PAT COX, the former president of the European Parliament, will this week apply to join Fine Gael in order to become its candidate in this year’s presidential election.
Two sources at a senior level in the party confirmed to The Irish Timeslast night that Mr Cox will make the application to a Fine Gael branch in his home constituency of Cork North Central over the coming days.
His application will then have to go before the party’s national executive council for ratification at its next meeting on June 14th.
The former independent MEP for Munster was once a member of the Progressive Democrats. Fine Gael party rules state that a person who stood for election as an independent or for another party must have their application discussed by the executive council.
Mr Cox was not contactable last night.
The Dublin Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell also said yesterday that he is considering entering the race to secure the party nomination, six months after turning it down.
Mr Mitchell told The Irish Times last night: “I fully expected then that John Bruton would be a candidate.
“Since he announced he would not stand, I have been contacted by a large number of senior figures in the party. I have now decided I will consider it. I will give it some thought but will not hang around making a decision. I will make up my mind later this week,” said Mr Mitchell, a former TD and minister with vast experience.
In a separate development, the New York-based Irish journalist and publisher Niall O’Dowd has also confirmed that he is actively considering mounting a bid to enter the presidential race.
Mr O’Dowd (58) said he had been approached by a cross-party group of Irish and Irish-Americans who urged him to consider putting his name forward. He would not disclose their identities.
Mr O’Dowd was an influential figure in developing the peace process in the US.
One of his supporters said yesterday that if he stood, former president Bill Clinton would be among his strong backers.
“I am very passionate about Ireland and about the future. I hate to see what is happening to it.
“The people laid out a compelling case. I said I would consider their request. They sketched out the importance of the role, of job creation, of the US, and how a president could be a business president. The US is where Ireland needs to be. This generation has had its future stolen from them,” he said.
Fine Gael yesterday rejected reports the party had ever explored the idea of approaching Senator Martin McAleese with a view to backing him as an independent.
A senior party source said the contest between Mr Cox and Mairéad McGuinness, the other declared Fine Gael candidate, would be tight.
The candidate is decided mostly by the parliamentary party which has 70 per cent of voting strength in its electoral college. The remainder is split between councillors (20 per cent) and the executive council (10 per cent).
Dara Murphy, the Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central, welcomed Mr Cox’s imminent application. “We would be delighted to have him as a member of the party,” he said.
Several Fine Gael members, speaking on the basis of anonymity, said Mr Cox may not be as popular with the party’s members as he is with the Fine Gael leadership, for whom he is seen as the favoured candidate.
That was acknowledged by a Minister last night who accepted that county councillors and executive council members may not support him. The Minister pointed out that TDs and Senators would be the key in deciding the presidency and said they were likely to vote with the leadership.