Harris: ‘Unwritten bit’ is big part of presidency

Last month, Ireland South MEP Seán Kelly indicated that he might seek the Fine Gael nomination to contest the presidential election this autumn.

Similarly, former EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness has yet to rule herself out.

Asked whether there should be a competition for the Fine Gael nomination, the Tánaiste noted that far more people have ruled themselves out of the presidential election than have declared an interest.

“What’s behind that? Is it the very personal nature of the campaign? I don’t know, but it is interesting that very fine people of a variety of political persuasions, and none, have said, ‘I’m all right, thanks’.

“I think that’s interesting, and I’m not sure it’s good,” Mr Harris said.

Fine Gael would definitely run a candidate, he added, with nominations opening on Monday.

Having won the Fine Gael leadership unopposed last year, Mr Harris admitted — somewhat ruefully — that he was hardly in a position to argue that there must be a contest.

“It’s a big call for anybody to put their name forward; then it’s an issue for people to decide who they wish to nominate, and if there ends up being a contest, contests are healthy.

“But if there ends up not being a contest, that’s okay, too.”

Mr Harris said he was satisfied Fine Gael would have a “high calibre” candidate regardless of who sought its nomination, and he paid tribute to President Higgins, of whom he said he was very fond.

“When you’re taoiseach, you brief the president under Article 28. Those meetings are always private in both directions, other than to say that I always found them to be fascinating, informative, and helpful.”

With some candidates in recent elections not appearing to understand the function of the president, Mr Harris said that while it is a very clearly defined constitutional role, with limited powers, he felt that, in some ways, the real power of the presidency is in what he called “the unwritten bit”.

“To speak for our nation, to bring our people together, to unify our country at difficult times and to speak up and speak out for Ireland,” he said.

He cited President Robinson on human rights, President McAleese capturing the mood of the nation after 9/11, and President Higgins “trying to capture the depth of feeling that our country has in relation to situations going on in the world”.

Most people who run for president, he said, “with a few notable exceptions,” will be able to discharge the office with dignity.

“But then there’s what sort of president you’re going to be, and how will you discharge the unwritten bit, the being the head of State bit, which doesn’t come with a manual.

“We’ve been very well served by presidents over the years, but the Irish people, they own the presidency,” he said.

“The Irish people try to find the person that they believe best meets the skill sets that they want to see in a head of State at this moment in time.”

People have not yet begun to mull that over, he felt, and probably won’t until nearer the election — “closer to the ploughing than the school holidays”.

Asked if he wanted to be the first Fine Gael leader to nominate a president, Mr Harris laughed and conceded that politicians tend to be competitive creatures.

“I don’t believe it’s an overly partisan election, but obviously, I’m very much looking forward to actively supporting the Fine Gael candidate, and we’ll put our support behind them,” he said. “We’ll give it our best shot.”