Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said the party is “not ruling anything in or anything out” regarding her potential candidacy in the upcoming presidential election.
Speaking to reporters outside the Four Courts on Monday morning, McDonald addressed speculation that she may seek the presidency, despite having previously ruled herself out in March.
“We are not ruling anything in or anything out,” she said.
“We are not making any comment definitively on any of them, myself included.”
The party leader confirmed that Sinn Féin has concluded a full party-wide consultation on the presidency, and that a report on the matter is now on her desk. However, she said further work is still required before a decision is made.
“There is a process underway in the party,” she said.
“We’ll have a clearer picture by the end of July and into August.”
Asked whether the party had considered a joint Opposition or left-wing candidate, McDonald said that such discussions had taken place.
“We don’t have clarity on this,” she said.
“It’s a moving picture.”
The comments mark a notable change from McDonald’s position in March of this year, when she told journalists: “It won’t be me.”
Sinn Féin has contested another of Presidential elections in recent years, such as in 2011, when they ran the late Republican politician and IRA leader Martin McGuinness, who received 243,030 votes, amounting 13.7%. He finished third behind Michael D. Higgins on 39.6% and Independent Sean Gallagher on 28.5%.
At the next Presidential election in 2018, the party ran Liadh Ní Riada, who received 6.4%, finishing fourth.
Sinn Féin has previously proposed holding a referendum to extend the presidential voting franchise to include residents of Northern Ireland. The party argues that Irish citizens living north of the border should be granted the right to vote in presidential elections, given their status as Irish nationals under the Constitution.
The proposal has featured in Sinn Féin manifestos for several years, and party representatives have regularly called on the government to schedule a referendum on the matter.
While successive governments have acknowledged the idea in principle, no date has yet been set for a vote. Critics of the proposal have raised concerns about its potential constitutional and political implications.
Last year, former Tánaiste and Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney suggested that some politicians in the Republic are hesitant to extend presidential voting rights to Irish citizens in Northern Ireland due to fears it could lead to a Sinn Féin president.
Speaking at the Kennedy Summer School at the time, Coveney said some avoid supporting the proposal “because of political reasons,” adding: “They are not enthusiastic about this because of self-interest in terms of party political interests and so on. I think that is the wrong way to look at this.”
Fine Gael, meanwhile, has officially opened its nomination process for the presidency, with the nomination window set to close on Tuesday, July 15th. To be nominated, candidates must secure the support of 20 Fine Gael TDs or Senators, 25 councillors, and 5 members of the party’s executive council.
Fine Gael MEPs Mairead McGuinness and Seán Kelly are both expected to seek the nomination, though no formal candidacy has yet been announced. The party will unveil its chosen candidate in early September.
Fine Gael’s selection vote will be divided with 55% allocated to members of the parliamentary party, 30% to ordinary party members, and 15% to councillors.
President Michael D. Higgins’ second term is due to end on November 11th, with the election expected to be held later this year.
Fianna Fáil will decide on its campaign approach in late August, while People Before Profit and other smaller Leftwing parties have expressed a keen interest in the concept of a joint-Leftwing candidate as an ideological successor to Michael D. Higgins.