VETERAN BROADCASTER Gay Byrne has not ruled out running for the presidency but says it would take considerable persuasion to get him into the field.
The 77-year-old broadcaster told Ryan Tubridy on 2FM yesterday that he had been stupefied by the public demand for him to run in the election.
He said he had been astonished to hear he topped a poll of presidential election candidates conducted by radio station 4FM, even though his name wasn’t put forward.
“They put forward four names Mary Davis and Gay Mitchell and Michael D Higgins and Seán Gallagher and they wanted percentages of votes.
“My name wasn’t even mentioned and I got 46 per cent and the nearest one was Mary Davis at 16 per cent.
“It was extraordinary as my name wasn’t put forward at all. It’s quite amazing and complimentary and very nice,” he added.
In response to further questions from Ryan Tubridy, Byrne said he wouldn’t rule out running in the election.
"I would have to take some considerable persuasion. It hasn't been on my horizon. I would rather go on doing what I am doing with For One Night Onlyand The Meaning of Lifeand my Lyric FM programme on Sunday afternoon.
“It is kind of encouraging and it is kind of stupefying. I don’t know where it came from or how it came. Let the clamour continue. Could we leave this question and come back to it at a later date and see what happens?” he asked.
Meanwhile the Labour Party candidate Michael D Higgins warned against a sense of “indecent haste” in finding a substitute Independent candidate to replace David Norris.
Speaking during a visit to Cork he said many individuals were considering putting their names forward for the presidency. “Of course they are entitled to do that. They have the month of September to secure a nomination. The reports of the west of Ireland are that this is speculation in the case of Dana Rosemary Scallon.
“I do think as well in relation to other reports that have come from Finian McGrath and others that it is indecent haste to be looking for an alternative to David [Norris]. They might have allowed a week to go by before seeking a substitute candidate.”
Mr Higgins said it was now time for the electorate to hear what individuals had to bring to the table as presidential candidates. Another presidential candidate Seán Gallagher, who was also campaigning in Cork yesterday, called for meaningful engagement between candidates.
Mr Gallagher said he was sad for Mr Norris and his campaigners describing the Senator as a “charming and engaging man”. He added that he wanted to stay focused on a positive message for Ireland.
“I really do believe that there is an appetite now for the next president to be an Independent candidate. The presidency has always been seen as a gift of political parties, a reward for service. I don’t see it as that and I don’t believe from listening to people around the country that they see it as that either. There is job of work to be done; it is and should be above party politics. It is not a trophy for a political party,” he said.
It emerged during the week that Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell’s letter asking a US court not to execute an anti-abortionist who murdered two people was part of a long-running campaign by him against the death penalty.
A letter written by Mr Mitchell to the governor of Florida in 2003 asking him to take Paul Hill off death row has become the focus of debate following the Norris controversy.
A spokesman said yesterday the letter was part of a continuing campaign the Dublin MEP has conducted against the death penalty in the US and elsewhere over many years.
Five years earlier, in 1998, Mr Mitchell handed in a letter to the US embassy to protest against the continued use of the death penalty there.