Fine Gael has selected Senator Seán Kyne as its candidate to contest the upcoming byelection in Galway West.
Party members voted for Kyne run in the constituency at a selection convention in Galway on Sunday.
There is a vacant Dáil seat in the Galway West constituency following the election of former independent TD Catherine Connolly as President last October.
The byelection, along with another in Dublin Central brought about after Fine Gael TD Paschal Donohoe resigned his seat to take a job at the World Bank, will take place in May.
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Kyne has been a Senator since 2020, having been unsuccessful in the general election that year in an attempt to hold a Dáil seat he first won in 2011.
While he was a TD served as government chief whip and minster of state with responsibility for the Gaeltacht.
He fell short in a bid to return to the Dáil in the 2024 general election, but was later elected to the Seanad.
On Sunday, Kyne said he was delighted to be selected as the candidate in the byelection and he looked forward to a “positive campaign” and “continuing to use my experience to help people and to represent Galway in Dáil Éireann”.
Party leader, Tánaiste Simon Harris, said: “The entire Fine Gael organisation will get behind Seán as we work hard to win back this Dáil seat.
It is unclear who Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin will run in Galway West.
Former Fianna Fáil member Noel Thomas is contesting the byelection for Independent Ireland.
Thomas Welby, an Independent councillor and close ally of Minister of State Noel Grealish, is also running.
The convener of Connolly’s presidential campaign in Galway, university lecturer Sheila Garrity, will stand as an Independent.
The Labour Party has selected Cllr Helen Ogbu as its candidate in Galway West.
The Social Democrats have selected grassroots activist Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich, The Green Party has chosen former councillor Niall Murphy and Aontú’s candidate is Orla Nugent, a primary schoolteacher.
