Fianna Fáil headquarters has instructed its Kildare North constituency organisation not to choose candidates for the next general election until well into next year because of doubts among senior party officials over the strength of potential candidates.
On Monday, party headquarters instructed the local organisation to postpone the selection convention which had been due to take place last night.
Instead, general secretary Seán Dorgan summoned the five people seeking nomination to a meeting in Dublin last night.
Mr Dorgan is believed to have told them the party is concerned that apart from Áine Brady, who had a high-profile run for the Dáil in a byelection earlier this year, the other proposed contenders do not have the required level of public recognition.
The party will be trying to win two seats in what will be a four-seat constituency at the next election. However, the presence of the byelection winner, Independent Catherine Murphy, Labour's Emmet Stagg and a strong Fine Gael challenger to win one seat will make Fianna Fáil's aim difficult to realise.
Fianna Fáil's five proposed contenders - Ms Brady, Eamonn Travers, Anthony Creevey, Michael Fitzpatrick and Liam Doyle - have been told to spend the next few months raising their profiles locally. There is speculation that the party may yet seek to persuade someone else to enter the race, although Charlie McCreevy jnr, son of the European Commissioner of the same name, has ruled himself out.
No decision has been taken on whether the party should run two or three candidates.
