Billy Kelleher confirmed his intentions in an email to Fianna Fáil’s TDs, senators and MEPs
Billy Kelleher confirmed his intentions in an email to Fianna Fáil’s TDs, senators and MEPs
Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher has formally confirmed he is seeking to become the next president of Ireland, telling party colleagues this lunchtime he wants to set out his “vision for the presidency”.
In an e-mail to Fianna Fáil TDs, senators and MEPs – a 71-person group which will decide who becomes the candidate – Mr Kelleher ended speculation over his potential bid by confirming he is entering the race.
“I am writing this e-mail to formally confirm my intention to seek the Fianna Fáil nomination for the forthcoming presidential election.
“While I have already spoken to a great many of you in recent days, I will endeavour to speak to the rest of my fellow parliamentary party colleagues today and over the weekend.
“As soon as our internal process is announced, I am looking forward to engaging with you and discussing my candidacy and also my vision for the presidency,” he wrote.
The development is not unexpected, as the MEP and former TD for Cork North-Central has been strongly tipped to be seeking the Fianna Fáil nomination in recent days.
His nomination search will, however, cause complications for Fianna Fáil’s leadership, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin among those to have privately phoned TDs and senators in recent days asking them to back potential candidate and former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin.
Mr Martin is also understood to have spoken with Mr Kelleher by phone yesterday evening.
Fianna Fáil has yet to confirm when it will formally decide on a candidate.
However, it is widely expected that the nomination process will begin at a parliamentary party meeting next week, and will remain open until mid-September.
The only other major political party yet to confirm its intentions is Sinn Féin, which has said it will finalise its own plans on 20 September.
The presidential election is widely expected to be scheduled for the second half of October.
Collins says Fianna Fáil should allow respectful process
Fianna Fáil TD Collins said it is looking “entirely obvious” that there’s going to be a “process” within Fianna Fáil about a Presidential Election candidate.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Collins said the party should allow a “respectful process” to allow those who wish to seek the nomination to make their pitch to parliamentary party members.
“I spent last Sunday at the Limerick Show about four hours with [Billy Kelleher], and we’re in neighbouring counties, I know him very well-RTE
