Burke considering run against Michael D for the Áras

DUBLIN city councillor Christy Burke has said he is considering a run for the presidency and compared his chances of winning to that of Donald Trump and Barack Obama.

Mr Burke, who represents Dublin north inner city, was speaking on RTÉ Radio’s, Today With Miriam O’Callaghan, where he said he was having conversations with his team as to whether he should run or not.

‘We’re serious about a conversation, my own canvassing team [who] has been with me for some years… Over the last few days they have decided that they would like to have a conversation around running me as a candidate for the presidency,’ he said.

When asked about his chances of winning against Michael D Higgins in the contest for the Áras, considering how popular the President is, Mr Burke said, ‘They said that about Obama, they said that about Trump and that Brexit wouldn’t get through, none of them have been [true].’

In the 1970s, Mr Burke served 18 months in Portlaoise prison for IRA membership. After he got out, he was involved in the Concerned Parents Against Drugs movement of the early 1980s. When asked whether the fact he served time in prison would affect his chances of becoming president, Mr Burke said that ‘the past is the past’ and that people see his work ethic and his commitment to his constituency.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party has unanimously agreed to support the re-election of its former TD and Minister, Mr Higgins as President. Party leader Brendan Howlin said: ‘In 2011 we campaigned to elect a President who would do us proud. Michael D has more than fulfilled that commitment, and has been an exemplary head of state... We will enthusiastically work to re-elect him, if there is an election.’

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have backed the re-election campaign of the President, who will run as an independent candidate.