Councillors' positions: The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, appears to have the support of a majority of PD councillors.
The 29 councillors, along with the non-Oireachtas members of the national executive, make up the second electoral college in the PD leadership election, and account for for 30 per cent of the total vote in a PD leadership election.
Of the 15 councillors who spoke to The Irish Times, all said that they would prefer to see a consensus candidate emerge. Ten of the 15 said their preferred candidate was Mr McDowell.
It is also understood that a further five councillors from Galway intend to support Mr McDowell, bringing to a minimum of 15 the number of councillors in favour of his leadership.
Of the 15 who spoke to this paper, two said they favoured Minister of State at the Office of Public Works Tom Parlon.
None gave any indication of support for the third potential candidate, Liz O'Donnell. Four said they had yet to decide on a favoured candidate.
Former TD, senator and Cork city councillor Máirín Quill said she was totally in support of Mr McDowell becoming the next leader of the Progressive Democrats. "I'm a founding member of the party, he is as well and we've known each other since then," she said, adding that he had the "leadership qualities" and work rate needed to secure a good performance for the party in the general election.
Three councillors from Galway, Jim Cuddy, Terry O'Flaherty and Donal Lyons, told The Irish Times they would like to see Mr McDowell elected. It is believed that all eight PD councillors from the Galway area will support Mr McDowell.
Cllr Cuddy said Mr McDowell had the "energy, the intellect and the ability to lead the party. He makes the right decisions for the country, even though they might be difficult ones and might not be popular with some sections of the media or the population."
Donal Lyons said a consensus candidate was "in the best interests of the party" and that Mr McDowell would provide "the leadership required" in the run-up to a difficult general election campaign.
Limerick county councillor Eddie Creighton said he also believed a consensus candidate was needed, but had no preference in terms of leader at this stage. "The three candidates mentioned are all very capable and I wouldn't have a great problem if any of them were leader," he said.
Cllr Walter Lacey from Carlow said he was also undecided on who he would be supporting for the leadership. South Dublin county councillor Gerard Cullen and Fermoy town councillor Peter Merrigan said they too were undecided.
Cllr Rose Brennan, wife of Limerick senator Michael Brennan, is also supporting Mr McDowell, as is Dublin city councillor Wendy Hederman, a close political associate of Mr McDowell.
Paying tribute to the Minister for Justice, Cllr Hederman said he was the reason she had joined the Progressive Democrats and stood for election and that he had shown "a dedication to serving the people of this country".
Cllr Brendan Gilmore of Longford said he also supported Mr McDowell. "I feel he's the person whose leadership at this stage is needed to regain the ground," he said.
"He's a fighter and, really, that's what the party needs at the moment." He added that Mr McDowell was a "very, very nice man and he has a word for everybody".
Cllr Mick Deely from Newbridge and Cllr Pat Clear from Naas also indicated their support for Mr McDowell.
Offaly county councillor Eddie Fitzpatrick and Birr town councillor Sean Doorley both indicated they would support a leadership bid by Tom Parlon. Both are key figures in Mr Parlon's local organisation. Mr Fitzpatrick said he would like to see consensus on the party's leadership.
"Whether or not there is agreement, I think Minister Parlon is a very capable person," he said. "He hasn't said whether he's running but if he did decide to take on the job, he'd get my support."