An organised scoping campaign is under way in Bertie Ahern’s heartland to assess popular reaction to a potential bid for the presidency in three years, according to a former Government minister.
Days after Taoiseach Micheál Martin held the door open for his predecessor Mr Ahern to re-join Fianna Fáil, it has been claimed revelations in the Mahon tribunal which led to his resignation from the party “don’t seem to be an issue anymore.”
Finian McGrath, a former Independent TD in Dublin Bay North and ex-Minister of State for Disability, said figures in Mr Ahern’s inner circle in Drumcondra have been “sussing out” the mood for a potential run for Aras an Uachtarain.
“I know a lot of the (Fianna Fáil) political activists, it was my own constituency for 21 years, and when I hear them regularly saying to me (about the possibility of Mr Ahern as President) there is something going on here,” he said.
“They are sussing out the views on the street. There is definitely a sussing out process going on.”
A number of people close to Mr Ahern have been “sounding out” or doing “research” across Dublin’s northside, including Drumcondra, Marino, Donnycarney, Beaumont and Clontarf, according to Mr McGrath.
“Bertie never did anything unless he had his research done. The first thing is to check the Fianna Fáil base,” he added.
“Once you go beyond that, I can’t call it, but in Fianna Fáil (the response) is very positive and very forgiving. Most Fianna Fáil supporters say he was wrong, he wasn’t very straight, but that was 10 years ago.
“I’m definitely picking up a sussing out process going on about whether it would be feasible. I think the noises are good for him.”
Immediately following revelations in the Mahon tribunal, Mr McGrath said “people would not talk” to Mr Ahern at matches in Croke Park — “even Fianna Fáil people” — “but now they are all talking to him.”
Referring to a dinner for former Oireachtas members in recent months, during which Mr Ahern gave a “fantastic” speech about the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Good Friday Agreement, Mr McGrath said “even Fine Gael was queuing up to get selfies with him.”
“Former TDs and ministers were very impressed,” he said.
“I’d be a devil’s advocate and say what about Mahon coming back to bite him, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue anymore.”
Mr McGrath, who stressed he was not advocating Mr Ahern for a presidential race in 2025, said he believed the former three-term Taoiseach’s brand would “travel” from his own heartland to “rural Ireland.”
“Bertie has a brand in the Irish psyche, particularly for people over 50, that he is the fixer. Regardless of the tribunal, I hear it regularly, in political bubbles and more broadly among people.”
Mr Ahern, a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement, has been advising the Government on the Northern Ireland Protocol and the wider peace process for some time.
On Thursday, Mr Martin said that “nobody could take from him the contribution he made to peace in Ireland”.
Asked if Mr Ahern might rejoin Fianna Fáil the Taoiseach said: “In the fullness of time, certainly we could give that consideration,” adding that Mr Ahern’s resignation from the party had “a context there and issue there.”
“As far as I’m concerned, you know, it’s 10 years on. I’m conscious of the contribution he has made to peace in the country, a very significant contribution,” he added.
Asked about the possibility of rejoining Fianna Fáil, Mr Ahern said at the time the “issue has come up many times over the years and I’m not going to comment on it.”
