General elections may be a long time coming, but Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are already scoping out possible celebrity candidates.

The Mirror reports that local Fine Gael officials are looking to add Colm 'Gooch' Cooper to their team in Kerry's newly expanded five-seater constituency.

The paper quotes a local source:

"We can’t ignore how many votes The Gooch could pull in for us. His dad the late Michael Cooper was chairman of the local Fine Gael Killarney branch.

"So Colm’s credentials are impeccable. He would no doubt pull in more votes than Brendan Griffin and the party is well aware he has threatened to quit on a number of occasions over the past weeks."

Meanwhile Fianna Fail are targeting Kerry legend Darragh O'Shea and former Clare and Dublin manager Anthony Daly. O'Shea was approached before in 2012 about representing the party, though no arrangement was ever made.

Citing the need for a female candidate in Clare, the Mirror's source in Fianna Fail says that it "is unlikely [Daly]will run in Clare but he would probably run in Dublin and would perform well."

The tactic has certainly produced results before, with boxer Kenny Egan claiming a seat for Fine Gael in Clondalkin in this year's local elections.

Decisions on candidates will be finalised early next year.