Kelly Rules Himself Out Of Presidential race

Former GAA president Sean Kelly has ruled himself out of the running for this year's presidential election, but former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox is shaping up to contest the election.

Munster MEP Kelly had been widely tipped to seek the Fine Gael nomination, but surprised supporters by saying that his "gut instinct" was not to go for it this time around.

"It was my own decision," he said, "Serious momentum was starting to build up behind me, but I felt that I could make a bigger contribution to Europe and Munster by withdrawing from the race."

The popular 59-year-old said that his father died last month, his mother lived alone, and he still has some children going to school.

He said all those factors played a part in his decision.

"It felt deep down that it would be the wrong thing to do at this particular time. I went into full-time politics only two years ago. I thought that to withdraw from politics again and spend six months canvassing would be wrong."

Mr Kelly left open the possibility that he might contest the presidency in the future.

His departure leaves Leinster MEP and former journalist Mairead McGuinness as the only FG member who has declared an interest in the nomination.

The party, which has been enjoying record high levels of support in the opinion polls, is expected to choose a candidate in July.

Former Taoiseach John Bruton last week ruled himself out of the running too, although senior members of the party are known to be keen to try to change his mind.

There is also considerable speculation around the intentions of former President of the European Parliament Pat Cox.

Fine Gael is understood to have indicated that its nominee will come from within the party ranks, so Mr Cox will need to join Fine Gael if he wants to be their nominee.

Mr Cox is a former member of the Progressive Democrats, and was reportedly hoping that he could run as an Independent with the support of Fine Gael, in the same way that Mary Robinson ran as an Independent with support from Labour in 1990.

It's now believed Cox will join the Fine Gael party this week, with a view to seeking the presidential nomination.

Dublin Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell says he's also considering putting his name forward.

Among the other parties, the Labour nomination is the most hotly contested.

There are now three candidates with a declared interest, after former Senator Kathleen O'Meara said she would like to be considered.

She joins Michael D Higgins and Fergus Finlay in the race for the Labour ticket.

Fianna Fail has not yet indicated if it will run a candidate - some party members are not keen to spend a lot of money on a race that few pundits believe they have any chance of winning.

Having said that, it would the first time in its history that the party did not contest a presidential election.

Three people are seeking to be nominated as Independent candidates - former Special Olympics Ireland chief Mary Davis, businessman and TV star Sean Gallagher and Senator David Norris.

Independents require the support of at least four councils or 20 members of the Oireachtas in order to get their name on the ballot paper.

Senator Norris, who has been the bookies favorite to be the next president for months, was hit this week by what he called "a calculated smear".

Mr Norris now admits he faces an uphill battle to convince enough councilors or TDs to support his bid, after the re-emergence of a controversy over a magazine interview he gave almost a decade ago.

The senator says the remarks he made in the interview about sexual activity between older and younger men, were taken out of context by the interviewer, restaurant critic Helen Lucy Burke.

Ms Lucy-Burke went on radio last week to say she didn't believe Mr Norris was fit for the presidency.

"This is calculated. This story has been out there for the past 10 years. Why now? Why now at this minute?" asked Mr Norris.

"If anybody is in any doubt, I abhor and condemn the abuse of children, sexual, physical or psychological and my record shows that," he added.

Mr Norris says quotes attributed to him in Magill magazine ten years ago were part of an academic discussion about Ancient Greece, and he had disputed them and corrected the record at the time it was first published.

"I answered all the questions," he told Pat Kenny on RTE Radio, "on radio and in newspapers. And now, that Magill article is being sent to all the councilors in an attempt to prevent me from getting the nomination."

"I had heard that presidential elections in Ireland can be among the dirtiest," he said.

Mr Norris is aiming to become Ireland and Europe's first openly gay president. In two weeks' time he will address three county councils in one day, in what he has described as "Super Monday" in the hope of securing a nomination.

A recent opinion poll for the Sunday Independent newspaper put Norris way ahead of the pack with 44% of the public wanting him to succeed Mary McAleese.

But in order to do that, he must first get on the ballot paper.