Fianna Fail will not issue a gender directive in the Dun Laoghaire constituency.

The party confirmed the three candidates – Councillor Cormac Devlin, Mary Hanafin and Kate Feeney – would be allowed to contest the selection convention.

In a letter to the councillors and party members, Fianna Fail’s National Constituency Convention confirmed one candidate should be selected. It did not specify that the candidate should be a woman.

The party had been leaning towards issuing a directive. However, it appears to have changed its mind after legal action was threatened by Cllr Devlin.

The selection convention will take place in Dún Laoghaire on Monday, September 28th.

It is understood senior Fianna Fáil figures have agreed to add Ms Hanafin, who lost her Dáil seat in 2011, if she does not get chosen at the convention.

Two Dublin constituencies have been directed to select a single woman candidate. Two male candidates, Daithí de Róiste in Dublin South Central and Brian Mohan in Dublin Central, had put their names forward for convention.

The party decisions will pave the way for Catherine Ardagh and Mary Fitzpatrick to be selected as the single candidates in both constituencies.

Members of the party in Dublin South Central and Dublin Central received a letter from the national conventions committee stating it had decided that “one candidate be selected at the convention and that that candidate be a woman”.