FINE GAEL TD John O’Mahony will cross the county border for the next general election, announcing this evening he will run for the party’s nomination in Galway-West.

The Kilmovee man has represented Mayo in the Dáil for eight years, after his election in 2007.

The shrinking of the constituency from five to four seats, however, as well as boundary changes in Galway-West, means O’Mahony’s decision had been mooted in recent times.

“I have worked hard to represent the interests of constituents throughout Mayo in the last two terms,” he said in a statement tonight.

The pitch for the next General Election has changed, however.

The Mayo constituency has reduced from five seats to four and boundary changes mean that approximately 8,000 voters in south Mayo, where I have received considerable support in the past, will move into the Galway West constituency

The former Mayo and Galway football manager said the decision had followed “extensive consultation with the Fine Gael party and beyond.”

O’Mahony is currently one of four Fine Gael TDs in the constituency, along with Enda Kenny, Michael Ring, and Michelle Mulherin.

The fifth is Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary.

At present, Galway-West is represented by two Fine Gael deputies, Seán Kyne and Brian Walsh, but sitting Senator Hildegarde Naughton may also be considering a Dáil run.

Earlier this month, O’Mahony told the Irish Times he was being treated like a “moveable feast”, due to the pressures of gender quota rules for party candidates, which will be in place at the next general election.

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