Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny has ruled out running for Fine Gael in next year’s presidential election, following the end of President Michael D Higgins’ fourteen years in Áras an Uachtaráin.
Speaking at the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, Co Wexford, the former Fine Gael leader said that he had once told Mr Higgins that he “always liked” visiting the Áras.
Told by interviewer Marie-Louise O’Donnell that he would “be perfect for the role”, the 73-year-old retired politician said: “I have no intention of applying to become a tenant there. So, the answer is no.”
Former European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness is the candidate most mentioned for Fine Gael in the October 2025 election.
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There has also been speculation that Tánaiste Micheál Martin could seek Fianna Fáil’s nomination for the role.
Presidents can serve a maximum of two terms of seven years each. Mr Higgins was re-elected for a second term with more than 55 per cent of the vote in 2018.
During a wide-ranging conversation in New Ross, Mr Kenny quoted United States president, John F. Kennedy’s 1962 speech to remember the importance of politics in society, and the need for people to be involved.
It is now more important than ever “at a time of uncertainty and at a time of misinformation and disinformation, with an avalanche of material coming at people” that people involve themselves in politics, he said.
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