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IN A U-TURN from the Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald has refused to rule out running in this year’s presidential election.
Asked by reporters today for an update on Sinn Féin’s plans for the election, McDonald said it will be “a number of weeks” before the party has a “clear picture” on its plans.
“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,” she said.
Asked if she would rule herself out, McDonald responded:
“Well, we’re in this process, and we’re not ruling anything in or anything out.”
She said a lot of names have been mentioned, and said: “We’re not making any comment on them definitively, myself included.”
McDonald made the comments today outside the High Court, where she was joined by Sinn Féin TDs Pearse Doherty and Pa Daly, ahead of Daly’s case against the Taoiseach regarding the appointment of the controversial ‘Super Junior’ Ministers.
After McDonald’s response to the presidential questions, Doherty was asked if he would like to be leader of Sinn Féin if McDonald were to run for the Áras.
He jokingly responded: “Are you ruling me out to be president?”
In March, McDonald categorically ruled herself out of running, telling reporters at the time: “It won’t be me”.
The presidential election must be held later this year and be completed before 11 November. As of yet, none of the political parties in the Dáil have formally announced a candidate.
The Fine Gael nominations open today and will close at 4pm next Tuesday, 15 July. It is expected that former European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and MEP Seán Kelly will seek the nomination.
With reporting from Jane Moore.
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