Major parties rule out making bid for presidency
PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins looks set to have a stress-free run to a second term at Áras an Uachtaráin with the major parties confirming to the Irish Mail on Sunday that they won’t field candidates.
Senior figures in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael told the MoS that new data and the impending conclusion of the Confidence and Supply agreement in October have convinced party managers to end expensive plans to contest an election. Internal polling data has shown FF that Mr Higgins is ‘unbeatable’, according to one TD, while Sinn Féin TDs said the party doesn’t have an obvious candidate. Mr Higgins’s spokesman confirmed he’ll reveal his intentions ‘during the summer’ but it is believed he’s been telling people privately that this is the case.
Senators Pádraig Ó Céidigh and Gerard Craughwell and artist Kevin Sharkey have all declared their intention to run.