded five-seat constituency of Longford-Westmeath in the next general election.
“The party was not in favour of the three-candidate ticket and so it has come to pass. The party believe that there was not just enough (support) in Athlone to take O’Rourke as well as the two other TDs, especially after the great Boxer Moran bounce amongst the locals who had more than two and a half thousand votes ahead of O’Rourke (in the 2024 local election).”
In early July, Cllr O’Rourke signalled an intention to run as a Fianna Fáil candidate in the next general election, and expressed his belief that Fianna Fáil should run three candidates.
He said: “Athlone needs a TD. It is a regional growth centre. It is a business capital of the Midlands and for many reasons, it needs a TD.
“It needs somebody representing it in a very strong manner in the corridors of power in Dublin. At the moment, we don’t have a resident TD or resident senator from the town.
“The town is crying out for that type of representation at the top level and I feel that I have the experience and at this stage, I would be ready to step up and I would be very happy to take on that role, if the people were to trust me with it.”
