The Kerry North Fianna Fail county councillor, Mr Tom McEllistrim, has implied he will run as an Independent if he fails to get a party nomination to contest the next general election.
Mr McEllistrim is the third generation of a political dynasty - his father and grandfather, both also called Tom McEllistrim, were Fianna Fail TDs for Kerry North.
His grandfather, proposed Mr Jack Lynch for the Fianna Fail leadership when Mr Sean Lemass retired in 1966. His father was one of the "gang of five" who organised the campaign to have Mr Charles Haughey replace Mr Lynch in 1979, and he later served as a junior minister in Mr Haughey's government. Cllr McEllistrim is busy canvassing constituency delegates for the selection convention, which is expected to be held later this month or next month. He is pointing to his county council vote in the last local elections when he outpolled the sitting Fianna Fail TD, Mr Denis Foley, by close on 200 first preferences.
"I would feel very hard done by if I did not get a nomination for the next general election," he says.
Would he run as an Independent, if he failed to get a nomination? "It is a hypothetical question. However, I can say that I am keeping all my options open, and the name McEllistrim will be on the ballot paper at the next election."
Local political sources say Mr McEllistrim will run as an Independent if he fails to get nominated, and will take some key supporters with him. Such a move would further weaken the party's resistance to the challenge from Sinn Fein county councillor Mr Martin Ferris.
Mr Ferris outpolled Mr McEllistrim and Mr Foley in the Tralee electoral area in the county council elections, securing 2,458 first preferences to come second in the poll. The poll-topper was Ms Maeve Spring, sister of the Labour TD, Mr Dick Spring, who had 3,174 first preferences.
Mr Spring and the Fine Gael TD, Mr Jimmy Deenihan, are regarded as strong enough to resist the undoubted threat posed by Mr Ferris.
The constituency's third TD, Mr Denis Foley, who resigned from the Fianna Fail parliamentary party last year, after it was revealed he held an Ansbacher account, is retiring from the Dail. The intense rivalry among those seeking to succeed him could lead to a factionalised and chaotic Fianna Fail campaign.
Mr Foley's daughter, Tralee urban councillor Ms Norma Foley is viewed as a strong potential candidate, having performed impressively as council chairwoman.
Other potential candidates include Senator Dan Kiely from Tarbert, and a number of county councillors - Mr Ted Fitzgerald, from Tralee, Mr Ned O'Sullivan, from Listowel, and Mr John Brassil, from Ballyheigue.
The party's general secretary, Mr Martin Macken, and Mr P.J. Mara, visited the constituency last year and urged the local organisation to adopt a two-candidate strategy. Given that one candidate would have to come from the northern end of the constituency, this would mean a bitter battle between Mr McEllistrim and Ms Foley to be the candidate from the Tralee area, where they both live.
Irrespective of who is chosen, pleas from party headquarters for unity are likely to fall on deaf ears, with candidates running personalised campaigns.
Mr Ferris, meanwhile, has acquired a high local and national profile in his bid for a Dail seat. In the 1997 general election, he secured 5,691 first preferences, trailing Mr Spring and Mr Deenihan, but finishing ahead of Mr Foley, who later overtook him with the help of transfers.
Fianna Fail's 26.31 per cent of the poll was 10.2 points below its previous lowest vote in 1992.
Mr Ferris has since been elected to the county council and Tralee Urban Council and is active on a variety of local issues.
Nationally, he remains a close associate of the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, and was one of the party's representatives who discussed the Northern Ireland situation with President Clinton during his visit to Ireland last month.
Mr McEllistrim believes Mr Ferris will be a strong candidate, but that he will have difficulty securing transfers. The Sinn Fein challenge is being taken seriously by Fianna Fail headquarters, which regards Kerry North as probably the most problematic constituency in the State. And while it may seem unthinkable that the grandson of a close associate of Eamon de Valera, and the son of a long-serving Fianna Fail TD, would run as an Independent, it remains a possibility.
"Many of my friends and supporters say they will not vote for Fianna Fail if I am not on the ballot paper," says Mr McEllistrim. "I do not think that Fianna Fail will win a seat without me."