Cork MEP candidate considering election run as Simon Coveney decides future
Simon Coveney is under pressure to announce his decision on his political future in the coming days as John Mullins considers Cork South Central run. Picture: Brian Lougheed
Cork Fine Gael MEP candidate John Mullins is considering a run for the Dáil, while a number of local councillors are also vying to replace Simon Coveney in Cork South Central.
The former Bord Gáis CEO is believed to be considering either running in Cork East, where incumbent Fine Gael TD David Stanton is standing down at the next election, or in Cork South Central.
The latter is the current seat of former Tánaiste Simon Coveney, who is yet to reveal whether or not he will be standing again.
Mr Coveney is under pressure to announce his decision on his political future in the coming days. Recently re-elected Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan has said that he will seek the nomination in the weeks ahead.
Mr O’Callaghan is among a number of strongly tipped candidates to replace Mr Coveney, but a number of names are also being touted as potential contenders in the upcoming selection convention.
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The convention, which is due to take place on July 23, will also likely see councillors Des Cahill, Úna McCarthy and Jack White put their names forward for the position. Mr Mullins is also being touted as a possible candidate.
It is understood that Mr Mullins is weighing up his options following the recent European elections, where he received 33,281 first-preference votes and was eliminated on the 17th count.
Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer, who is currently Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and a former TD, has also been mentioned as a contender.
Fine Gael sources in Cork South Central have indicated that Mr Coveney is expected to write to local members in the coming days to announce he will stand down at the next election.
The longstanding Fine Gael TD has been in the Dáil since 1998, having first been elected in a by-election following the death of his father Hugh Coveney.
He spent three years in Brussels as an MEP between 2004 and 2007, before returning to the Dáil. He was first made a Cabinet minister in 2011, during the Fine Gael-Labour government, where he took up the ministry at the Department of Agriculture.
In 2014, he was also given the Defence brief, serving in the department for two years until after the 2016 election. He was briefly Housing Minister, during which time he contested the Fine Gael leadership but lost out to Leo Varadkar.
Mr Coveney was then named as Foreign Affairs Minister and served as Tánaiste, before becoming Enterprise Minister in late 2022. However, after the elevation of Simon Harris as Fine Gael leader, he opted to resign from Cabinet.
Fianna Fáil’s Michael McGrath is also not due to contest the next general election, following his nomination to be Ireland’s next European Commissioner. It is widely speculated that his brother, Seamus McGrath, will replace him and run in the election alongside Micheál Martin.
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