Seán Kelly and Heather Humphreys confirm bids for Fine Gael presidential nomination 

Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly and former social protection Heather Humphreys have entered the race, while Fianna Fáil faces pressure to act

MEP Séan Kelly and former social protection minister Heather Humpreys are both seeking Fine Gael's presidential nomination. File photo: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly and Former social protection minister Heather Humphreys have confirmed they are seeking their party's nomination for the presidency.

Mr Kelly announced his candidacy on Tuesday morning.

The Ireland South MEP said he is now “enthusiastic” about running for the presidency, after previously ruling it out.

“I'll certainly seek the Fine Gael nomination now, unfortunately, that Mairead McGuinness had to withdraw. And there is a process now by which we can seek nominations over the next five days. So I would be looking for the nomination and after that, and if I'm nominated, I would greatly honoured to represent the party and stand for election for president," Mr Kelly said.

His decision comes after the withdrawal of Ms McGuinness last week, who stepped aside for health reasons, and that he decision was the reason behind his change of mind.

That changed the position. We needed a new candidate. I was the last man standing the last time. 

So as I said, it was a very hard decision, the hardest decision I ever made. Not to contest, but now that it is open again. I'm delighted and enthusiastic about the prospect of running for President of Ireland," he said.

“I think actually there's a huge potential in the job, it's the highest honour in Ireland. And if you look at what the last number of presidents have done, they've done tremendous work. There's huge flexibility there.

“There's massive potential there and I will be reflecting on that and looking at ways to make the Árás relevant to people even more than ever before. And also to work hard and to reflect, particularly abroad, the experience I've gained in Europe and to be able to promote it abroad, to benefit tourism and trade."

Also on Tuesday morning, former Cavan-Monaghan TD Ms Humpreys confirmed she too would be seeking Fine Gael's presidential nomination, saying that "the tank was full" following a break from politics.

Ms Humphreys had ruled herself out of the race in May, saying that she had left politics to spend more time with her family and that that decision stood.

However, she told Joe Finnegan on Northern Sound that the withdrawal of former European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness on health grounds had changed the context of the race.

She said that she would not run against Ms McGuinness, but said that her family has been supportive of her decision.

"I'm going to go for it," Ms Humphreys said.

Asked about the personal aspect to the campaign, Ms Humphreys said that the campaign can be "not pleasant for the family", but said that her family was aware of the necessity of public service.

I think it's important for our democracy that we don't let that fear stop people running. We need good people in politics.

Ms Humphreys said that she would fulfil the constitutional obligations of the presidency, but that many had run on platforms outside that scope. She said that she wanted to focus on bringing people together as President.

"I want to focus on using the presidency to bring people together. I think the presidency can bring communities together. I want to be a president who represents a modern and outward looking Ireland. I believe I have the temperment and personality to do the job."

Ms Humphreys said that he had seen first-hand as minister for rural and community affairs the "best of Irish people", praising the volunteerism of organisations like the GAA.

Ms Humphreys said that she had been touched by the support of independent ministers and that "the ball has been thrown in" on a Fine Gael nomination process.

She praised her opponent Sean Kelly as "a gentleman" who she "wouldn't hear a bad word against".

Formal Fine Gael nomination process to close in September

Fine Gael will formally reopen its nomination process at midday, with the window closing on September 2.

Any prospective candidate must receive the support of 20 members of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, 25 councillors, and five members of the party’s Executive Council.

If multiple nominees emerge, the party will hold a formal contest to select its presidential candidate.

Fine Gael uses an electoral college system, giving greater weight to its parliamentary party rather than a one-member, one-vote model.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has called for an urgent meeting of his party’s parliamentary members to discuss the upcoming election.

Mr Kelleher said without such a meeting, Fianna Fáil TDs, Senators, and MEPs will not gather in person until mid-September at the earliest.

“To my mind, this is too late in the day for the people who will ultimately be tasked with selecting a party candidate to meet to discuss the issue,” Mr Kelleher said.

He added that he had contacted party Cathaoirleach Brendan Smith to request a meeting as soon as possible.

“In my opinion, Fianna Fáil, the largest party in the Dáil, the Seanad and in local government, should be actively involved in either running its own candidate or facilitating a candidate that represents our values and beliefs as a political movement,” Mr Kelleher said.