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FINE GAEL MEP Sean Kelly has said he is “reluctantly” ruling himself out of the race for the Áras, calling it “the most difficult decision” he’s had to make in his political life.
The Ireland South MEP also said he would support another likely challenger, fellow Brussels politician Mairead McGuinness, if she is selected as the party’s candidate.
The party opened its nomination process for anyone seeking the party’s candidacy for the upcoming presidential election earlier this week.
The nominations will close at 4pm next Tuesday 15 July, a statement from the party said.
To be nominated, a candidate needs the nomination of 20 members of the parliamentary party, 25 Fine Gael councillors and five members of the executive council, it said.
Explaining his decision on RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland programme, Kelly said he had to weigh up the pros and cons of the decision.
I asked myself one question. I said, ‘Am I happy with what I’m doing with the moment?’ And I said, ‘I am.’ Would I be happier spending seven years in the Áras, considering John B Keane said, ‘A day out of Kerry is a day wasted.’ And I said, perhaps not.
The former GAA president admitted he was “very disappointed” in some respects, because the role is one “that comes along once in a lifetime” and he felt he had the support of many TDs and supporters within Fine Gael and outside the party too.
Kelly said he would continue his “responsible jobs” in Europe, adding that he “got a massive vote last year, by far and away, thankfully, the highest of any candidate” in that European election.
While he said he would support McGuinness for the presidency, he said he thinks the party members “would like to have a contest” to decide on the Fine Gael runner.
Speculation has been increasing about who will succeed Michael D Higgins, with Mary Lou McDonald refusing to rule herself out as a Sinn Féin presidential candidate, whereas former RTÉ broadcaster Joe Duffy has denied he will go for the position.
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Children’s hospitals still only allowing one parent to all appointments is also an issue which needs to be raised.
Disgraceful nonsense!
Without the man in the first place there’d be no baby. Yet the man is treated as if he’s a pariah and given the ‘my body, I choose’ brigade, is in many cases seen as a hindrance to the future development of the child.
@AnthonyK: what exactly has the clear threat that women’s rights has posed to your small ego got to do with allowing men back into all antenatal appointements? Which is the clear point of the article, which you seem to have missed.
@AnthonyK: I really don’t see the relevance of this in relation to maternity hospital protocols. This is just your daily rant.
@Aoife Hurson: Exactly. Just having his daily rant against women.
@Aoife Hurson: What is a woman?
@Aoife Hurson: because like everything men are classes and second class citizens when it comes to kids.
Slightly off topic but our GP refuses to allow my mother to attend with my father (who is hard of hearing) for appointments. He’s a good doctor otherwise but it seems bizarre, he even has to go in person to get blood results as he can’t hear on the phone but they won’t tell my mother the results instead.
The civil service out of control forgetting they are the servants and the people their employer…
@William slevin: not the Civil Service – it’s up to the individual hospitals to take decisions here.
Those involved in the decisions would likely be medical personnel and administrative management. Employees of the HSE would be Public Servants rather than Civil Servants. Civil Servants are usually to be found roaming the corridors of Government Departments and terrorizing Ministers and their advisors.
To best honest, the hospital in Ireland are a total disgrace, they look like soviet hospitals from the 60’ specially the maternity hospital.
No equipment, no beds, food worse than prison.
@Yvon Queguiner: ahh now come on. Have you tasted prison food here?
More archaic madness. This one has a whiff of turf off it.
At least the baby gets a chance.
If women stopped going for their appointments THEN things will change!
@Marie B: Why can’t they just go on their own? I don’t understand all this furore over it
@Anna Carr: why should they?
Put the man back where he was happyest, across the road a pint and cigar.
@Fiona O’ Dwyer: You sound like a happy,well adjusted feminist Fiona,just like all the rest…
@Spud Geshletter: haha. I agree, they just get in the way lol ;)
The problem is that the people who are running the hospital have forgotten that it belongs to the patient and the closest family. They don’t want us to see them in case we see too much. They like to hide their incompetence, mistakes and of course negligence. That is the real reason I know as I lived 3 months in the hospital and Oo my, did I saw things. So unless we say enough is enough nothing is going to change
@Anne Brusher Collins – when the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser
@Aoif3 Hurson – my ego is quite large
Comments closed, comments closed, comments closed…
Why does The Journal have comments at all?
@Siobhan O’Sullivan Morrin:”@William slevin: not the Civil Service – it’s up to the individual hospitals to take decisions here.
Those involved in the decisions would likely be medical personnel and administrative management. Employees of the HSE would be Public Servants rather than Civil Servants. Civil Servants are usually to be found roaming the corridors of Government Departments and terrorizing Ministers and their advisors.”
A servant is a servant what ever title is appended to it…the servants have forgotten what they are servants to the people…
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