The Connacht-Ulster MEP, Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, declared yesterday that she intends to run for the Dáil in Galway West constituency.
The MEP ended months of speculation when she confirmed she would stand as an Independent candidate, and said she intended to retain her seat in Europe if elected.
The recent resignation of junior minister, Mr Bobby Molloy, and his decision not to run for the Dáil again, had "no bearing" on her decision, Ms Scallon said.
She had decided on the constituency as it was her home, and it represented "a microcosm of the problems I encounter in my constituency of Europe". She said imbalanced regional development would be central to her campaign.
"I know that people in Galway West haven't received a fair slice of the pie, and we only have four years of Objective One status left."
She would be seeking to work with other independents in the region on this issue, but said she had not yet talked to the members of an alliance formed last month by Ms Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim), Dr Jerry Cowley (Mayo) and Ms Una Quinn (Longford-Roscommon). They have agreed a basic common platform which encompasses health, employment and infrastructure issues.
Ms Scallon said the "dual mandate" was "extremely important", because the Dáil and European Parliament were "inextricably linked". She was opposed to further EU centralisation, and was concerned about "political decisions being taken in Brussels which weaken our sovereignty".
Ms Scallon, who is still best known as the winner of the 1970 Eurovision song contest, and polled 176,000 first preference votes in the 1997 presidential election here, was elected to the European Parliament in 1999.
She campaigned against the Nice Treaty and against the Government's abortion amendment in the recent referendum. Yesterday, she said she did not think her stance had damaged her support in Galway West, although the Galway for Life campaign, which campaigned for a Yes vote, was highly critical of her .
"The people in Galway for Life are lifelong friends of mine, and I have every hope that we will work together as our objectives are the same. I hope there will be no unresolved situation there," she said.
Ms Scallon's candidacy will further wind up the election campaign in the marginal constituency, where Fianna Fáil is now hoping to benefit from Mr Molloy's resignation.
Senator Margaret Cox, who is running along with Minister for the Marine, Mr Fahey, and Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr Eamon Ó Cuiv, is tipped to take a third seat in the five-seater. Fine Gael is running three candidates, including sitting TD Mr Padraic McCormack, and Labour's Michael D. Higgins is standing again. Sinn Féin has two candidates, the Green Party has one and there are several other Independents.
A recent opinion poll cast doubt over Ms Scallon's chances in the constituency, if she decided to run. The Galway Advertiser/ Bluebird Marketing poll in late January said she would get just two per cent of the vote and was faced with an almost insurmountable task.
A TG4/MRBI poll in November 2000 had said she could secure five per cent if she decided to stand in Galway West.
