SINN Féin is to run a second candidate in the Cork North Central constituency to run alongside Jonathan O’Brien TD.
A party convention will take place in the Clayton Silversprings Hotel on Friday, October 30 to select the candidate.
City councillor Thomas Gould and county councillor Ger Keohane are expected to put their names forward to run alongside Jonathan O’Brien TD.
It is expected that city councillor Thomas Gould from Cathedral Road and county councillor Ger Keohane from Glanmire will contest the convention.
Sinn Féin is eager to capitalise on the large support it currently enjoys with voters. Jonathan O’Brien topped the poll in the four-seat constituency in 2011 followed by Labour’s Kathleen Lynch, Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher and Fine Gael’s Dara Murphy.
Cllr Thomas Gould topped the poll in the Cork North Central ward in last year’s Local Elections ahead of Cllr Mick Barry of the Anti Austerity Alliance, who is also running for a Dáil seat in the constituency.
In his first election last year, Cllr Ger Keohane won the the third seat in the Cobh electoral area which covers Glanmire.
It is understood Sinn Féin was eager to find a female candidate to run alongside Jonathan O’Brien. While 38% of the party’s declared candidates are female there were no female councillors in the constituency.
As well as Cllr Mick Barry, City Councillor Ted Tynan of the Worker’s Party is also running along with Oliver Moran for the Green Party and Thomas Kiely of the People’s Convention. There’s speculation that former Fianna Fál TD Noel O’Flynn might run as an independent having left the party in September.
Fine Gael may also run a second candidate alongside Dara Murphy.