Fergus Finlay: There was no way I was running for presidency once I knew Michael D was running

The former head of children's charity Barnardos, Fergus Finlay, has said he will not rule out running for the presidency in the future.

Mr Finlay sought a nomination for the position in 2011 but chose not to put his name forward this time around.

A run for the Áras has not been ruled out down the line, however.

He revealed the decision not to run this time was made once he realised that President Michael D Higgins was seeking nomination for a second term.

He said: "I would love to give it a go some day. I'd made up my mind a long time ago that I wouldn't oppose Michael D Higgins, but I didn't know what he was going to do.

"I turned on the news one night and I saw him spend much of a day at Big Tom's funeral and I realised that day that there was no way he wasn't running and that's when I realised that there was no way I was running."