Six local authorities decline to nominate a presidential election candidate

Ellen O'Donoghue

Dublin and Cork became the latest city councils to vote against nominating any Independent candidate for the presidential election on Monday night.

It brought the number of local authorities which declined to nominate a candidate yesterday to six, including Galway City Council, and Roscommon, Longford and Laois County Councils.

Cork City Councillors voted by a margin of 15 votes to 10, with two abstentions, not to nominate a candidate.

Dublin City Council returned a total of 50 votes to 9, not to nominate a candidate.

The presidential election will be held on Friday, October 24th.

To be eligible to run, a candidate must be nominated either by 20 members of the Oireachtas or four local authorities and also be an Irish citizen over the age of 35.