Not on your (pro) life, Senator Daly!

IN THE unlikely event of Fianna Fáil senator Mark Daly replacing President Michael D. Higgins in Áras an Uachtaráin, he would present quite a contrast. For Mr Daly claims he is both humble and pro-life, traits one would not associate with President Higgins.

The Kerry senator said last week that he was ‘humbled’ by the mysterious colleagues who have encouraged him to run for the presidency. But if Senator Daly gets on the Fianna Fáil presidential ticket, a rapidly metamorphosing Irish electorate might be interested in re-reading his tribute to the late Senator Des Hanafin in the Seanad last month.

Senator Daly said he had seen ‘an advertisement by the pro-life campaign saying that there were 100,000 people alive today because of the ban on abortion’.

‘That is a legacy,’ he said. ‘He [Mr Hanafin] fought for that ban. I am sure he would be proud that the ban and the pro-life provision is still in our constitution. It is there because of him and the campaign that he led.’ Fianna Fáil’s leader Micheál Martin (who will ultimately decide on any FF candidate) has since come out in support of the pro-choice side in the referendum. Since Michael D garnered a million votes with his liberal views in 2011, Mr Daly may find he has a lot to be humble about in the coming months.