John Dolan is still the only declared contender for the Fine Gael seat on Westmeath County Council left vacant by the departure of Moate councillor Joe Whelan from politics.

Mr Dolan, a former county councillor for the party, declared his interest early on and is still the only member of the party in the South Westmeath district to have done so.

Former mayor of Athlone, Cllr Alan Shaw, said this week he is still weighing up his options and hopes to come to a decision about whether he will contest the seat in the coming days.

It is expected that the co-option convention will be held on, or around, September 21 so that the seat will be filled in advance of the September meeting of Westmeath County Council.

Speaking in the wake of Cllr Whelan's departure from political life, Mr Dolan said he believed he was well placed geographically to replace Joe Whelan.

Mr Dolan served on the county council for over 18 months before losing out at the last local elections in 2009. However, he received a strong vote during these elections and the Athlone Area had been changed from a seven seater to a six seater ahead of the election.

While Mr Dolan has declared himself as a contender and Cllr Shaw is weighing up his option, the co-option convention will be open to all members in the five branches of the district and any member in these branches can put their name forward. The branches making up the district are Athlone, Castledaly, Moate, Mount Temple and Tubberclair/Glasson.

Within the next week to ten days the district secretary is expected to write to each of the branch secretaries asking them to hold meetings with a view to proposing potential candidates.

They will have about two weeks to do this and it is expected the deadline for candidates putting their name forward will be September 10.

There has been some speculation that the Moate branch may put forward a candidate in a bid to keep the seat in the Moate area.

Once the candidates have put their names forward the co-option convention will be held and in the region of 300 to 330 members across the South Westmeath district will have a vote to choose Cllr Whelan's replacement.

The new councillor will be in place in time for the September meeting of the council, which will be held on September 24.