Brian Stanley signs up in Portlaoise for epic Laois General Election battle without Sinn Féin
Portlaoise-based politician will be the focus of national attention through the campaign
There's no turning back now for former Laois Offaly Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley in the General Election for what will be the biggest battle of his political career.
The now self-styled independent republican politician official became a candidate after he lodged his nomination papers in Portlaoise Courthouse ahead of the deadline for nominations.
Mr Stanley has been a TD since 2011 when he upset the Laois Offaly apple cart by winning a seat for Sinn Féin at the expense of Fianna Fáil. He won in the Laois three-seater in 2016 and topped the poll for Sinn Féin in 2020.
All is changed utterly for Mountrath man who now lives in Portlaoise due to his battles with Sinn Féin which culminated in his resignation from the party just a month out from the November poll.
The controversy that engulfed him and Sinn Féin will ensure he will be at the centre of national attention during election previews and on count day in November in Portlaoise.
Sinn Féin is running a candidate in the constituency but Mr Stanley is tipped to retain his seat.
He unsuccessfully contested the 2002 and 2007 general elections in Laois-Offaly.
He was elected at the 1999 local elections as a member of Portlaoise Town Council, and was re-elected in 2004, and in 2009. He was elected as a member of Laois County Council for the Portlaoise local electoral area at the 2004 local elections, after which he was central to a rainbow coalition made up of Fine Gael, independents, Labour, PD.
His wife, Caroline Dwane Stanley, is a member of Laois County Council and remains in Sinn Féin.
In July 2020, he was appointed as the chair of the Public Accounts Committee. He was the first Sinn Féin TD to hold the office which he nearly lost soon after taking it up due to tweets about the IRA. He lost the job in 2024 after leaving Sinn Féin.