DAVID NORRIS entered stage left for the final command performance of his often precarious presidential campaign.

EMBATTLED David Norris last night insisted he would not resign his Seanad seat despite quitting the presidential race under a cloud.

SENATOR David Norris is not by any means the first politician to ask for clemency for a rapist but he is certainly the first to have to put ambitions to become President of Ireland aside because he did so.

Senator David Norris has said he did not regret seeking clemency for his former partner convicted of statutory rape as he quit the race for the presidency over the controversy.

DAVID NORRIS’S presidential hopes were fading fast last night after key supporters, TDs Finian McGrath, John Halligan and Thomas Pringle, all withdrew their support for his nomination.

PRESIDENTIAL hopeful David Norris made a last-ditch plea to Oireachtas colleagues in an effort to save his campaign, as more than half of those who had pledged their support considered withdrawing it.

David Norris's bid to run in the forthcoming presidential election is in serious doubt this evening