WHY WE NEED A PROPER RACE FOR PRESIDENT

Getting a place on the ballot is challenging and may only be worthwhile for the incumbent and Sinn Fein’s candidate, writes Wayne O’Connor

WHEN Michael D Higgins fired the starting gun on this year’s presidential race, he may have triggered a campaign where the greatest feat is being able to take part — not winning the contest.

A former or retiring president can nominate himself or herself but for anyone else intending to run, the journey is much more arduous.

Each candidate must be nominated by a collective of public representatives.

The first option is to be nominated by 20 Oireachtas members. This is pretty straightforward for the bigger political groupings looking to run their own candidates.

It is currently an option for Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein because of the political make-up in Leinster House — but Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin have indicated that their parties will row in behind the incumbent. It means Sinn Fein will be the only party to avail of this option.

Candidates can also secure nominations from 20 other Oireachtas members from different parties or groupings but this can prove more challenging.

Gerard Craughwell is the wouldbe candidate who has been most vociferous in calling for an election but he has also expressed frustration at how difficult it is to win a nomination.

He is now part of a coalition of sorts with fellow senators Joan Freeman and Padraig O Ceidigh. They are working with Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice to secure the 20 necessary signatures to get a place on the ballot. Fitzmaurice is acting as the whip collating the signatures. The nomination will then be allocated to the would-be candidate from the trio with the most support among the 20 signatories.

Strong Oireachtas support for the incumbent is lowering the pool potential candidates can court. Craughwell, Freeman and O Ceidigh are largely relying on fewer than 40 Independent TDs and Senators. Most political groups are happy to support, or are considering backing, Higgins. This makes each nomination a commodity, Craughwell said.

“If 10 people come out and support O Ceidigh, and five support me and five more support Joan Freeman, I would consider myself out of the running and I would hope Joan would do the same in that scenario,” he explained.

“There is no point in wasting a potential nomination.”

There are also Oireachtas members who believe we may even be better off without a presidential election.

People Before Profit TD Brid Smith is one of those who is happy for Michael D Higgins to run unopposed. In cases where only one candidate stands, the presidential returning officer will declare the candidate elected.

“I wouldn’t be interested in seeing an election,” Ms Smith told the Sunday Independent after Mr Higgins put his name forward for a second term last week.

“If he is prepared to go forward then I think we should endorse him and say ‘go for it’.

“If an election happens, an election happens, but I would be happy for him go forward unopposed.”

It was hoped by many in Government Buildings the election would run in tandem with a referendum later this year.

Last month the Cabinet approved the holding of a referendum to remove the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution. This was to run in tandem with voters being asked to remove a constitutional reference to the woman’s place in the home — but this second question cannot be put to the public after the Dail’s business committee objected to the Government’s proposals last week.

The committee decided the Bill allowing the referendum to take place must be scrutinised by the Oireachtas Justice Committee when the Dail returns from its summer recess in September, setting the timing of this referendum back by approximately six months.

Cost is also an issue. The staging of a public vote is expensive. Holding the marriage equality referendum and the vote on the age of eligibility to run for president in May 2015 cost the State €15m. The last general election cost almost €27m.

In a year when the country has already held a referendum on abortion there is concern among some public representatives about the cost of staging a presidential election on its own without facilitating other votes on the same day. Central to this is also the idea that Fine Gael’s confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fail will come to a natural conclusion around the October 25 date pencilled in for a presidential election.

This means another voting day looms on the horizon in the shape of a general election, with TDs worried voter fatigue may affect turnout as they battle over key seats in tough constituencies.

Self-preservation may well dictate how enthusiastic some TDs are about supporting a presidential rival to take on the much-fancied Mr Higgins. This narrows the pool of Oireachtas members open to nominations even further.

The other avenue open to candidates is to secure the nomination of four county or city councils. Again, this is no mean feat and involves travelling the country and pressing the flesh with representatives who are often more engaged with local issues, not national diplomacy.

In the early part of last week it looked like this avenue might be open to a maximum of two candidates. However, the revelation Fianna Fail would be unlikely to extend a whip to councillors has brought 22 local authorities in to play.

Party leader Micheal Martin said Fianna Fail councillors would be “advised” to back incumbent Michael D Higgins. The reality is some may exercise their conscience and back another candidate. This opens the door to the possibility that five candidates would enter the race with local authority support.

Yet it is unlikely that as many would-be candidates will capitalise on city and county councillors for nominations. Therefore, it looks like being quite a small field and a short ballot when an election is called.

This all plays in to the hands of Sinn Fein — the party has the ability to not only put forward its own candidate, but to run at no great cost.

Apart from Mr Higgins (a 1/7 bet with bookmakers to serve a second term), a Sinn Fein candidate looks like the only one with something to gain by running.

While presidential campaigns are not necessarily cheap to run, it appears a tilt for Aras an Uachtarain is easier financially for those who can nominate a candidate without much effort, this time at least.

President Higgins, who was Labour’s candidate in 2011, will run as an Independent this time but is likely to receive some financial and logistical support from Fine Gael and Labour.

Sinn Fein has enough Oireachtas members to nominate its own candidate and it is likely that candidate will be tasked with boosting the party’s profile rather than winning the contest. This will come at no great cost because of the way presidential elections are run.

Each candidate is entitled to send one election letter free of charge to every household. This cost is borne by the State. Under the terms of the 2011 Electoral Act, a candidate who receives more than a quarter of the quota will also have their expenses reimbursed up to the amount of €200,000. The party’s campaign to elect Martin McGuinness in 2011 cost €302,563 and he qualified to have much of his costs reimbursed.

In 2011, the party was adamant McGuinness was the right man for Aras an Uachtarain. This time Sinn Fein might be just as happy to be an also-ran.

‘Sinn Fein can put forward its own candidate at no great cost’