Former senator Kathleen O’Meara, who is seeking the Labour nomination for the presidency, has pledged to bring a “new style of leadership” to the role if elected.
Formally announcing her bid for the party’s nomination, Ms O’Meara said today she was “hopeful” of securing the backing of party colleagues.
Ms O’Meara (51), who is head of advocacy and communications at the Irish Cancer Society, has served in the Seanad for 10 years.
She said she had written to the party’s TDs, senators and executive board members two weeks ago, when the process formally opened, asking to be considered as a candidate in the election which will take place in October.
“What I’ve found in the conversations I’ve been having with the voters for this particular nomination is that there is an openness within the party to hear what everybody has to say,” she said.
“The Labour Party is, of its nature, an open and democratic party...and I think people in the party know what I’m made of.”
Ms O’Meara joins party president and former TD Michael D Higgins and Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay in seeking the nomination, which will be decided on by the party on June 19th.
She has called for a “new proclamation” to be drawn up for the centenary of the 1916 Rising in 2016.
“This presidential election is taking place during one of the most difficult and challenging times in this nation’s history, but also at a time when many citizens are asking who we are as a nation, what are our values, what do we cherish and who do we need to be to build our nation again," she said. “I want to build a project, a national engagement, a conversation which would take place in every community in Ireland, asking those questions and hearing from the people themselves about who they want us, Ireland, to be."
The vision would be given expression in a new proclamation, she said, to be declared in 2016, the centenary of the first proclamation.
While the first proclamation was ambitious and inspiring, Ms O’Meara said there are many ways in which the country has not lived up to it.
"We did not cherish all the children of the nation equally, for instance, and still don’t. And we have had to concede sovereignty in the face of a financial failure, in order to survive and continue to exist,” she said.
“Amidst the wreckage we are now in, is an opportunity to start again, to preserve the best of what we have created and build a new vision to take this nation forward. The theme of the next presidency, under my leadership, would be building the nation. This is why I am seeking this nomination,” she said.
Ms O’Meara’s decision to join the race comes after former taoiseach John Bruton ruled himself out of seeking the Fine Gael nomination.
Mr Bruton said at the weekend that he had discussed the matter thoroughly with the party’s representative and had promised to reflect on the request to allow his name to go forward for selection.
“I did so about 10 days ago,” he added. “I said, with regret, that I did not wish my name to be among those considered.”
Those who have declared as Independents include Senator David Norris and Special Olympics chief Mary Davis, who are each seeking the support of 20 members of the Oireachtas or four councils.
Others who have expressed an interest are businessman Seán Gallagher and former European Parliament president Pat Cox.