The Race for the Áras (6 page)

‘Martin needs to make up his mind if Fianna Fáil is going to run a candidate,' Ahern said subsequently, telling the
Evening Herald
that ‘if Fianna Fáil are going to nominate someone they'd want to do it soon, because it's May now and time is running out.' Reconciled to a lost cause, he said:

Ahern had been Lenihan's director of elections in his presidential bid. He predicted that if John Bruton

As two former Taoisigh bowed out of the contest without ever formally entering it, Pat Cox, a former party leader and president of the European Parliament, dipped his toe into the political waters. A former member of Fianna Fáil, a founder-member of the Progressive Democrats and an
MEP
, he said he was open to a nomination and support from political parties. ‘I'm open on all fronts after declaring an interest to see what's out there that might permit me to get a nomination and take to the field,' he said. Questioned, he said: ‘I certainly would take some time to consider it … I am prepared to ask myself a question this week that wasn't even on my mind a week ago.'

The columnist Eamon Keane cast his eye over the candidates. Cox wouldn't set the Park alight, he wrote. Fine Gael
MEP
Seán Kelly had pushed through admirable reforms in the
GAA
, but was the Presidency a bridge too far? he asked, suggesting that Fine Gael might yet spring a surprise. Both Mairead McGuinness and John Bruton were more capable than charismatic. And had Fergus Finlay the same charisma as either Higgins or Norris?

A star of the ‘Dragons' Den' programme, Seán Gallagher had already received the support of Senator Feargal Quinn and was canvassing hard to secure the nomination of nine other independents and hopefully to secure the balance of support required from ten Fianna Fáil Oireachtas members. He was also canvassing local authorities seeking their support—like Norris, adopting a belt-and-braces approach.

Gallagher said he was happy to take support across party lines, despite being a former member of the Fianna Fáil Ard-Chomhairle. At the launch by Console of its suicide bereavement and prevention service he said:

At the same event David Norris thanked Micheál Martin for allowing a free vote for Fianna Fáil councillors.

However, he questioned the reason for Fine Gael deliberately blocking him. ‘My candidacy has raised questions which the Fine Gael party have to resolve for themselves,' he said.

 

Mary Hanafin, speaking at Fianna Fáil's Ard-Chomhairle meeting on the last Thursday of the month, said the party ‘was in the business of contesting for the highest office in the land. You can't throw in the towel because there might not be another Presidential election for fourteen years.' It was construed as a clear signal that she was interested in seeking the party's nomination.

Mary Hanafin's family was steeped in Fianna Fáil. Her cousins were and had been councillors in Co. Tipperary, her brother John was a senator, and her father, Des, had been a long-time senator and fund-raiser for the party. He was also a staunch opponent of divorce and abortion and a founder of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children. Mary Hanafin was one of three potential candidates to emerge from the Premier County and the first from Thurles. A former teacher who had been involved in politics since she was fifteen—the nuns in her boarding-school allowed her out in the middle of the week to attend local cumann meetings—she had also served as a Dublin city councillor. As a former Minister for Education, Minister for Social Welfare and also Minister for Tourism she was considered a strong contender for the party leadership after Brian Cowen stepped aside, but she lost her Dún Laoghaire seat in the Fianna Fáil general election bloodbath.

Until the leadership and the sub-committee made up its mind about whether or not to run a candidate, Hanafin would continue to figure in online debates and media speculation as a possible candidate both for the Áras and for the by-election seat in Dublin West after the death of Brian Lenihan.

The former minister Éamon Ó Cuív delivered what was unknowingly a similar, and ironic, message to the Ard-Chomhairle meeting, saying that Sinn Féin would never run a candidate in East Belfast if its only concern was electoral defeat.

The same meeting heard that the party was more than €2 million in debt, and the party leader, Martin, advised people to ‘live in the real world', which suggested that he was leaning towards not running a candidate. Hanafin would argue the case subsequently, saying, ‘Even if you don't win it, that's not the point: it's about being part of the democratic process—that's what we are.'

 

Next door to the Dáil, in the National Library, Mary Davis had called a press conference for Thursday 27 May. Her web site went live, and a Facebook presence followed shortly. Announcing her decision to seek a nomination from county councils throughout the country, she confirmed that she would write to them seeking their support. In the coming months she would travel the country, embarking on a time-consuming personal canvass of as many council members as she could manage, calling to their homes or meeting in local hotels or in council offices.

