Willie Penrose, TD, has announced he will not be seeking re-election.

Westmeath TD standing down as ex-county footballer bids to take his seat

Westmeath's longest-serving TD, Willie Penrose, has announced that he will not be running in the next general election.

The Labour stalwart, who was first elected to the Dail in the so called 'Spring Tide' of 1992, is set to retire from national politics when the lifetime of the current government comes to an end.

A Labour spokeperson told our sister paper, the Westmeath Examiner, that former inter-county GAA star Alan Mangan from Castletown-Geoghegan, who was a member of the Westmeath team that won the Leinster Championship in 2004, will run for the party in the next general election.

Labour is holding its Longford - Westmeath selection convention in the Mullingar Park Hotel at 8pm this evening (Thursday).

The event is due to be chaired by Labour TD Jan O'Sullivan and party leader Brendan Howlin will be in attendance.