The outcome of the contest to fill the vacancy on Westmeath County Council remains unclear today in advance of the monthly meeting of the local authority.
The vacancy arose following the resignation early this month of Jamie Moran, who nominated his father Kevin Boxer Moran to fill the seat.
While a seat is normally filled unopposed in such circumstances, it emerged early on that this wouldn't be the case on this occasion, when Fianna Fail, the largest party on the council declared within 48 hours that they hadn't decided on who they would support.
The subsequent declaration by former Councillor Paul Hogan, and three other candidates interested in the vacancy, left the situation even more unclear in the past couple of weeks.
It's now understood that just two candidates, Kevin Boxer Moran, and Paul Hogans' names will be put before the council meeting today, because they were the only two to secure the required backing of six members of the council to qualify for the contest.
It's not known if the main parties will vote together today, or if some members will abstain, in an open vote due to be held to decide the issue.
There are also two Green Party members, two Labour Party members, and one Independent, who will have a say in the outcome.
