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CYNTHIA NÍ MHURCHÚ has confirmed she hasn’t been approached about running for president, nor has she been considering it.
The Ireland South MEP said that she’s more focused on her Brussels job, which she’s been in since last summer, and that the speculation around the presidential election is largely “hot air”.
Ní Mhurchú, a barrister and former RTÉ presenter, was elected as an MEP for the first time last year and has been mentioned as a possible Fianna Fáil contender for the presidency.
“Number one, I haven’t thought about it. Number two, nobody has approached me and I’ve approached nobody,” she said when questioned on C103′s Cork Today show.
“My thinking on it now is, to be quite honest, nothing. Because I think at this stage it’s an awful lot of hot air. I appreciate it’s a very important job … and I appreciate we’re coming into the silly season and people have to be talking about something.
“I don’t mean to sound very pious or very prudish, but there’s an awful lot more important problems, not only in Ireland, but throughout Europe.”
“For the moment, I’m just happy now. It’s a busy working day here in Brussels.”
Asked if it’s an honour that she has been mentioned as a potential candidate for president, Ní Mhúrchú said: “Absolutely.”
“To even be considered is a huge honour, but it was equally an honour to get the nomination to run for Fianna Fáil last summer, delighted that the electorate put their trust in me, and I want to keep working for them.
I don’t want to be out here on some kind of a quasi-holiday.
“I like work, I want to work and I want to try and make a difference.”
“I know I’m only a small cog in a wheel of 720 spokes – the members of the European parliament – but I want to do my best for the voters of Ireland South.”
Former Fianna Fáil minister Mary Hanafin declared her intention to snag the party’s nomination for the office over the weekend.
She told RTÉ Radio One: “Yes, I’d love the opportunity. I’d love the opportunity to be a Fianna Fáil candidate, and I’d love to bring my experience in public service, law into the job of president, which is the most important job in the country.”
Hanafin said that ultimately it seemed that the decision would lie with party leader and Taoiseach Micheál Martin, whom she has had discussions with on the topic.
She noted that Peter Power, another former minister from the party who now heads Unicef Ireland, is reportedly in talks with Fianna Fáil leadership about the possibility of contesting the presidential election, according to the Irish Independent.
Power, aged 59, was a TD for the party for Limerick East up until the financial crash. He then began as the head of Unicef Ireland in 2012 and has remained there since. He is a qualified solicitor.
Parties may also reconsider ‘recalibrate’ their election strategies should Joe Duffy decide to run, it’s been reported.
Yesterday, the Irish Daily Mail on Sunday reported that Joe Duffy was on the radar of some within Labour as a potential candidate after he retired from RTÉ’s Liveline last week.
Duffy previously wouldn’t rule out throwing his hat in the ring.
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