Fine Gael expect to have the successor to Willie Aird in place by the next Laois County Council meeting.
That is after it was confirmed that a selection convention will take place on Sunday, December 15, to co-opt his replacement.
The Killeshin Hotel will be the venue with registration at 7pm and proceedings getting underway at 7.30pm.
If there are more than one person nominated, a vote from the members will determine the winner.
The whole thing has been made necessary due to the election of Willie Aird to Dail Eireann.
There was a time that politicians could hold a seat in the Council and the Dail but this changed some years ago.
And it means that when the Council meets next, Willie Aird will not be there for the first time since he won his seat in 1985 after being elected to Portlaoise Town Commission in 1979.
So who is likely to be in the mix? Well, one name that is confirmed is Paddy Buggy.
From Kyletalesha in Portlaoise, Buggy has already contested Local Elections on three occasions for Fine Gael – losing out in 2004, 2009 and back in June.
In 2009 – then a Fine Gael candidate in the old Portlaoise area – he was involved in a marathon count, just missing out on the final seat of seven.
He had initially got 435 first preferences, just eight votes behind party colleague, the late Kathleen O’Brien, who was elected on the 11th count alongside Catherine Fitzgerald (Fianna Fáil) and Rotimi Adebari (Independent).
In 2004, he was in the old Mountmellick area, when he got 332 votes and was eliminated early.
Back in June, in the Borris-In-Ossory-Mountmellick area, he gained 1,111 first preference votes but just missed out on a seat.
Mr Buggy was also nominated to run for Fine Gael in the recent General Election but withdrew to support Aird.
Other people who have been linked with the vacancy include Willie Aird’s wife Anne Maria.
A teacher in Holy Family, she has been heavily involved in all of her husband’s election campaigns over the years and also played a pivotal role in the election of Francie Gorman as IFA President this year.
Another potential candidate would be Thomasina Connell. She was elected to the Portlaoise Municipal District in 2019, taking the last seat after a mammoth battle as a first-time Local Election candidate.
She then served five years on the council, including a year as Cathaoirleach and made history by becoming the first Laois Councillor to have a baby while in office.
But she finished ninth in the Local Election in June and subsequently lost her seat.
While a fourth name who has been mentioned in political circles is Liam Delaney.
A farmer from Portlaoise, he was once the face of McDonald’s 100% Irish beef campaign and is involved with the IFA.
He was a prominent figure in Aird’s recent election campaign as he joined him on the canvass.
This will be the third Fine Gael co-option in Laois County Council in recent years.
When Mary Sweeney retired from the Portlaoise area in 2022, Barry Walsh replaced her and held his seat at the elections in June.
In 2021, Tom Mulhall retired from the Graiguecullen-Portarlington area – before passing away in March of this year.
His co-option was contested by PJ Kelly and Vivienne Phelan – with Kelly winning then before Phelan won the seat at Kelly’s expense in June.
Laois County Council’s final meeting of the year is on December 16 and whoever replaces Willie Aird should be present for that.
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