Brendan Smith seems set for Brussels following the Fianna Fáil selection convention at the weekend. The former agriculture minister held off a strong challenge from Niall Blaney, with former ICMSA president John Comer a distant third.

Meanwhile, Wexford councilor Malcolm Byrne upset Billy Kelleher for Fianna Fáil’s nomination in Ireland South.

One question on many people’s lips is whether Peter Casey will run. The Midlands/Northwest will be the “group of death”. Fianna Fáil will surely take a seat, and sitting MEPs Matt Carthy and Mairead McGuinness are near certainties. That leaves one seat to be fought between current MEPs Marian Harkin and Luke Ming Flanagan, two strong vote-getters, and Maria Walsh, a charismatic candidate. To add to the mix, Fianna Fáil is tipped to add Galway TD Anne Rabbitte to its ticket (even though she only got one-third of Niall Blaney’s vote).

Casey might instead run in the five-seat Ireland South, which currently has no strong independent candidate. It looks like a carve-up between two each for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, with Liadh Ní Riada, like her Sinn Féin colleagues, sure of re-election. FF needs to add a second candidate to win a second seat, of course, and Kelleher is high-profile. All assuming the UK don’t end up contesting the election, in which case there’s no fifth seat. Brexit is like dust, it gets everywhere.