Ireland South MEP Sean Kelly says he won't put name forward for presidential race

FINE Gael MEP Sean Kelly has said this morning that he has decided not to put his name forward for the presidential election.

Mr Kelly said he has ‘responsible jobs in Europe as part of the Fine Gael delegation’ and he enjoys his work now and wants to continue.

Hs mind was ‘not seriously made up about it’ before now, he told Morning Ireland on RTÉ today, but added that when he “looked at it deeply”, as it’s “largely a ceremonial role”, he decided that he wants to continue to be involved in political life.

The Kerry-based MEP said that while a lot of friends had told him he would make “a very good president” he is honoured to represent Ireland South in Europe and Ireland has a lot of important events ahead, including the EU presidency, the Budget talks and CAP negotiations.

MAIREAD MCGUINNESS

Regarding the possibility of his colleague Mairead McGuinness seeking the nomination, he said he would fully support her if she was the party’s chosen candidate but he believed that the party members would like to have a contest.

“Mairead would be a very good candidate,” he said, but added that he would wait and see how it all “pans out”.

“I wanted to make my mind up today so that people would have the opportunity to nominate whoever they wanted to, in due course.”