Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Martin Heydon has been selected to contest the general election in the Kildare South constituency.
This was confirmed last night (Thursday, August 29) by Fine Gael at the general election selection convention.
Minister Heydon has been a Teachta Dála for the Kildare South constituency since 2011.
He has been the Minister of State at the DAFM with responsibility for research and development, farm safety and new market development since July 2020.
The TD is a farmer and is a native of south Kildare, living near Kilcullen. He attended Crookstown N.S., Cross & Passion College Kilcullen and Kildalton Agricultural College.
Minister Heydon is a suckler and tillage farmer from Co. Kildare. After his father passed away when he was eight, his mother kept the family farm going.
His wife is also of a farming background, and they have three children.
After first serving as a county councilor in Kildare, he was elected to the Dáil at the 2011 general election and was the first Fine Gael minister from Kildare in 23 years.
Minister Heydon is the first minister in the history of the state to have farm safety included as a specific area of responsibility in his portfolio.
While it is not yet known when the next general election will take place, a Dáil cannot continue for longer than 5 years.
Therefore, the next Irish general election must be held no later than March 2025 to elect the 34th Dáil, as the 33rd Dáil met in February 2025.
The act of ending a Dáil is known as dissolution. A general election must be held within 30 days of the dissolution of the Dáil.
Once the President proclaims that the Dáil is dissolved, the clerk of the Dáil directs the returning officer in each constituency to prepare for an election.
The polling day is set by the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government.