The Labour spokesman on foreign affairs, Mr Michael D. Higgins, is to decide by early February if he will seek a nomination to run in next year's presidential election.
He told The Irish Times yesterday: "I certainly think that there should be a contest. There could be a very interesting campaign on the issues surrounding the office."
The President, Mrs McAleese, has yet to decide if she will seek a second term. If she does, she is expected to receive the support of the Government.
Fine Gael has also to make a decision on whether to run a candidate.
If Mr Higgins decides to seek a nomination, Labour can hardly refuse him. A popular and highly-respected figure within Labour, he is a former party chairman and served as a successful minister for arts, culture and the Gaeltacht between 1993 and 1997.
Mr Higgins said he saw the presidency as a separate pillar of society.
"I very much think the president of the day is not there to be a supernumerary of Bord Fáilte or the chambers of commerce and the IDA. I believe that it is not the function of the president to say how well the Government is doing.
"The function of the president is to relate to the way people are feeling and hurting. I think that the functions of the president can extend to beyond formal occasions."
He said that in making his decision he would have to consider future political intentions and his desire to do more writing and pursue academic interests.
Mr Higgins was first elected to the Dáil for Galway West in 1981, having previously served in the Seanad.
He subsequently lost his Dáil seat, but regained it after serving a further term in the Seanad.
