Clinton: ‘I could be Irish President’

Former US President Bill Clinton has told how he could run for President of Ireland thanks to his Fermanagh heritage.

The charismatic ex-US leader is barred from running again in his own country by the 22nd amendment as he has already served two terms.

But Mr Clinton has told the Piers Morgan Show that he would be eligible to run for the Áras or for the French presidency.

He said: “There are only two countries that I’m eligible to run for the leadership position.

“If I moved to Ireland and buy a house I can run for President of Ireland because of my Irish heritage. I was born in Arkansas which is part of the Louisiana purchase and any person anywhere in the world born in a place that was ever part of the French Empire, if you moved to France for six months and speak French, you can run for President of France.”

But he said his poor grasp of the French language could leave him falling at the first hurdle in the European country.

He said: “Once they heard my broken French with a southern accent I would drop into single digits within a week and I would be toast.”

His barn-storming speech at the Democratic convention led to calls for a change in the amendment in the American constitution which only allows a president to serve two four-year terms.

But Mr Clinton said he believes the 22nd amendment stops the rise of a dictator in America.

He said: “It’s worked out pretty well for us for 200 years, we ought not to fool with it too much.

“It’s a hard job being president. I think there is still an argument for saying that serving eight years in-a-row is enough.

“You want to keep the blood running and not give the idea that any country, particularly one as big and diverse and important as ours, is dependent on any one person.”

A regular visitor to this country, Mr Clinton is due to return to Ireland in November to be the guest of honour of millionaire businessman JP McManus at his annual All Ireland Scholarship awards ceremony.

Mr Clinton will visit Limerick on Nov 17 for the ceremony in the University Concert Hall, where he will present 125 students with their bursaries.

Clinton’s Irish ancestry comes from his mother Virginia Cassidy, whose Irish relatives left Roslea in Co Fermanagh for America in the 1800s.