FORMER Progressive Democrat TD Mae Sexton is to make a dramatic bid to return to the Dáil as a Labour TD.

The Sunday Tribune can reveal that the Labour Party has set its sights on Sexton as a potential general election candidate in the Longford-Westmeath constituency.

Senior party sources hope Sexton, who is a sitting independent Longford county councillor, will add her name to the Labour ticket and be returned to the Dáil with sitting Westmeath-based TD Willie Penrose.

With almost a 10% share of the vote in the Longford town area, Sexton was elected to Longford County Council in last June's local elections. Labour believes her local popularity and political experience will make her a good running mate for Penrose.

Since his election to the Dáil in 1992, Penrose has forged his reputation of being an outstanding vote-getter. He topped the poll in Longford-Westmeath in 2007 with 9,692 first-preference votes. Fianna Fáil's Mary O'Rourke and Peter Kelly, and Fine Gael's James Bannon currently hold the other three seats. Sexton was unavailable for comment when contacted by the Sunday Tribune this weekend.

Labour's plan of running Sexton along with Penrose is part of a wider strategy of running a second candidate in constituencies where the party has a sitting TD. It is hoped that the move, said to be the brainchild of party leader Eamon Gilmore, will capitalise on anti-government sentiment and put the party on a head-to-head footing with Fine Gael as both parties seek to tap into that sentiment.

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