DAVID NORRIS’s prospects of running for the presidency rest with three TDs who have not ruled out signing his nomination papers if their backing is required to get on the ballot paper.
Mr Norris yesterday managed to increase his support to 17 Oireachtas members and he now needs just three more.
South Tipperary Independent Mattie McGrath, who had earlier expressed support for Dana Rosemary Scallon, told The Irish Times last night that as she had not been able to get any more support in the Oireachtas he was now giving careful consideration to Mr Norris.
“I have no intention of campaigning for David Norris or even voting for him, but I feel it could be a negation of democracy to prevent him running,” said Mr McGrath.
He said he would discuss the issue with his supporters in Tipperary tonight before coming to a decision.
If Mr McGrath agrees to facilitate Mr Norris, huge pressure will come on Independent Dublin South TD Shane Ross to back his former long-time colleague as a Trinity College senator. They served together in the Upper House for 24 years.
Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry has indicated he will not stand in Mr Norris’s way if he can get 19 signatures so it only needs Mr McGrath and Mr Ross to come on board to ensure the nomination. Mr McGrath said last night he believed it would make sense for all three of them to act together on the issue.
Mr Norris has no prospect of support from any of the remaining Independent TDs or Senators. He started yesterday with 15 Oireachtas supporters and that increased to 17 with support from two of the Taoiseach’s nominees to the Seanad, Mary Ann O’Brien and Eamonn Coghlan.
With the assured support of 17 and the probable backing of three more, Mr Norris is now tantalisingly close to an Oireachtas nomination. He also has the option of seeking a nomination from four local authorities but he may not need to take that route.
If Mr Norris gets an Oireachtas nomination, the way will be left open for Ms Scallon to get the backing of four local authorities in the early days of next week. She already seems assured of nominations from Donegal and Longford County Councils, and Offaly County Council will also consider her nomination.
Four more councils – Kilkenny, Waterford City, Carlow and Roscommon – will consider applications from both Ms Scallon and Mr Norris, while South Dublin and Laois will consider applications from Mr Norris alone. Nominations close at noon on Wednesday. If both Mr Norris and Ms Scallon are nominated, there will be a record seven candidates.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday that Fine Gael councillors would not be receiving any further instructions from him on how to vote in next week’s meetings. He said they would be abstaining.
That will enable Ms Scallon or Mr Norris to get council nominations if they can persuade Labour, Fianna Fáil and Independent councillors to support their cause. Mr Kenny also said that the Fine Gael candidate, Gay Mitchell, was the best-qualified candidate in the race and would make an outstanding president.
“I want to assure you that the full support of the entire Fine Gael party and its support groups will swing in behind Gay Mitchell in an effort to get him to every part of the country and to meet as many people as he can to set out his credentials and his views on how he will carry the next presidency for the next seven years.”
Sinn Féin candidate Martin McGuinness yesterday denied killing anyone during his period of IRA membership but declined to give any further detail of his activities during that time. “I was involved in the IRA and I’ve made that clear. I didn’t kill anybody, I didn’t shoot anybody. I’m not going to get into the detail of all of that,” he said.
Speaking in Cork yesterday, Mr McGuinness said he wanted to open up Áras an Uachtaráin to unionists. He said the positive working relationships he had developed with Ian Paisley and Peter Robinson were evidence of his future capabilities as president of Ireland.