MR Nicky Kelly is to stand as an independent candidate in the Wicklow constituency in the forthcoming general election.
In the 1995 Wicklow by-election Mr Kelly polled more than 4,500 first-preference votes in his first attempt to win a Dail seat. He said yesterday he had been approached to contest Wicklow by both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, but his integrity demanded that he run as an independent.
Mr Kelly received a full presidential pardon in 1993 following his wrongful conviction for the 1976 Sallins mail train robbery.