Ahern’s turf to host tight battle

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern’s constituency of Dublin Central will be among the tightest and most divisive in the general election, following Fianna Fáil’s weekend decision to field three candidates and yesterday’s by Patricia McKenna that she will stand for the Green Party there.

The four-seat constituency is already one of the most marginal in the country - Dr Dermot Fitzpatrick (FF) had only 79 votes to spare when winning the last seat from Sinn Féin’s Nicky Kehoe in 2002.

Mary Lou McDonald, the high-profile Sinn Féin MEP, has already declared as a candidate.