Fianna Fáil last night continued its efforts to have a significant proportion of its general election ticket finished by the autumn when its Limerick West organisation selected two candidates.
The selection convention, which took place in the Rathkeale House Hotel, was faced with choosing a different ticket following the decision of sitting TD Michael Collins to retire.
Mr Collins, whose place has been taken by his nephew, Cllr Niall Collins, announced last month that he would not run again.
Fianna Fáil's other sitting TD, Dromcollogher-based John Cregan, is also to stand again.
In 2004, Mr Collins, who was caught by the Revenue Commissioners in possession of a bogus non-resident bank account, paid €130,000 in outstanding tax, along with penalties and interest.
Facing the near certainty of expulsion from the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, Mr Collins resigned, though no action was taken to expel him from the party's ranks, as happened in the case of Mayo TD, Beverley Flynn.
The retiring TD, the brother of former minister for foreign affairs and justice, Gerard Collins, was twice elected to the Dáil and sat on Limerick County Council from 1979 until the end of the dual mandate.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil headquarters is insisting that the party should only run two candidates in Dublin North Central, which has been cut from a four-seater to a three-seater following the Boundary Commission's review.
Minister of State Ivor Callely and Seán Haughey, son of the former taoiseach, are seeking nominations, as is the Fianna Fáil Dublin City Council councillor, Deirdre Heney.
Based in Whitehall, Ms Heney, who won nearly 4,500 votes in the 2004 local elections in the Clontarf ward, has lobbied strongly for a chance to run.
