Eighteen declared for Longford Westmeath with just 35 minutes left
With just under 35 minutes remaining to the cut-off time for nominations, eighteen candidates are understood to have declared so far for the Longford/Westmeath constituency for the forthcoming general election.
A full list is due to issue shortly after the 12 noon deadline, but known so far to The Westmeath Examiner are 17 candidates.
Fine Gael is running three: Deputy James Bannon, Deputy Gabrielle McFadden and Cllr Peter Burke.
Fianna Fáil’s two candidates are: Deputy Robert Troy and Connie Gerety-Quinn.
Labour’s runner in the race is Deputy Willie Penrose; Sinn Féin is running Cllr Paul Hogan; the Green Party is running Manchán Magan.
Also running are Independent Alliance candidates Cllr Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, James Morgan and Brian Fagan; and standalone independents Barbara Smyth, Donal Jackson, and Mae Sexton.
Stephanie Healy is running for Direct Democracy Ireland, Dom Parker is running for the Anti-Austerity Alliance and James Miller is running for the Public Banking Alliance.
*******UPDATE********
Eighteen for Longford/Westmeath; nine for Meath West
The deadline has passed for declaring as a general election candidate, and in total, there is a field of 18 candidates running in Longford/Westmeath.
Throwing his hat into the ring is Athlone man Noel McKervey, who is affiliated to the Catholic Democrats (the National Party).
In Meath West, meanwhile - the constituency home to a large portion of north Westmeath - a total of nine candidates have declared for the general election.
Incumbents Damien English, Ray Butler (both Fine Gael) and Peadar Tóibín (Sinn Féin) are joined by Shane Cassells (Fianna Fáil), Tracy McElhinney (Labour), Seamus McMenamin (Green Party) and Alan Lawes (Direct Democracy Ireland).
Also added to the ballot for Meath West will be independent candidate, Cllr Trevor Golden, and Oldcastle resident John Malone, the leader of Christian and Jobs Action Party.
The deadline for handing in candidacy papers passed at 12 noon today (Thursday).