With three months to go before the next presidency is inaugurated, the rustling in the political undergrowth is becoming louder.
On Sunday, businessman Gareth Sheridan, chief executive of a US-based pharma company, broke cover to tell the Sunday Independent that he would run as an independent candidate, seeking a nomination from local authorities to get on the ballot paper.
His spokesman told The Irish Times that the candidate was confident that he would get the endorsement of at least four councils, after months lobbying councillors.
But Sheridan’s path to the nomination will require the co-operation of opponents and potential opponents – and that is by no means certain.
RM Block
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Fine Gael has its own candidate in Mairead McGuinness and it is questionable that the party’s councillors would be permitted to facilitate the entry of a challenger to the race.
The party may decide that it should open up the nominations process to outsiders. But it may also take the view: why on earth would we do that? It’s not how elections work. You vote for your side. We’ll vote for our side.
The picture with Fianna Fáil is less clear, as that party has yet to decide whether it will run a candidate – that depends on discussions within the party, and especially with its leader Micheál Martin, in the coming weeks. If Fianna Fáil does not run a candidate, that may free up its councillors to facilitate the nomination of other candidates, including Sheridan.
A party source said that there had not any substantive discussions on the issue within the party but added that councillors could not facilitate anyone who was hostile to the party.
Sheridan’s campaign has at least identified its path to a nomination and his spokesman insists he has been working quietly in the background for months. Other potential candidates featured in the Sunday newspapers today appear less advanced in their preparations.
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The former Riverdance star Michael Flatley continues to tease about his ambitions. He told the Sunday Independent magazine that he and his “team of inside advisers” were considering his options.
“I have spent the last 30 years promoting Ireland globally. After my last cancer journey, I realised that life is short and I need to do more – more with my family and more for the country that I love. If I can help the people of Ireland in an ambassadorial role as president, then I would be honoured to,” he said.
However, the newspaper was also told not to take this as confirmation that Flatley is running.
The Sunday Times reported variously on the ambitions of RTÉ daytime television presenter Dáithí Ó Sé – he will not be contesting on this occasion, alas, but maybe in the future – and the MMA fighter Conor McGregor.
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McGregor, the paper reports, is seriously considering a legal challenge to the eligibility requirements for entry to the presidential campaign. It is not clear how serious this is. The eligibility requirements for the presidency are stated explicitly in the Constitution, not in statute law.
The paper also reports that the entrepreneur and erstwhile scourge of EU treaties Declan Ganley is manoeuvring for a nomination. Ganley has been talking to Oireachtas members about nominating him but there is no sign – yet, anyway – that he has the 20 supporters he needs. As with others, going the local authority route would require the tacit co-operation of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
And anyway, as the Sunday Times wonders, what about Ganley’s day job? His company is planning to launch hundreds of satellites next year. Satellites, of course, are hard to get off the ground. Ditto presidential campaigns.
