FORMER INDEPENDENT TD for Kerry South Jackie Healy-Rae said yesterday he would make a decision shortly on whether to seek support for a nomination to contest next October’s presidential election.
“Since I announced it on Radio Kerry last Friday, I have received a very positive response from many people, and I will think about it over the coming days,” said Mr Healy-Rae.
He said he was discussing the matter with his sons, Michael, who replaced him in the Dáil in the recent election, and Danny, a member of Kerry County Council.
“The way fellows are putting it to me is that Senator David Norris and the Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly could be among the candidates,” said Mr Healy-Rae. “I would not be in the least afraid of either of them, or any other candidate for that matter.”
Former European Parliament president Pat Cox said at the weekend he had not ruled out running for the presidency. Speaking on RTÉ Radio's Marian Finucane Showon Saturday, he said it was a very big issue to do with "life, family, duty and responsibility", but he was prepared to ask himself a question this week that was not even on his mind a week ago.
Mr Cox said that since the matter had been raised by Pat Kenny in a radio interview, he had been “surprised or shocked” by the volume of support. “I have had so many e-mails and calls and so on that I would certainly take some time to consider it.”
Mr Norris has already launched his campaign, and has written to councillors across the State to secure support for a nomination.
Under the Constitution, candidates for the presidency must be nominated by either 20 members of the Oireachtas or by four local authorities.
