With President Higgins term in office drawing to a close, people have been looking ahead to the election for his successor which must take place by the 11th of November of this year. After months of fevered speculation, the bearded former leader of a northern Nationalist party does indeed seem poised to throw his hat into the ring.
No, not that one. The other bearded former leader of a northern Nationalist party.
Former SDLP leader and current Foyle MP Colum Eastwood has let it be known that he is considering making a run for the office of Irish President. As this article on the BBC website quotes him as saying
“There’s very few candidates in the field right now. It’s something that needs a lot of consideration…I’m going to take the time to think about it, but it’s a long summer and there’s enough to be getting on with before any decisions around that would have to be made…I’ve done a lot of work over the past number of months, in stepping down as party leader, on a new Ireland and speaking to people right across the political divide across the island.”
While not a full-throated confirmation, it does at least attest to an interest in running for the office. The article goes on to mention that a powerful southern party may endorse him as their standard bearer…
“Eastwood had been suggested as a possible candidate for Fianna Fáil, external, the two parties had been linked under Eastwood’s leadership from 2019 to 2022. However, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he was surprised to hear Eastwood was considering running.
“It’s open to everyone to put themselves forward, Colum’s a very capable, effective parliamentarian,” he added.”But we will make our choice as a party and we have not concluded deliberations, at all.”
In the coming months we are bound to see several candidates pop up as the race heats up, but those of us based in Northern Ireland will still be spectating as voting rights for the Presidency have still not been extended, though Aontú did put forward a bill in the Dáil proposing doing just that earlier this year.
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