Fine Gael Chose Gay Mitchell In Presidential Race

The race to succeed Mary McAleese as the next president of Ireland has been thrown wide open after Fine Gael selected MEP Gay Mitchell to be its candidate in October's election.

Mitchell has a strong political base in Dublin, but outside the capital he is not considered one of the country's most popular politicians.

Fine Gael is by far the largest party in the State right now according to opinion polls, and the presidential election should be theirs for the taking.

There has never been a Fine Gael president at any time in Ireland's history, and this year's election is seen as their big chance.

However, it's not clear if Gay Mitchell can appeal to a wide enough range of voters.

Mitchell, who has been a long-serving politician at national and European level, won the party's selection convention at the weekend by an easy margin.

Although the official results of the ballot were not released, sources say Mitchell was well clear of both Mairead McGuinness and Pat Cox.

It's a bitter disappointment for Cox, a former president of the European Parliament, who joined Fine Gael last month specifically so that he could run for the presidency.

But the party faithful have decided they didn't like the idea of a "parachute" candidate, and gave their backing to the Dubliner.

"We will take this campaign to every corner of the country. We now move to the next stage," said Mr Mitchell, adding that he was honored to have been selected as the candidate.

He had been nominated by Children's Minister Frances Fitzgerald and seconded by Dan Neville, TD from Limerick.

Former Taoiseach John Bruton had also given him public support.

However, it was clear that Mr Mitchell was not the first choice of the party's leadership and national executive.

Enda Kenny had not given his public support to any of the candidates, and promised the party would give a rigorous backing to Mr Mitchell.

"Take your holidays and enjoy it because, believe you me, when you come back you better be ready for one hell of a campaign," the Taoiseach said to his party's nominee at a press conference after the selection convention.

The selection of Gay Mitchell as Fine Gael candidate comes after Labour's confirmation of Michael D Higgins in recent weeks.

Neither Fianna Fail nor Sinn Fein have confirmed their intentions but neither party is likely to field a candidate.

Several Independents are still canvassing support from councils and Oireachtas members in an attempt to get on the ballot paper including Senator David Norris,

Special Olympics chief Mary Davis and businessman Sean Gallagher.

The next opinion poll on the race for the Aras will be closely watched.

Previous surveys showed Senator David Norris as the man to beat, although it was widely expected that once the two government parties selected their candidates support for them would consolidate.

The combined support of all three potential FG candidates in the last poll was enough to overtake Norris, although Gay Mitchell was the least popular of the three candidates with the general public so it remains to be seen if he can garner enough support.

The election promises to be a fascinating and close race with Mitchell, Higgins and Norris as the frontrunners.

However, David Norris, who aiming to be Ireland's first openly gay president, has not yet gained enough support to be guaranteed a place on the ticket, and was the victim of a nasty smear campaign earlier in the summer.

Analysts say it's inconceivable that some way would not be found to let Norris run, given the level of public support he enjoys.

If county councils block his entry to the race, there is speculation that Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein might facilitate his nomination, without throwing their party's support behind his candidacy.