Former cabinet minister Senator Brendan Daly (FF) confirmed yesterday that he is to put his name forward to contest the next general election in the four-seat Clare constituency.
Mr Daly, who will be 67 by the time the election is scheduled to take place in mid-2007, said yesterday: "If selected by the party to go forward for election, I am confident that I will win a Dáil seat."
The Senator lost his Dáil seat last time out to James Breen TD who resigned from Fianna Fáil in the months prior to the election in order to run as an Independent.
Mr Daly was first elected TD in 1973 and held on to his seat until 1992 and regained it in 1997. During his time in the Dáil, he has served as a minister in three departments, Fisheries and Forestry; the Marine and Social Welfare.
Fianna Fáil's Senator Timmy Dooley, also from Clare, has declared he will put his name forward at the next convention along with Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen.
Clare's other sitting Fianna Fáil TD, Minister of State for Education Síle de Valera, has yet to declare her intentions. The party's selection convention is not expected to take place until next spring.
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