Nominations open for Labour leadership - Kelly to be on ballot

Alan Kelly is now the candidate to beat in the race to succeed Brendan Howlin as leader of the Labour Party after nominations for the contest officially opened at the weekend. 
The party’s executive board met in Dublin at the weekend to agree on rules for the leadership contest, with sources close to Kelly confirming that he will run after securing a nomination from one of his parliamentary colleagues. 
The Tipperary TD has seen his odds crumble over the weekend, with BoyleSports now rating him a red-hot 1/5 chance from 9/4 to succeed Brendan Howlin, who resigned when his party won only six seats at the general election. 
Aodhán O’Riordáin and Ged Nash are the other names said to be considering a bid although sources have indicated that they are unlikely to run against each other and are in discussions as to which will put themselves forward.
O’Riordáin is the most likely to enter the race according to the betting and is 3/1 to win it having opened up as the Even money favourite. Ged Nash, who was re-elected in Louth having lost his seat in the 2016 election, is a 10/1 shot.
Lawrence Lyons, spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “Alan Kelly looks like the only name that is certain to be on the ballot paper and he’s the clear frontrunner according the money we’ve seen over the past few days. The influx of support for the Tipperary TD means we’ve had to cut him all the way in to 1/5 from 9/4, so whoever else stand looks like they have it all to do if punters have called it right.”