Fianna Fail's second Dail seat in Tipperary North, traditionally a marginal one, will again be up for grabs, following the decision by Michael O'Kennedy to retire at the next election.
"It obviously will be a battle. It always has been. But I think we are very, very fortunate in that we have a very committed organisation," he says.
He has experienced his share of career highs and lows in his 35 years in public office. He would have been Attorney General, if he had accepted the position, or if events had gone differently, he could have been party leader, or President.
Mr O'Kennedy has not served as a minister since 1992, and he puts his missing out on a portfolio in the current administration down to, "as far as I can see, the Government that came into being was almost exclusively comprised of those who had served on the front bench in the Dail in the previous period." In 1982, he turned down the position of Attorney General, when it was offered to him by the then Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, saying now he had been too long away from law to feel comfortable taking up the job. The same year, after Fianna Fail was voted out of office, he canvassed for the leadership in the mistaken belief that Mr Haughey was about to resign. In 1997, he unsuccessfully contested the nomination for presidential candidate.
In between, he was minister for agriculture between 1987 and 1992, and found himself at odds with his industry and commerce counterpart, Albert Reynolds, over the preferential treatment given to the Goodman group, which became part of the tribunal investigation into the beef processing industry in 1991. "The minister for industry and commerce was given the responsibility for issuing the export credit system for the beef industry. Most went to the Goodman group of companies. That was not something I would have agreed with at all. It was not a government decision, it was a decision of the minister himself," he says.
But he was not happy either with the Department of Agriculture's supervision of the beef industry, adding, however, that "we would want to have had the KGB to do that job, and even then, they would have had to have no other responsibilities."
He took a tough stance on imposing anti-BSE controls and in stamping out the use of illegal growth promoters in cattle - "Angel Dust", or "Devil's Dust", as he prefers to call it. As far as his political pedigree goes, Mr O'Kennedy is proud of the fact that he is but one generation removed from the founders of the State. His uncle Mick was killed in the War of Independence during an attack on Borrisokane barracks in north Tipperary. His father Eamonn was interned in Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast in the 20s and was a founder member of Fianna Fail and of Clann na Poblachta, but became disenchanted with the short-lived radical republican party when it went into coalition with Fine Gael and other parties in the first inter-party government of 1948. "That was a huge blow to my father," he says.
The second of six children, Michael O'Kennedy grew up in the family grocery shop on Emmet Place, Nenagh and boarded at St Flannan's College, Ennis. He studied for the priesthood but left the seminary at Maynooth after 18 months to go to UCD in 1955 to read classics, graduating with a BA and going on to do an MA. He was called to the Bar in 1961.
He contested but failed to win a second Fianna Fail seat in Tipperary North in 1965. ail, Tom Dunne of Fine Gael and Labour's Paddy Tierney were elected. "There was always a strong Labour vote in Tipperary, both north and south," he says.He was elected to the Seanad for four years and in 1969, he secured the Dail seat. He held it until he resigned to become EEC commissioner in 1981. He resigned as commissioner and was re-elected to the Dail in 1982. He has held on to the seat, except for a five-year period between 1992 and 1997 when it was taken by Labour's John Ryan.
Leaving the Dail will be a big wrench, he says. "It is not just the biggest decision I have ever taken, it is by far the most difficult decision I have ever taken."
He has told his supporters in his Nenagh stronghold he can no longer match their commitment. He recalls that it was at the behest of those same supporters that he backed Charles Haughey in the Fianna Fail leadership battle with the late George Colley that followed the resignation of Jack Lynch in 1979. Unlike the late Brian Lenihan, Mr O'Kennedy made his position known prior to the vote, which proved a major blow to the Colley camp. "The mood down at home was that Charlie was a man of real action, a man who could make things happen . . . that he was the more radical of the two and all of that.
"I was always very influenced by what was said at home. I made my decision on that basis, and that basis alone. Almost all my colleagues were supporting George and I asked them were they supporting their own position in government."
He stands by the decision, saying it was proved right - "belatedly let it be said", citing Mr Haughey's 1987 government which finally turned to rebuilding the almost bankrupt economy.
And the corruption in public office which has since come to light? "It happens everywhere. The real test is the capacity of people in public life to withstand whatever blandishments are made from business."
Michael O'Kennedy "regrets and repudiates" the drop in standards in public life and the abuse of position for personal gain, but he is not without hope. "Whatever is going to emerge from the tribunals will emerge and there will be a renewal of the commitment and dedication that are essential in public life." He believes the media are casting a shadow over politics in the focus on personalities in the current round of tribunals.
"There is a new Europe emerging . . . there is a new constitution (of the EU) emerging. And I feel very strongly about the scandal of our partners exporting arms to repressive dictators. We should be debating these issues."
But for all that, he believes the founding fathers would have been proud of the achievements of the State - the booming economy, the reversal in emigration, the progress made on the North. "They would say: "my God, it has all been worthwhile' ".
He and his wife Breda and family have lived in the capital since 1970 when he was appointed parliamentary secretary. "I would not have survived 35 years in politics if I did not have the stability and certainty of my family, who would bring me down a peg when I needed to be."