An independent Dublin city councillor, Mr Michael Conaghan, has declined offers from Fianna Fail and Fine Gael to stand for them in the next general election, he said yesterday.
Mr Conaghan said he would stand in the election as an independent in the Dublin Central constituency.
He had rejected a Fianna Fail approach to stand as a running mate of the party leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, and a Fine Gael offer to replace Mr Jim Mitchell, who is retiring from politics at the next election. He is a former member of the Democratic Socialist Party and the Labour Party, which he left early this year.