Former European Parliament president Pat Cox has formally announced he is seeking the Fine Gael nomination for President.
Mr Cox, a former Progressive Democrat MEP, declared his candidacy at a press conference in Dublin’s Mansion House this morning.
He was introduced by his local Cork TD, Dara Murphy, and accompanied on the podium by Cork Senator, Colm Burke, and his wife Cathy.
Mr Cox expressed confidence that he would get enough support within the party to be able to put his name forward to the selection convention next month, but admitted he faced an uphill struggle to win the party nomination.
Mr Cox is the third candidate to enter the field for the Fine Gael nomination, after MEPs Mairead McGuinness and Gay Mitchell. He said his candidacy was a “one-shot opportunity” - either he got the Fine Gael nomination or he wouldn’t stand for the post, even as an independent.
Mr Murphy said Mr Cox was now “one of our own” in Fine Gael and would make an excellent candidate and a wonderful President.
Mr Cox’s speech was warmly applauded by supporters but apart from former MEP Mary Banotti and Lord Mayor Gerry Breen, who was hosting the event, there were no prominent Fine Gael representatives present.
Mr Cox said he believed the next President could make a significant contribution to the task of national renewal and could offer the people “an anchor of stability” in difficult times.
“I believe that the next Presidency should be one of unremitting hard work and intensive public service at home, while vigorously championing Ireland’s cause abroad. If accorded the privilege to serve as Ireland’s next President, I will use all my skills, insights and expertise to do so.”
He said he understood the feelings of some Fine Gael members about his role in the PDs, which through its coalitions with Fianna Fáil ensured that Fine Gael was kept out of government for over a decade. However, the party’s choice of candidate now was about its future not its past.
He enumerated his current income and work situation, which include pensions from the Dáil and the European Parliament, a seat on the board of Michelin, work with Microsoft Europe and his own consultancy firm.
Mr Cox said Irish people were entitled to know that the person they were electing as President was a person of ethical probity and deep personal integrity. “I have integrity, I have values, I have ethics and I’m determined to be the next President of Ireland,” he concluded.
Mr Cox previously stood as a Fianna Fáil candidate at the 1979 local elections before joining the Progressive Deomocrats for whom, he was elected as a TD for Cork South Central and also as an MEP for Munster. He left the party after a dispute over his seat and then contested the stood as an independent in the 1994 European elections.
In addition to the three Fine Gael nominees, a number of other candidates are seeking to contest the upcoming election.
Fergus Finlay and Michael D Higgins are seeking the Labour nomination for the election but Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin look increasingly unlikely to field candidates in the October election.
Independent candidates seeking nominations include Senator David Norris, chief executive of the Special Olympics in Ireland Mary Davis, entrepreneur Sean Gallagher and the New York-based publisher and journalist Niall O’Dowd.
