Fine Gael MEP Maireád McGuinness will end weeks of speculation today and confirm she is to stand for the party in the Louth constituency in the general election.
The executive council of Fine Gael confirmed Ms McGuinness's candidature at a meeting last night after being told of her wish to run.
Fine Gael environment spokesman Fergus O'Dowd is a TD in the four-seat constituency and it is considered a long shot that the party would be able to win two of the four seats.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and chairman of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, Séamus Kirk, hold the two Fianna Fáil seats. Sinn Féin's Arthur Morgan holds the fourth seat.
The entry of Ms McGuinness into the race will put her head to head with Mr O'Dowd, who has gained a high profile for his work on the Leas Cross controversy.
Sources said last night it is likely to cause some upheaval for the party which had been hoping that she would return from the European Parliament to take a seat in another constituency.
Dundalk town councillor Joe D'Arcy will also contest the general election for Fine Gael in Louth.
Mr O'Dowd is from Drogheda, while Ms McGuinness, a former agriculture journalist and presenter of the Ear to the Ground TV programme, comes from Ardee. Mr O'Dowd said last night he had no comment to make as there had been no formal announcement from Ms McGuinness as to her intentions.
However it is understood that Ms McGuinness phoned Mr O'Dowd yesterday morning to inform him of her decision.
She had spent the Christmas break assessing her options. She will issue a statement confirming the move today.
Ms McGuinness and Avril Doyle beat the odds by securing two seats for Fine Gael in the European Parliament East (Leinster) constituency in 2004.
She serves on the parliament's agriculture and rural development committee as well as the budgets and petitions committees. She is also a member of the Inter-Party Groups on Disability and Children's Rights.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael has still to hold a selection convention for the Dublin South Central consistency following the announcement from MEP Gay Mitchell that he will not be contesting a Dáil seat.
A spokesman for the party said last night that no date has yet been set for the convention. Former Dublin lord mayor Cllr Catherine Byrne and Cllr Ann-Marie Martin will be seeking a nomination to run.