Micheál Martin to give Fianna Fáil position on presidency ‘at end of month’

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has indicated that he intends to announce within two weeks whether Fianna Fáil will run a candidate in the upcoming presidential election.

Mr Martin was speaking to The Echo following a call by his party’s Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher that the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meet urgently to discuss the issue.

The Taoiseach said he intends to outline the party’s position “towards the end of August, the end of the month, the beginning of September, that weekend”.

President Michael D Higgins’s second term is due to end on Tuesday, November 11, and the election to replace him must be held in the 60 days before that date. It is likely that the election will be held some time in October.

Mr Martin has not, until now, given a public indication of when Fianna Fáil will announce whether it intends to nominate or support a candidate.

Mr Kelleher had said he believed that without a parliamentary party meeting convened soon, Fianna Fáil’s TDs, senators, and MEPs would not meet in person until mid-September at the earliest.

“To my mind, this is too late in the day for the people who will ultimately be tasked with selecting a party candidate to meet to discuss the issue,” said Mr Kelleher.

“In my opinion, Fianna Fáil, the largest party in the Dáil, the Seanad, and in local government, should be actively involved in either running its own candidate or facilitating a candidate that represents our values and beliefs as a political movement.”

Asked for a comment, Mr Martin indicated that his intentions had been well known within the party.

“I’m surprised at Billy’s comment, because I’ve made it clear that towards the end of the month I will be consulting with the parliamentary party and outlining our position, and Billy should know that,” said Mr Martin.

“I did say I would be consulting with them, I have taken soundings, I am taking soundings, I always made it clear it would be the end of this month that we would be engaging with the PP [parliamentary party].”

The routes for potential presidential candidates to get their names on the ballot paper are extremely limited. 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, while there are 31 local authorities in the country.

Currently, the only confirmed presidential candidate is Independent Galway West TD Catherine Connolly, who has secured the backing of People Before Profit, the Social Democrats, and the Labour Party, putting her comfortably over the threshold of 20 Oireachtas members.

Following the shock withdrawal last week of former MEP Mairead McGuinness on health grounds, Fine Gael’s national executive has reopened nominations until September 2.

Former minister Heather Humphreys and Ireland South MEP Seán Kelly have both announced their intention to seek the party’s nomination to contest the presidential election.

The other major party in the Oireachtas, Sinn Féin, has yet to indicate whether it intends to nominate or support a candidate.