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IRELAND WILL GO to the polls next year to decide who will become the tenth President of Ireland.
In early November, President Michael D. Higgins will have completed his second term in the role.
No one has officially thrown their hat in the ring just yet, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation.
Here are the names to watch out for:
The former Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil has long had his name attached to a potential bid for the Áras and has been keeping coy when asked about it.
In July Ahern told media that he hasn’t ruled out a potential run, but whether Fianna Fáil would be happy to have him as their candidate remains to be seen.
Last year, Ahern rejoined Fianna Fáil more than 10 years after he quit the party following the findings of the Mahon Tribunal.
The tribunal found he did not truthfully account for payments of IR£165,000 made to accounts connected to him.
Ahern has subsequently spoken about how he believes he was treated unfairly by the tribunal. If he does decide to run in next year’s election, he will have to be ready to face more difficult questions about his affairs.
Former European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness is currently the bookies’ favourite to secure the job.
The Ardee woman is well placed to earn the Fine Gael party’s nomination and has previously voiced a desire for the job, unsuccessfully putting herself forward for the party’s nomination in 2011.
McGuinness ended her term as a European Commissioner in November, before that serving as an MEP from 2004 – 2020.
McGuinness getting her party’s nomination is no sure thing though, as former Fine Gael minister and former MEP Frances Fitzgerald has also expressed an interest in the role.
Speaking to The Journal in March of this year about whether she would throw her hat in the ring or not, Fitzgerald said:
“What I’ve said in my political career is that I’ve never ruled things out. I got opportunities because I was interested and committed.
“So I keep an open mind on it while recognising that there are many, many people in Ireland who want to be President.
“So you never know how that particular campaign is going to both develop and progress. But I certainly don’t rule it out.”
In a recent interview with The Journal the Sinn Féin leader said she won’t be mounting a bid for the Áras next year, telling us “that’s not on my horizon”.
However, we’re not fully convinced. A lot can change in 10 months and McDonald, who has led her party through two elections where they failed to emerge as a serious contender for government, risks losing her party’s backing as leader.
Sinn Féin are known as a party who don’t leak or publicly speak badly about their leadership. If they do want a change of direction at the top of the party, a presidential bid could be a decent off-ramp for McDonald.
A skilled campaigner, one would think her personal popularity and ability to connect with people could give her a real chance of securing the seat.
Burns is one of the names rumoured to be under consideration by Sinn Féin, having impressed with his oratory skills over the past year since he became President of the GAA in February 2024.
During the summer, in a week where there was unrest in Coolock as multiple fires were set at a site earmarked for asylum seekers, Burns delivered a message of unity in a poignant speech at the All Ireland Hurling Final in Croke Park.
Speaking before he awarded the Liam MacCarthy cup to Clare, Burns invoked the struggle of the Irish who had to leave our shores:
“For those people who are our diaspora, who had left this country because of war and famine, and for ancestors who had to leave it, we are thinking of you as you watch it.
“You are in Croke Park today, if not in body than in spirit, and we thank the countries who took you in and allowed you to make a new name for yourselves with our native games.”
But with two years left in his term as President of the GAA, Burns may not have political ambitions.
The former head of Amnesty International in Ireland is a well-known human rights activist who has been outspoken on many issues the Irish public has felt strongly about.
O’Gorman, himself a survivor of clerical sexual abuse has long campaigned for justice, famously suing the Pope over the abuse he suffered at the hands of the late Father Seán Fortune.
He has spoken candidly about his own story and how following the abuse, he spent a number of months homeless in Dublin.
The bookies currently have him at 33/1 to clinch the position.
The former TD and co-founder of the Social Democrats bowed out of electoral politics this year after a career spanning over 30 years.
Shortall was contacted by the Irish Daily Mail before Christmas after a poll by the paper placed her as the favourite to be Ireland’s next President at 32%.
Shortall told the Mail that she ‘hasn’t decided’ what her next move will be, so watch this space.
Senator Frances Black has been vocal in media over the last year trying to push the government to enact her Occupied Territories Bill in response to Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza.
The Independent politician and singer is a popular figure, having first entered politics in 2016 upon her election to the Seanad.
Just like O’Gorman, the bookies currently have her at odds of 33/1 to become Ireland’s next President.
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