Kildare TD among the possible contenders to gain promotion following Frances Fitzgerald's resignation

One of Kildare's TDs has been tipped as a contender for the vacant Tánaiste position following Frances Fitzgerald's decision to step down following an email scandal.

South Kildare Fine Gael representative Martin Heydon is one of those mentioned in the Irish Independent as a possible contender for the job, and, if not, he could get a promotion to the government cabinet in the reshuffle.

While Heather Humphreys and Pascal Donohoe are among the top contenders for the job, Simon Coveney is the strong favourite following his performance in the campaign for leadership against Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last year, while he has also impressed as Foreign Affairs Minister.

However, Deputy Heydon is an outside possibility, and he is described as a safe pair of hands in the Irish Independent article penned by Niall O'Connor and Kevin Doyle today.

"Currently the chairman of the Fine Gael party. He missed out on a junior minister position after Mr Varadkar's appointment as Taoiseach but is well thought of within by the party hierarchy. A safe pair of hands, he is popular among TDs and has ministerial ambitions," read the piece on Deputy Heydon.

Mr Varadkar is due to make the announcement later today.