LAST UPDATE | 28 Jun 2025

FORMER FIÁNNA FÁIL minister Mary Hanafin has said that she’s “in the mix” for the party’s presidential nomination. 

“If I could contest it, I would happily do that. It’s a role I would hope people could feel I would do well, both nationally and internationally,” she told The Irish Independent.

Sixty-six-year-old Hanafin previously told The Irish Times in April that she was open to the conversation of contesting the presidency – although she said it was ultimately up to Taoiseach and party leader Micheál Martin. 

She is the first Fianna Fáil party member to announce her intention to contest the nomination. This afternoon, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú was asked on RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongain if she had ruled out a bid for the Fianna Fáil presidential nomination, who replied that she was “extremely happy” in her current role as an MEP. Ní Mhurchú did not wholly rule out the prospect.

Fine Gael’s MEP Seán Kelly has all but declared his intention to run, having told The Journal in Brussels earlier this week that the main deterrent is the length of a presidential term.

Hanafin was first elected to the Dáil in 1997, serving the Dún Laoghaire constituency. Throughout her three consecutive terms as a TD, she held a number of Cabinet positions, including Minister for Education, Minister for Enterprise, and Minister for Social and Family Affairs, and Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Hanafin pictured in 2011. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In 2011, she was briefly deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, having lost the party’s leadership election to incumbent leader Micheál Martin.

Hanafin left office in 2011. In 2014, she served as a councillor on Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county council, representing Blackrock. She remained on the council until 2024. 

In 2014, Hanafin defied the wishes of Martin for her to refrain from submitting nomination papers to contest the local elections in the Blackrock area. Dubbed the ‘Battle of Blackrock’, Hanafin was ultimately elected on the first count.

She drew criticism from former Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s wife Mary Cowen in 2016, when Hanafin was apparently rebuffed by Martin after she announced she intended to join Fianna Fáil’s front bench were she elected to the Dáil.

Hanafin subsequently made remarks regarding Martin at the party’s ardfheis – which Mary Cowen derided in a Facebook post. 

Hanafin is the daughter of Des Hanafin, a businessman and Fianna Fáil councillor who also served as a senator. Her brother John Hanafin was a member of the Seanad from 2002 to 2008.

She is currently a barrister.