The battle is under way among Fianna Fáil Senators for the coveted post of Cathaoirleach of the Seanad. Michael O'Regan, Parliamentary Correspondent, reports
It carries a salary of €113,636 and involves extensive foreign travel. Two civilian drivers are paid for by the State.
At least six candidates are expected to enter the race for the post, which will be filled next month when FF Senators elect a colleague in advance of the first meeting of the new Seanad.
"As of now it is wide open, with no obvious frontrunner, which will make the canvassing all the more intense," a Fianna Fáil source said yesterday. "It is shaping up to be a long and tough campaign."
An early declaration of interest in the job was made by Senators Terry Leyden, from Roscommon, and Dublin-based Ann Ormonde. They are expected to be joined in the contest by Senators Pat Moylan (Offaly), Jim Walsh (Wexford), Camillus Glynn, (Westmeath), and Labhrás Ó Murchú (Tipperary).
Senator John Hanafin, from Tipperary, brother of Minister for Education Mary Hanafin, is considering his options.
Mr Leyden is 30 years in politics, having been first elected to the Dáil in 1977.
He held his seat, and served in a number of junior ministerial posts, until 1992.
He then served briefly in the Seanad before being re-elected to the Seanad in 2002.
Mr Leyden is stressing his political experience and his track record in the Seanad over the past five years, when he introduced a Private Members' Bill relating to wills.
Ms Ormonde has been a member of the Seanad since 1993, and her long service could be an important factor in securing votes. A member of a well-known Fianna Fáil family from Waterford, she has contested general elections in the Dublin South constituency.
Mr Moylan, a close associate of Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen, could be a dark horse in the contest. A member of the Seanad since 1997, he secured the third seat in the 11-seater agricultural panel.
Mr Walsh, Mr Glynn and Mr Ó Murchú were also part of the 1997 Seanad intake.
Mr Walsh, a former president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, cut his political teeth as a member of Wexford County Council.
Mr Glynn was elected to Westmeath County Council in 1979 and contested the 1997 general election in the Westmeath constituency.
Mr Ó Murchú is well known as the director general of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. He was a member of Cashel UDC for 20 years.
The taoiseach of the day nominated the cathaoirleach until the 1980s, when the late Charles Haughey refused to get involved as it became a contest between the late Seán Doherty and Des Hanafin. He proposed that the Fianna Fáil Senators should vote for their preferred candidate and this precedent has been followed since.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will be nominating the leader of the House, and this is expected to go to Senator Donie Cassidy, replacing Mary O'Rourke, who was elected to the Dáil.