EX-MINISTER Mary Hanafin wants to become President of Ireland and has thrown her hat in the ring to become Fianna Fail’s candidate.
However, the Fianna Fail stalwart will face a battle to get on the ballot as she faces competition from another ex-Minister and possibly even a former Taoiseach.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has also flirted with the idea of running as President[/caption]
With just four months left before an election has to be held, the race for the Aras is finally starting to heat up as wannabe Presidents seek to secure a nomination.
Political parties are purposely leaving it late to declare their candidates due to fears that a lengthy Presidential election campaign could get dirty.
Former Fianna Fail Minister Mary Hanafin today openly declared her desire to run for the Presidency as she looks to secure the nomination from her party.
She told RTE: “Yes I’d love the opportunity. I’d love the opportunity to be a Fianna Fail candidate and I’d love to bring my experience in public service and law into the job of President which is the most important job in the country.
“I’m sorry to see so many people ruling themselves out. I think the public at this stage know who doesn’t want to run but they don’t know who does want to run and maybe the time is now to start that.”
The ex-Dun Laoghaire TD served in the Dail from 1997 to 2011 when she lost her seat in an election that crushed Fianna Fail in the aftermath of the financial crash.
She served as a Minister in a host of departments during her time in the Dail including Education, Social Affairs, Tourism and Sport, and Enterprise.
Asked why she thinks she should be President, Mary Hanafin said: “I would like to bring 30 years of public service at local and national level to the job where I’ve worked very closely with individuals and with communities.
“I believe it is in the first instance a constitutional role. It’s set out in the constitution. You take an oath to the service and the welfare of people which I would like to bring.”
It’s understood that Mary Hanafin has already spoken with Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin about her interest in becoming Fianna Fail’s candidate in the election.
This open declaration of interest today from Mary Hanafin will likely fire the starting gun for other wannabe candidates for the election.
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Reports over the weekend suggest that former Limerick TD Peter Power has also held discussions with Fianna Fail’s leadership team about possibly throwing his hat in the ring for the Aras.
The Limerick man served in Government from 2002 to 2011 and was a junior Minister in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
He has since ran the Unicef Ireland charity as Executive Director.
Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern openly flirted with the idea of running as President by not ruling out the prospect during several media interviews.
However, it’s understood that several senior figures within Fianna Fail are against the idea of Bertie becoming the party’s candidate as his past problems will be dragged up during the campaign.
Current MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurcu has also been talked about in political circles as a potential candidate while her colleague in Brussels Barry Andrews recently ruled himself out as a runner.
The race for the Aras is finally starting to heat up as wannabe Presidents seek to secure a nomination[/caption]
