Presidential hopeful Gay Mitchell said he does not believe Pat Cox will be able to secure Fine Gael’s nomination for the presidency after Mr Cox was accepted into the party last night.
“Well, this is his fourth port of call,” Mr Mitchell said. “I’ve been in Fine Gael since I was 16 years old.
“I’ve been thinking about Pat, and if we did give him the nomination, and he got elected, he’d be all of a 100 to 120 days in Fine Gael, and I just don’t think that’s going to happen.
“But I’m glad he’s joined Fine Gael,” the MEP added.
Mr Mitchell was speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland about the possibility of the ECB extending its loans to Ireland from short-term to medium term, an issue he raised in the European Parliament yesterday.
Former Progressive Democrat Mr Cox said he was “delighted” to be accepted by Fine Gael, and that this was part of a growing relationship with the party since he helped them prepare for government.
“Now that I am a member of the party, I intend to begin an intensive round of consultations . . . to assess what level of support may exist for my becoming the Fine Gael nominee for the presidency,” he said in a statement.
“Depending on the outcome of these deliberations I expect to be in a position in the coming days to clarify my intentions.”
Because Mr Cox had stood for election previously as an Independent and for the Progressive Democrats, his application to join Fine Gael had to be approved by the party’s executive council, which did so last night.
The date for the election of a Fine Gael candidate was provisionally set for Saturday July 9th at the same meeting.
The party’s TDs, senators, MEPs and councillors, as well as the executive council, are all entitled to vote. The parliamentary party has a 70 per cent weighting in the voting system, while councillors account for 20 per cent. The executive council members control the remaining 10 per cent.
Mr Cox said he would not be making any further comment on the presidential race until he has finished discussions with his supporters. It is expected he will announce his intention to seek the candidacy on Friday.
Mr Mitchell and East MEP Mairead McGuinness have both publicly declared an interest in securing the party’s nomination.