Áras candidates will be invited to present to Cork City Council 

Party whips in Cork City Council have agreed that potential presidential candidates will be invited to come before a special meeting to plead their case for a nomination by the local authority.

President Michael D Higgins will complete his second and final term on Tuesday, November 11, and the election to replace him must occur within the 60 days prior to that date.

To run for president, candidates must be Irish citizens over the age of 35, but there are only extremely limited routes for potential candidates to get their names on the ballot paper.

Each candidate will need the nominations of 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities.

There are 234 members of the Oireachtas, with 174 TDs in Dáil Éireann and 60 senators in Seanad Éireann.

There are 31 local authorities in the country, and each could, if they wish, nominate a candidate.

This week, whips in Cork City Council agreed procedures on the local authority’s eventual nomination of a candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

All potential candidates will be given the opportunity to make a 10-minute presentation to a special meeting of the council, which is likely to be held in September, followed by a 10-minute questions and answers session.

The meeting will be held in committee, meaning no members of the public or the press can be present.

Members will vote on the candidates and, if a nomination is decided it will be submitted on the prescribed nomination paper, sealed with the seal of the council and delivered to the presidential returning officer.

Fianna Fáil whip Terry Shannon said he had been lord mayor in 2011 when the council made its first ever nomination, to the Independent candidate Seán Gallagher.

“We’ll see what comes out of the special meeting, and give people a fair hearing, but if Fianna Fáil do have our own candidate, certainly we won’t be in the business of nominating anybody.” Fine Gael whip Joe Kavanagh said he expected the process to unfold very quickly.

“It will come down to a simple majority vote and we will either decide a nomination or noyt,” he said.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, who is whip for the Progressive Alliance, said anyone wishing to seek the council’s nomination was welcome to do so.

“My feeling at this point is that we’re unlikely to nominate any candidate but I could be wrong on that.

“Given the open door process, maybe someone will present themselves who will change minds,” Mr Moran said.

Nationally, Fine Gael looks certain to nominate former MEP Mairead McGuinness next month, and Independent Galway West TD Catherine Connolly has declared her intention to seek nominations, and she has said she believes she has enough support to get on the ballot.

Fianna Fáil is currently mulling whether to run a candidate, as is Sinn Fein.

Former candidate Peter Casey, Riverdance star Michael Flatley, and former MMA champion Conor McGregor have all indicated that they intend to seek a nomination.

Apart from receiving Oireachtas or council nominations, there is one other potential route available, but the criteria are so rarefied that only one person could possibly avail of it. Former presidents who have only completed one term may nominate themselves, which means former president Mary Robinson could, if she so wished, put her name forward.