The decision by the Kerry North TD, Mr Denis Foley, to retire at the next general election has unleashed a bitter local battle within Fianna Fail to replace him.
The selection convention will be held next month, and those seeking a nomination, including his daughter, Tralee urban councillor Ms Norma Foley, have begun an intensive canvass of delegates.
The Fianna Fail seat is under threat from Sinn Fein's Mr Martin Ferris, a member of Kerry County Council. The other two TDs in the constituency are the former Labour leader, Mr Dick Spring, and Fine Gael's Mr Jimmy Deenihan. Earlier this year, Mr Foley (66), who was first elected to the Dail in 1981, resigned from the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party after it was disclosed that he held an Ansbacher account and he appeared at the Moriarty Tribunal.
Mr Foley said yesterday the revelation about his Ansbacher account had nothing to do with his decision to retire. Party headquarters has instructed the local organisation to select two candidates, one from the Tralee end of the constituency and the other from the Listowel end. Given that they are both Tralee-based, this will mean a bitter battle between Ms Foley and Mr Tom McEllistrim, a Kerry county councillor whose father and grandfather represented Kerry North in the Dail.
Mr McEllistrim's late father Tom helped secure Mr Charles Haughey's election as Fianna Fail leader in 1979.
Mr Ted Fitzgerald, a Tralee-based county councillor, may also seek a nomination.
The candidates lining up at the Listowel end of the constituency include Senator Dan Kiely, from Tarbert, and county councillor Mr John Brassil, from Bally heigue. Mr Ned O'Sullivan, a Listowel-based county councillor, may also put his name forward. Kerry North has declined from being a Fianna Fail stronghold to a party blackspot. For a time in the 1970s and 1980s, the party had two seats, but it hit a new low at the last election, when its 26.31 per cent share of the poll was 10.2 per cent below its previous lowest in 1992. Mr Ferris outpolled Mr Foley in first preferences, securing 5,691 votes to Mr Foley's 5,376, but he was subsequently overtaken by the combined Fianna Fail vote. Mr Ferris was elected to Kerry County Council and Tralee Urban Council in last year's local elections and has considerably raised his profile in the constituency.
Tralee-based Mr Spring, who topped the poll with 10,699 first-preference votes in the last general election, has said that he will be a candidate next time.
Mr Deenihan, who followed Mr Spring with 8,689 first preferences, and is based in Finuge, near Listowel, will also defend his seat.
Neither Mr Spring nor Mr Deenihan would be easily dislodged by Mr Ferris, but Fianna Fail, given the bitter divisions within the local organisation, could be vulnerable to a strong Sinn Fein campaign.
