Search
17 Oct 2025
Search
17 Oct 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Senator Lisa Chambers with party colleague Dara Calleary canvassing Ballina for a seat in the Midlands–North-West European election constituency (Pic: Facebook/Lisa Chambers)
MINISTER Dara Calleary and Senator Lisa Chambers have been formally selected to stand for Fianna Fáil in the five-seat Mayo constituency at the next general election.
There were no other challengers as Minister Calleary and Senator Chambers were selected by party colleagues at a convention in the Ivy Tower Hotel in Castlebar on Friday evening The convention was chaired by Senator and former TD for Roscommon-Galway Eugene Murphy..
County councillors Damien Ryan and Brendan Mulroy had put their names forward for selection in recent weeks but withdrew their names before the convention. They will both be seeking a nomination to run for the Seanad instead.
Achill-based councillor Paul McNamara also put his name forward for selection but subsequently withdrew.
Senator Chambers is aiming to win back the Dáil seat she lost in the 2020 general election. She recently unsucessfully stood for Fianna Fáil in the Midlands North-West constituency in the European elections.
Minister Calleary is aiming to be re-elected for the fifth time since he first became a TD in 2007. In 2020, he briefly served as Minister for Agriculture before resigning in the aftermath of the Golfgate scandal.
In 2022, he was promoted to the office of Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. In June, he retook a seat at Cabinet when he was named a super junior minister.
Attention will now turn to the upcoming Fine Gael convention on September 15, where five candidates have so far put their names forward to stand for the party in the next general election.
It is understood that the party will run at least three candidates in Mayo in the general election, which must take place within the next year.
Cllr John O’Hara, Cllr Alma Gallagher, former TD and Senator Michelle Mulherin, unsuccessful local election candidate Keira Keogh and Minister Alan Dillon have all been nominated to run for the party.
Fine Gael will be aiming to retain the seat vacated by Deputy Michael Ring after a 45-year career in politics.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
