Bertie Ahern confirms he's considering presidential run amid Fianna Fáil support

James Cox

Bertie Ahern has confirmed he is considering running for president, amid support from within Fianna Fáil.

It comes as demand is growing within Fianna Fail for him to run as a candidate, according to a poll carried out by Virgin Media News.

The former taoiseach resigned from the political party in 2012, following the publication of the Mahon Tribunal.

Speaking to his son-in-law on the Nicky Byrne HQ podcast, he said he is weighing up if running will be worthwhile as he gets older.

Mr Ahern said: "You know, at 74 next year when it comes up, you don't know how many years you get in your life.

"Even if you were elected, would you want to spend the last seven years of your life having limited time to be with the kids and you... it's a hard one.

"We'll see, but one way or the other I'm not going to lose sleep over it... we'll see how it plays out."

The prospect of Mr Ahern running presents an awkward situation for Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Mr Martin was one of the leading figures pushing for Mr Ahern to be removed from the party after the Mahon Tribunal, before Mr Ahern decided to resign himself.

In 2023, Mr Ahern was readmitted to the party, and his relationship with Mr Martin had improved as the Taoiseach did not block the move, while he also said he had engaged with his predecessor on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

However, Mr Martin is not believed to be keen on the prospect of Mr Ahern being Fianna Fáil's presidential candidates.

Fianna Fáil is under pressure to select a candidate as the biggest party in the country, while they have not put a candidate forward in a presidential election since 1997.

Former minister Heather Humphreys is the favourite to be selected as Fine Gael's candidate after the withdrawal of Maired McGuinness.