Adams rules out Irish Presidency bid

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams today ruled himself out of the running for the Irish presidency.

Asked if he would consider taking over from Mary McAleese in 2012, Mr Adams said that he had no interest in the post.

“There is a life outside politics. No, under no circumstances,” he said.

There has been long running speculation Sinn Féin were gearing up for an ambitious plan to put Mr Adams forward for the presidency.

But in an interview with Dublin’s Newstalk Radio the Sinn Féin leader dismissed the suggestion and quipped that Aras an Uachtarain, the President’s imposing residence in Phoenix Park, offered no attraction.

“I’ve been locked up in institutions in the past,” he joked.

Sinn Féin suffered a poorer than expected result in the Republic’s general election last year, the party lost one seat rather than gaining six or more as had been widely anticipated.

They now have only four TDs in the Dáil not even enough to qualify for full speaking rights at Taoiseach’s question time.

The party was then faced with speculation that a plan to put Mr Adams forward for the presidency had been scuppered. Sinn Féin denied they had any desires to secure the Irish presidency.

Mr Adams also accepted shortcomings in last year’s general election battle, in particular on the party’s economic policies.

“I think it’s important that we learn to communicate better our view that prosperity is good,” he said.

“When we argue for equality that does not mean equality of poverty, it means the prosperity and wealth being used.”