Bob Geldof has clarified that he never seriously considered running for President of Ireland, as he shared insights into a brief conversation he had with the Taoiseach regarding the idea, reports Breaking News.
The Boomtown Rats singer had recently been rumored to be weighing a bid to become Ireland’s next president. At the time, Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that he spoke with the Live Aid founder about the potential of representing his Fianna Fáil party in the presidential race scheduled for October.
Geldof, a native of Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin, explained that the talk with Mr Martin was brief and did not develop further, as the Taoiseach had already made his choice for a candidate, reports Breaking News.
Mr Martin ultimately supported former Dublin GAA football manager Jim Gavin for the Fianna Fáil nomination. Gavin, who also has a background as an army officer, was officially announced as the party’s candidate last week.
At the Sky Arts Awards on Tuesday, where he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, 73-year-old Geldof addressed questions about his potential presidential ambitions, reports Breaking News.
Asked by Sky News whether he had ruled himself out, the musician responded, “I would never walk myself in”.
He added: “What happened was we played at one of the big festivals in Ireland and coming off stage, somebody said, ‘Are you going to make a run for the President?’ But they ask that of everybody in Ireland, that’s the first thing – because anyone can (make a run), which is good,” reports Breaking News.
“And I said, ‘Well, it’s 50 years of the (Boomtown) Rats, 40 years of Band Aid, yeah, I’d like to do something new, interesting and useful’. And that set the hares running. So then people who are fairly high-powered in Ireland rang me and said, ‘Are you serious?’ I said ‘No’. I said, ‘Literally, I have no time’. I knew about this (the lifetime achievement award), I knew about promo for the album, which is like tomorrow it’s wall to wall, and for the rest of the week, then I’ll go on tour. So you wouldn’t have had time,” reports Breaking News.
“But they said, ‘will you talk to the prime minister, the taoiseach?’ I said, ‘Yeah, of course I will’. And he got the same lobby saying, ‘Will you talk to Geldof?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, of course I will’. So Micheál called me and I said, ‘What would you think about Bob Geldof being the candidate for the Fianna Fáil party?’ ‘I think it would be great,’ he said, ‘But I’ve already chosen someone’. I said, ‘That’s the end of the conversation Taoiseach, thanks very much’. And that was it,” reports Breaking News.
Geldof pointed out that even if he had been genuinely interested in running, he would have needed to fulfill the formal criteria for nomination — either by securing support from 20 members of the Irish parliament or from four local authorities.
“And I didn’t want to do that,” he added. “I simply wouldn’t have had time. And then the issue is, would you have wanted to do it? It’s seven years so, you know, my kids are here, my missus is here, my homes are here, I’d miss London, the band is here. I wouldn’t be able to play. Would it be interesting? Yes, up to a point, though,” reports Breaking News.
Geldof also expressed relief that MMA star Conor McGregor had withdrawn from the presidential race earlier this week.
When asked if he might consider running in the following election, seven years from now, Geldof responded dryly: “I’ll be dead”, reports Breaking News.
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