June by-election for seat

Voters in the constituency of South Tipperary are set to face a by-election before the end of next month.

The seat was left vacant by the death of sitting member of parliament Teresa Ahearn last September and the opposition Fine Gael party moved the writ for the holding of the vote in the Irish parliament today.

The by-election must be held between 21 and 28 days from now.

The poll will be the first electoral test of new Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan, who replaced former John Bruton as head of the party in February.

This is the second by-election to be fought in the South Tipperary constituency in the lifetime of the current parliament.

So far four candidates are set to contest the seat, including Michael Maguire of Fianna Fail and Senator Tom Hayes of Fine Gael.

Denis Landy is to run for the Labour Party, while Phil Prendergast is a candidate for the local Unemployed Action Group.

A general election must be held by the end of next summer.