Killarney based MEP Seán Kelly has confirmed that he has been encouraged to run for the office of President of Ireland.
He said “quite a few” members of the Fine Gael party have approached him on the matter and it has been mentioned to him “on several occasions”.
The former GAA President and Kerry County Board Chairman said it has never been an ambition of his but, he conceded: “I’ll probably give it a thought”.
The Fossa resident said the poll-topping vote he secured in the European elections in June put him in the mix when people started thinking about candidates to take up residence in Áras an Uachtaráin.
“Apart from the honour, you’d have to look at it from the practical point of view as well so let’s see. But at the moment I’m committed to Europe,” he said.
In an extensive interview with Hot Press magazine, Mr Kelly said if he ran for the presidency, he would be in favour of making it a very inclusive role.
“I’d be conscious of the less well-off in Ireland and ensuring they got a better quality of life. And I would be going about my own business and I wouldn’t always be looking for the biggest group to go to or the biggest invitation,” he said.
“Maybe the smaller ones would be important as well.to show that they were equally important”.
He said when he was President of the GAA and he would be invited to open a pitch for a Division 3 or 4 club, another invitation would come to open a major county grounds on the same day but he would honour the original commitment.
“I would think that kind of style would be, if I were to go for President and get it, the approach that I would have as well,” he remarked.
Mr Kelly also revealed that Fine Gael encouraged him to run for the Dáil before the recent European elections because the party felt that he would have a good chance of winning a seat but he declined.
He has been in Europe for 15 years and it would have necessitated letting his staff go and that’s something he didn’t want to do.
He said it would have also involve getting to learn a whole new ball game in terms of how the Dáil functions.
“At this stage, I didn’t think it made sense for me even though they did say I’d probably get a ministry position if I went forward,” he remarked.
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