Michael Healy-Rae has confirmed he will not be entering the presidential race, following speculation that he might campaign for the Áras an Uachtaráin, reports Breaking News.
The Minister of State made his position clear during an appearance on RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, officially taking himself out of the running.
His comments came in response to an interview with former minister Ivan Yates on BreakingNews.ie, where Yates suggested Mr Healy-Rae could be a “dark horse” in the presidential race, reports Breaking News.
Mr Healy-Rae said his “very clear focus” remains on representing the people of Kerry as a TD.
When asked about speculation involving Michael Flatley, Mr Healy-Rae called him an “excellent ambassador for our traditions of dance and music”, reports Breaking News.
He added: “He’s a person that I know personally, and he’s a very, very nice gentleman. I wish him every good luck in every endeavour that he would ever had, but you can be sure of one thing, whatever name is going to be on that piece of paper, it’s not going to be me,” reports Breaking News.
In his interview, Mr Yates remarked: “One name I’ve picked up with my political antennae, who people believe would win if he ran is, believe it or not, Michael Healy-Rae. What people said to me was, if there has to be another candidate other than Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Catherine Connolly, what about Michael Healy-Rae? This is from talking to people from all sorts of background, when I put it to them what do you think of the mad idea that the guy with the cap would run? They immediately said to me, both rural and Dublin, ‘oh if he ran, he’d win’. The Healy-Raes are seen as doers, it’s distinctive. Even second generation people in Dublin would see the merit in it, and that he has not only name recognition but a brand as well,” reports Breaking News.
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