The Fine Gael TD Mr Michael Ring has said he is "very confident" of overturning the new ban on Oireachtas members standing in local elections, a development which could throw the election plans of parties into disarray.
The High Court announced yesterday that it would hear the case challenging the constitutionality of the ban on the dual mandate on January 28th.
Mr Ring said yesterday that his aim was to ensure that the people could elect those they wanted, rather than having parliament barring certain categories of people from standing.
Mr Ring's challenge has the tacit support of a number of politicians in different parties and follows the enactment of the Local Government Act last June.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, pushed the measure through the Oireachtas despite the opposition of many of his backbenchers.
Mr Cullen argued for the ban on the basis that it would leave the Oireachtas free to get on with the job of legislation, rather than politicians having to spend substantial time in parliament on local authority business.
However, TDs and senators are fearful that this will put them at a disadvantage in general elections, forcing them to compete with local councillors who have gained support through constituency work.
Some 129 Oireachtas members elected last year were also local authority members. Over 100 of them have resigned their local authority seats in a move which allowed them or their parties to choose a successor. TDs and senators received a financial incentive to do this, and a significant number have been replaced by family members.
With the main parties having already selected a substantial number of candidates for next June's elections, a court victory by Mr Ring allowing Oireachtas members to stand would throw these preparations into disarray.
Expressing confidence about the outcome yesterday, Mr Ring said the Constitution stated that an individual could not be a member of both the Dáil and Seanad; there was no such reference to local authorities.
He warned that if the ban went ahead, "in the next election or the one after that, a half or three-quarters of this House will be taken out by sitting councillors".
While there is a bar on Oireachtas members standing for councils, there is no ban on councillors standing for the Dáil or Seanad.
Mr Ring said yesterday he had received promises of financial support from a number of Oireachtas members. He hoped the High Court would exercise its discretion to decide that the case was in the public interest and that he did not have to pay for it.