Battle royale on cards in South Roscommon as FF name line-up

Fianna Fáil is to run four candidates in the Athlone area of South Roscommon, it was confirmed this week as the run-up to the Local Elections next year really hots up. Both sitting councillors Trevor Finneran and Anthony Geraghty have been selected to run for the party once more but they will also be joined by two further candidates, sitting mid-Roscommon Councillor Paddy Kilduff and John Keogh from Monksland. The latter three are very close in geographical terms setting up a potential battle royale for votes in the south of the county next June. It had been thought that Fianna Fáil Headquarters might opt for just three candidates, spacing them out in different areas of the new six-seater constituency but this hasn"t transpired with Councillors Kilduff and Geraghty both vying for votes in the Kiltoom, Carna and Lecarrow areas. Councillor Kilduff chose to move from mid-Roscommon to the Athlone area after much of his home territory was ceded in the boundary shift. Reacting to the selection news sitting Councillor Anthony Geraghty said he is under no illusions about his prospects in the local elections describing the task of getting re-elected as an 'uphill battle'. 'I"m delighted to have been selected to run but at the same time they"ve put up a real challenge for me by selecting Councillor Pady Kilduff who is right beside me. It"s a huge challenge, with not alone Paddy Kilduff but also with John Keogh the other side of me'. He added that five candidates went for selection and the party had a right to pick Jimmy Kenny, the only one to lose out. 'I feel for Jimmy Kenny who is Chairman of the Comhairle Cheantair. He had a huge area to himself, I feel they had a right to select him and run the five. It"s really disappointing for him,' adding that stated aims of headquarters was to avoid the possibility of candidates all looking for votes in the same area this time around, something that was not achieved, the Kiltoom-based Councillor concluded.