Michelle O’Neill not ruling out run in Irish presidential election

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill has not ruled out a run in the Irish presidential election.

Asked if she was considering putting her name forward, Ms O’Neill said Sinn Fein is working its way through deliberations on selecting a candidate.

Speaking at a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in Armagh, Ms O’Neill said she has plenty to do as First Minister but she did not rule herself out as a candidate.

The election for the next president of Ireland is expected to take place in October.

When asked if she would put her name forward as a candidate, Ms O’Neill said: “I am…. working our way through our deliberations as we speak.”

She also called for voting rights in presidential elections to be extended to Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland.

“Just to say we obviously also haven’t concluded our own deliberations in terms of the presidential race itself,” she added.

“I think I’ve plenty to do being First Minister, but I think that the fact remains that I could stand for election, I could be elected Uachtaran na hEireann, but I can’t vote in that election.

“So that’s where there’s a deficit and what we need to see is presidential voting rights extended to the north, so that Irish citizens in the North can vote for their Uachtaran.”

Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he is not aware of any engagement with former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood over becoming the Fianna Fail candidate for the Irish presidency.

It has been reported that Mr Eastwood is considering a bid for Aras an Uachtarain.

Asked to confirm if Mr Eastwood had been approached by the Fianna Fail party, Mr Martin challenged the basis for the question, adding: “There’s been no contact with me, there’s been no engagement that I am aware of from the Fianna Fail party and it hasn’t been on the agenda at all.”

Mr Martin said he was “surprised” to hear Mr Eastwood was considering a run but said “it’s open to everybody to put themselves forward”.

He said Mr Eastwood was a “very effective parliamentarian” but Fianna Fail had not concluded on deliberations “at all”.

“We will make our choices as a party, and we haven’t concluded deliberations at all,” he added.

“As you can see from recent commentary, and I think from previous experiences and previous presidential elections, there seems to be a tendency that later in the summer might be a more optimal time to be announcing candidates than earlier in the summer.

“That’s where we are and we haven’t made any decisions.”

Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said that a head of state already exists in the province.

“I don’t have any opinion on a particular candidate, but all I can say is, like we live in a world where there’s a constitutional reality and there’s a constitutional aspiration, and that’s set out very clearly in the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement and the mechanisms around that,” she added.

“We have a head of state here in Northern Ireland, we are a full part of the United Kingdom, until such times as the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic both to decide otherwise.

“So that’s why it doesn’t apply in NI. I am supportive of the continuum of the current situation and the equilibrium and balance that was carefully negotiated and endorsed by people of Northern Ireland in the Belfast-Good Friday Agreement.”