It comes following the early retirement of Councillor Tom Mulhall.
PJ Kelly has been chosen to fill the vacant seat on Laois County Council.
It comes following the early retirement of Fine Gael's Tom Mulhall, who had served since 2009.
An online ballot was held within the party today to select his successor - with Kelly defeating Vivienne Phelan.
Councillor Kelly, from Ballybrittas, will represent the Grangecullen Portarlington municipal district.
He will be officially co-opted at the next meeting of Laois County Council on Monday 26th April.
Cllr. Kelly said:
“I am honoured to serve on Laois County Council and continue on some of the fantastic work of Tom Mulhall.
“I will work hard on local issues such as rural road maintenance, tackling illegal dumping and bringing projects initiated by Tom, like the sewerage system in Ballybrittas, over the line.
“I look forward to working with the people of the area.”
Cllr. Kelly, a farmer, is treasurer of Courtwood GAA and a former chairman of the club, as well as of St Conleth’s ladies’ football and St Paul’s juvenile club.
Married to May and father to Alison, Rachel and Liam, he's a long-time Fine Gael member and has canvassed for the party for a number of years with current and past TDs including Charlie Flanagan, Martin Heydon, Olwyn Enright and Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy.
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