Hume likely to decide on run for Presidency today

Mr John Hume is expected to declare today whether he is interested in becoming the next President. The SDLP leader told The Irish Times yesterday that he was "hoping to make an announcement" about his intentions today. This would be done by means of a statement rather than a press conference, he added.

Mr Hume said he was not in a position to signal his intentions "at the minute".

Meanwhile, all parties are stalling their nominating process for the presidential election pending Mr Hume's announcement. There is an increasing view within the parties that Mr Hume will not opt to become a cross-party candidate.

The Labour Party and the Progressive Democrats have signalled their support for Mr Hume's candidature, should he be interested.

In addition, it is thought the two declared Fine Gael candidates seeking the party nomination - Ms Mary Banotti and Ms Avril Doyle - would withdraw in favour of a Hume declaration.

The position in Fianna Fail is more complex, however, with former Taoiseach, Mr Reynolds, insisting that he will seek the party's nomination at the parliamentary party meeting on September 17th.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will hold a courtesy meeting today with Dana, the Eurovision winner from Derry, but she is not expected to receive Fianna Fail support in her quest for a nomination.

Mr Ahern will also meet Prof Mary MacAleese, vice-chancellor of Queen's University, later in the week to discuss her interest in the position.

The Green Party will hold a co-ordinating committee meeting today to discuss its attitude to the Presidency. Its two TDs, Mr Trevor Sargent and Mr John Gormley, have already indicated their readiness to support Senator David Norris's nomination. He is still not expected to get the 20 Oireachtas signatures required to secure a nomination.