Parties on war footing for early general election

The battle lines for a spring general election are drawn in Longford-Westmeath, after Fianna Fáil became the latest political party to confirm its ticket for the constituency.On Monday, one of the younger generation of county councillors in Westmeath joined Dáil deputies Mary O'Rourke and Peter Kelly on FF's Longford-Westmeath ticket for the forthcoming poll.Robert Troy (29), a member of Westmeath County Council since 2004, defeated his colleague Cllr. Aidan Davitt, as the party held its constituency convention at the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar on Monday.The FF trio selected on Monday will contest the election against Fine Gael's Senator Nicky McFadden, Deputy James Bannon and Cllr. Peter Burke; Labour's Deputy Willie Penrose and Mae Sexton, and at least one Sinn Féin candidate, likely to be Athlone's Cllr. Paul Hogan.As we went to press, no independents or Greens have stepped forward to add their names to the ballot for the election, which is likely to take place in March.Seven nominees were sent forward for the Fianna Fáil convention, which was chaired by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan: Troy, Kelly, O'Rourke, Castlepollard's Senator Donie Cassidy, Mullingar West councillor Ken Glynn, former Mullingar Chamber of Commerce president Paul O'Brennan, and Drumlish councillor Martin Mulleady.Attended by hundreds of Fianna Fáil cumann delegates from across the constituency, the event was divided into three separate district conventions, centering on south Westmeath (Athlone/Kilbeggan), north Westmeath (Mullingar/Coole) and Longford.Incumbent deputies O'Rourke and Kelly were unanimously ratified by cumann members from south Westmeath and Longford respectively, with Cllr. Mulleady withdrawing in favour of Deputy Kelly, and O'Rourke unchallenged.O'Brennan, Cassidy and Glynn then withdrew from the north Westmeath race, paving the way for a contest between Cllrs Troy and Davitt.Delegates from the Mullingar West and East areas, as well as members from a portion of the Coole Area, cast their ballots in a brief vote, after which Cllr. Troy was declared the clear winner.