MEP SEÁN KELLY has said not to rule him out as a contender to be the Fine Gael candidate in the presidential election even as opponent Heather Humphreys amasses what looks like sufficient support to clinch the nomination.

Both Kelly and Humphreys, a former Fine Gael minister, confirmed yesterday morning that they would campaign to win support in the party to become its nominee in the Áras race after first choice Mairéad McGuiness had to withdraw for health reasons after spending time in hospital.

Declarations of support came quickly for both contenders but especially for Humphreys, who appears to have enough backing at this point to seal the deal. However, in comments to The Echo yesterday evening, Kelly said he will “keep working” on it.

Kelly told The Journal this morning that he is “still fighting the good fight”, stating he has 12 backers “thus far”. 

Fine Gael reopened nominations this week for its candidate for the presidency after McGuinness’ withdrawal last Thursday. 

A potential candidate will need to be nominated by 20 members of Fine Gael’s parliamentary party.

Humphrey’s has at least 38 members in her corner as of right now, appearing to leave little path for Kelly to reach the threshold.

Speaking to The Echo yesterday evening, Kelly said: “Do you know, I’d take that with a grain of salt at this stage,”

“People can be quoted for saying things but you never know. We only started today, so we’ll keep working on it.”

Contest

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland yesterday morning, Kelly said that Fine Gael members “would like to have a contest”.

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“We haven’t had a contest for a long time now – we didn’t have a contest for the last presidential election seven years ago, and we didn’t have a contest of the leadership. We also did not have a contest when Mairéad got the nomination,” he said.

“So I think people would like to have a contest. A contest is good for parties, it’s good for democracies,” Kelly said.

Separately, during her campaign announcement on Cavan-Monaghan radio station Northern Sound, Humphreys also welcomed Kelly’s bid yesterday, saying she had “no issue with a contest”.

“I know Sean to be a gentleman. I really want to wish him the best of luck,” she said.

With reporting by Christina Finn