Mary Lou McDonald refuses to rule herself out of running for president 

The Sinn Féin leader said: 'We’re in this process, and we’re not ruling anything in or anything out'

Sinn Féin has asked for feedback from members, with a process closing last month which will guide the party's leadership on how to proceed. Picture: Collins Courts

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has declined to rule herself out of the running for the presidency later this year.

The party has been engaged in discussions with left-wing parties about the prospect of running a combined candidate for this year's election, but could opt to nominate a candidate itself. 

Sinn Féin has asked for feedback from members, with a process closing last month which will guide the party's leadership on how to proceed. Ms McDonald said on Monday the report was "on her desk".

However, Ms McDonald said all options were on the table.

“As you know, we have been in discussion with other political parties around the option of perhaps a joint candidate supported by all of us across the left, or the combined opposition. So we don’t have full clarity on this. It’s a moving picture."

Asked if she herself would be interested in being the candidate, Ms McDonald said she was not ruling such a thing out. “Well, we’re in this process, and we’re not ruling anything in or anything out.” 

She said a lot of names had been mentioned and the party was "not making any comment on them definitively, myself included”.

Last month, the party's vice president Michelle O'Neill also remained coy on the prospects of her running for the Áras.

Asked if she was considering it, she responded: "I am... working our way through deliberations as we speak."

While remaining vague on her own ambitions in terms of the presidency, Ms O'Neill was clear on wanting to see voting rights extended to citizens in the North.

President Michael D Higgins is due to step down from the role in November, having served two terms. The election of a new president must take place before November 11, 2025.

Meanwhile, nominations for the Fine Gael candidacy open on Monday and close next Tuesday, with former European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and MEP Seán Kelly expected to put their names forward.

It is expected it could be as late as September before Micheál Martin publicly announces his party's candidate, with former ministers Peter Power and Mary Hanafin being rumoured, along with MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú.

"We are assessing it at the minute, we are not going to make any decision until late summer," a party spokesperson said.