Presidential election - No certainty in democratic politics
Fianna Fáil supported Douglas Hyde as an independent candidate and he was duly elected by acclamation as our first president. Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was elected on similar grounds.
Mary McAleese was not a member of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, but she contested for the party’s nomination and defeated four other candidates in the presidential election of 1997. President McAleese proceeded to do such a credible job in the office that she was re-elected by acclamation to a second term.
Most of the Fianna Fáil candidates for the presidency were recognised elders of the party with distinguished ministerial service behind them, such as Sean T O’Kelly, Éamon de Valera, Erskine H Childers, and Paddy Hillery. This process came unstuck 20 years ago when Brian Lenihan lost out to Mary Robinson, the only president elected without Fianna Fáil backing.
That election should stand as a warning that there are no real certainties in democratic politics, at least until the votes are counted. Mr Lenihan had seemed like a racing certainty until he stepped on a political banana skin, but, as many a punter can attest, a racing certainty is not a sure thing at all.
Fianna Fáil has just received its greatest drubbing at the last general election, and many people might still think that the party’s endorsement could be a kiss of death, especially if there is division within the party over the nomination.
Questions must be asked as to the degree that Micheál Martin consulted his colleagues before publicly offering Fianna Fáil support to Gay Byrne. There is no doubt that Mr Byrne would enjoy enormous voter recognition.
As host of the popular Late Late Show for 37 years, he went into the homes of people all over the country through the medium of television. In the process, he raised topics and stimulated debate on issues that would never otherwise have been discussed in many of those homes at the time. In the process, he probably did more than most politicians to change attitudes in Ireland during the latter part of the 20th century.
Inevitably, questions will be raised about his age and his health. Gay Byrne turned 77 last week, but he would not be the oldest person to become president. Douglas Hyde was 78 when he became president in 1938. Moreover, Éamon de Valera was just little over three months short of his 77th birthday when he became president in 1959. He went on to serve for 14 years and was the oldest head of state in the world when he stepped down in 1973.
Should age be a factor?