Munster's Independent MEP, Mr Pat Cox (45), is today set to be elected leader of the European Parliament's third-largest group, the Liberal, Democratic and Reformist Group (LDR), writes Patrick Smyth in Brussels.
With nominations closed, Mr Cox's name is the only one in the ring, and although the rules provide for the possibility of another candidate emerging on the day, he has been endorsed by national parties representing a majority of the group's 41 MEPs from 12 member-states.
The unusual election of an Independent to lead a major party grouping is seen here as a tribute to the professionalism of the MEP's parliamentary performance and his breadth of commitment to the Parliament's broader agenda, unusual among most Irish MEPs.
Mr Cox, currently deputy leader, joined the group initially as a Progressive Democrat, but following his resignation in 1994 after his unsuccessful attempt to succeed Mr Des O'Malley, he was readmitted as an Independent.
The PDs remain affiliated, however, to the Federation of Liberal, Democratic and Reformist Parties of the European Community, to which the LDR group is affiliated, but do not have a vote in today's election.
The LDR brings together a number of centrist parties outside the Christian Democratic tradition. Economically conservative, they tend to be strong supporters of European integration, with some Nordic exceptions, and opposed to the more nationalist tradition of the Fianna Fail/Gaullist EDA.
The Liberals' outgoing leader, Mr Gijs de Vries, has resigned from the Parliament to join the Dutch cabinet.