Among the members of her team was her husband, Julian, a founding director of one of the biggest public relations companies in the country, Fleishman-Hillard. The campaign chairperson, Peter Fitzgerald, was a former deputy commissioner of the Garda Síochána; others included Ryan Meader—a former adviser to the Green Party minister John Gormley—and the Newbridge councillor Fiona O'Loughlin. The
PR
consultant Toni Wall would be the tour advance party. In the back room offering advice was the former Fianna Fáil general secretary Martin Mackin, while Suzanne Coogan, former
PR
adviser to the Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, handled the media.

Davis, speaking in front of a light-blue backdrop, said,

She said she intended running an ‘Obama-style' grass-roots campaign based on local communities. ‘I've always been supported by communities at local levels. That is why I'm seeking county council nominations, so I intend to raise money in that way as well.'

Davis was awarded the Person of the Year award in 2003 for bringing the hugely successful Special Olympics to Ireland—the first time they were held outside the United States—and mobilising and motivating communities in cities, towns and villages throughout the country. As the managing director of Special Olympics Europe and Eurasia she had a formidable informal network that went into every community of host towns and villages in the country, while internationally she had demonstrated considerable diplomatic and representational skills. Her arrival on the electoral stage was a source of concern for all the candidates as they worked out her demographic appeal and prospects.

Davis announced that she would adopt a theme of ‘building communities', saying that all her life she has ‘been committed to the values of equality, fairness, respect, empowerment and involvement. I believe these values are very relevant to the times we live in and to the office as President.'

Davis, like other candidates, was concerned at the head-start and the free run that Norris had won by declaring his interest publicly and early. A series of soft interviews had followed his declaration, and now those eyeing up the race knew that they would be playing catch-up.

A few days after her declaration of intent, Davis appeared on the Pat Kenny programme in a mini-debate during which, according to the following day's
Irish Independent
, she became the latest presidential hopeful to put their foot in it, damaging their campaign.

In 2004 Davis had been appointed by President McAleese to the Council of State, which provides advice to the President. When questioned about referring a Finance Bill to the Supreme Court when President if she thought it was unfair, Davis said she would. ‘If it's not fair, if it's not equal for people, no, I will not sign it into law. I will refer it,' she said.

She was taken to task immediately by a member of the studio audience, who pointed out that the President is not allowed to refer any bills to the Supreme Court simply because it is regarded as unfair: a bill could be referred only if it was unconstitutional. Under article 26 of the Constitution, the President doesn't have the power to refer a money bill—for example, the budget as implemented by the passing of the annual Finance Bill—to the Supreme Court, and it would simply pass into law if the President did not sign it.

While the gaffe raised questions about Davis's understanding of her obligations and her role as a member of the Council of State, her election team was able to breathe a sigh of relief, as there was minimal negative comment. One adviser suggested that the issue was not one that most people would engage with and that it was one of the benefits of being so far out from the election date that the public's curiosity was engaged in learning about the candidates but had not progressed to a detailed examination of their experience or background.

 

In the Labour Party camp, both Finlay and Higgins had been canvassing members of the parliamentary party in the corridors and over coffee in Leinster House. Each candidate had until 3 June to secure the nomination of at least one Labour Party constituency council to enter the race. Sixteen days later the
TD
s,
MEP
s, senators and Executive Board members would hold a selection convention. For Finlay,

A straw poll suggested that Finlay was drawing support from a number of new parliamentary party members and those with advocacy links, while Higgins's support came from the party hierarchy and the left wing of the party. Higgins had already secured the support of Brendan Howlin, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, who would propose him at the selection convention, and Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State at the Department of Health, who would second his nomination.

But with only a few days to qualify for the convention, the
RTE
journalist and former senator Kathleen O'Meara announced that she would contest the election. Originally from Shinrone, Co. Offaly, she had been a town councillor in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, was a senator from 1997 to 2007, elected on the Agriculture panel, and was a former adviser to the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Eithne FitzGerald (Labour Party), a daughter-in-law of the former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. A triplet, O'Meara is a sister of the journalist Aileen O'Meara. She was the head of advocacy and communications with the Irish Cancer Society in Dublin but returned home to Nenagh at the weekends. She had also unsuccessfully contested three general elections for a seat in North Tipperary.