THE FORMER PRESIDENT of the European parliament, Pat Cox, has confirmed that he is interested in running for the presidency later this year.

Cox has said that whilst he has not yet spoken to any party about seeking their nomination he is ready to explore whether there is enough support for him to seek the nomination, RTÉ reports.

Cox was one of the founder members of the now defunct Progressive Democrats and said he was “open on all fronts” to a nomination and potentially support from a political party but the Irish Independent says that he faces an uphill battle to win a nomination.

MEP Mairead McGuinness has already declared herself a candidate seeking the nomination of Fine Gael while Fianna Fáil has yet to decide whether it will field a candidate.

Other candidates to declare their Áras intentions so far are independent senator David Norris, businessman and Dragon’s Den judge Sean Gallagher and former government minister Michael D Higgins.

In order to run for president, a potential candidate must have the support of four county councils or 20 members of the Oireachtas in order to be nominated.

The presidential election is due to take place in October.