Pat Cox cleared the first hurdle in his bid to win the Fine Gael nomination for the Presidential election later this year when his application to join the party was accepted tonight by the party’s executive council.
Mr Cox, the former president of the European Parliament, applied to join a Cork branch of the party last weekend. But as he had stood for election in the past as an independent and for the Progressive Democrats, Fine Gael's rules stated that his application had to be ratified by the party's executive council.
Some 20 members of the council - drawn from the parliamentary party, regions, and trustees - were at the meeting. Mr Cox's application was raised by general secretary Tom Curran, and the meeting agreed by consensus to accept the former MEP as a member.
The approval of Mr Cox's application was later confirmed in a statement released by the party.
Following the acceptance, the council set a provisional date of Saturday, July 9th, for the internal electoral contest to choose the candidate. So far two candidates have declared their interest in the position: Dublin MEP Gay Mitchell and East MEP Mairead McGuinness.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has let it be known that he is not backing any particular candidate seeking the Fine Gael nomination. Mr Kenny said yesterday he wanted "a candidate who will win".
Speaking in Cork, he said: "Clearly the opportunity for Fine Gael here is stronger than it used to be – put it that way. And obviously the party and the units of the party will decide by vote who our chosen candidate will be. What I want is a candidate who will win."
