Former Fine Gael minister Seán Barrett made a return to national politics last night when he was selected as a candidate in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown constituency in the next election. He was chosen along with Cllr Eugene Regan at a packed convention in the Killiney Castle Hotel.
Four candidates initially went before the convention which was given a controversial direction from party headquarters to select only two candidates, with each coming from a different electoral area.
Two of the candidates, Cllr John Bailey and Cllr Eugene Regan, who both represent the Dun Laoghaire ward, were put into a head-to-head confrontation as a result of the ruling.
Cllr Regan won the vote to represent the ward while Mr Barrett was selected unanimously as the candidate from the Ballybrack ward.
It is expected that Fine Gael headquarters will add a third candidate to the ticket and Cllr Marie Baker from the Blackrock area is the favourite to get the slot.
Mr Barrett (61) is returning to politics in an effort to win two seats for Fine Gael in the constituency.
At the last election the party ended up without any Dáil seat in a constituency where it held three out of five seats in the 1980s.
The victory of Cllr Regan, who was endorsed by former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald came as a surprise to party headquarters who did not believe he had the support to beat Cllr Bailey.
