Sitting TDs Ivor Callely and Seán Haughey were chosen last night to stand for Fianna Fáil in Dublin North Central after a third candidate, Dublin city councillor Deirdre Heney, withdrew her name at the last minute.
Ms Heney, who stood for the party in North Central at the last election, had not been expected to be selected after party headquarters decided to run two candidates at the next election as opposed to three previously.
The ruling, made by the party's national executive constituency committee, was expected after Dublin North Central was reduced from four seats to three in the last boundary review.
Following her withdrawal, Ms Heney criticised the decision, and said she hoped she could convince the party to change its mind on the strategy over the coming months. In the run up to the convention, Mr Callely and Mr Haughey, had been expected to take three-quarters of the votes between them last night.
Since the boundary review, Cllr Heney had been facing an uphill struggle to secure a nomination.
She was first elected to Dublin City Council in 1999, stood in Dublin North Central in 2002, and narrowly missed out on the fourth seat, polling 14 per cent of the first preference vote. She polled well in the 2004 local elections, bucking the trend against her party, topping the poll in Clontarf .
A full-time worker in the office of Minister of State for housing Noel Ahern, a brother of the Taoiseach, there is speculation that she may seek selection in another Dublin constituency.
Meanwhile, minister of state Brian Lenihan paid tribute at the convention to Charles Haughey, who had sacked his father while he was taoiseach. Mr Lenihan said Mr Haughey "did great things for our little nation and let that not be forgotten".