A senior Sinn Féin TD has said he would not consider backing Bob Geldof to be president.
Eoin Ó Broin was responding to Geldof being linked with a bid for the Áras after it emerged the musician and activist spoke to Micheál Martin about the role last week.
The Taoiseach, who wants former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin to be Fianna Fáil’s candidate, told Geldof he was not in a position to nominate him as a candidate.
The Irish Independent has reported that Geldof has been considering a presidential bid.
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Prospective presidential candidates need nominations from 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities to get on the ballot paper in the election to succeed President Michael D Higgins.
At a press conference at Leinster House, Mr Ó Broin said he would not consider backing Geldof for the presidency.
The Boomtown Rats singer and Live Aid organiser was previously the recipient of an honorary knighthood from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Dubliner Geldof has also previously criticised the 1916 Rising, describing it as a “delusional enterprise”.
Asked about this, Mr Ó Broin said: “They are clearly both points of strong disagreement with Bob, although they are only two of many.”
The TD said the presidency was “a serious question for us”.
“We want to support the candidate that reflects the progressive republican values of our party,” he said.
Sinn Féin is considering whether to run its own candidate or to join other Opposition parties in backing Independent candidate Catherine Connolly.
Mr Ó Broin said the party was looking at its options and would make a decision on September 20th.
There has been scrutiny of Ms Connolly’s record including foreign policy views, her nomination of Gemma O’Doherty to enter the presidential race in 2018 and a “fact-finding” trip she took to Syria in 2018 when dictator Bashar al-Assad was in power.
Asked if Sinn Féin had any reservations about such matters, Mr Ó Broin did not answer directly, instead saying: “We’re looking at a number of options in advance of the ard comhairle meeting later this month. We will make our decision and we’ll let our decision be known then.”
Mr Ó Broin praised Mr Gavin for his time in the Defence Forces and as Dublin football manager, but criticised his reported decision to join Fianna Fáil in advance of a possible presidential election run for the party.
Mr Ó Broin said Mr Gavin had “given enormous service both to the country and to the county [Dublin] both as a member of the Air Corps, obviously, as the most successful not just Dublin football manager but football manager in the history of the sport”.
He also said Mr Gavin gave “very significant service to the State” by chairing the Citizens’ Assembly on a directly elected mayor for Dublin.
However, the TD said: “In the week where the highest levels of homelessness under a Fianna Fáil minister have been recorded and more than 5,000 children are in emergency accommodation, I don’t know how anybody could join Fianna Fáil for any reason.”
Mr Ó Broin would will not be Sinn Féin’s presidential election candidate, he said.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald has not ruled out the possibility she will run.
Asked if he would seek the Sinn Féin leadership if Ms McDonald decided to go for the presidency, Mr Ó Broin said: “Mary Lou is, without doubt, the best person to lead this party, and I want Mary Lou to be the next taoiseach of the country and will continue to support her until that happens.”
Mr Ó Broin was speaking at the publication of Sinn Féin’s submission to the Department of Housing on the proposed changes to exempted development regulations.
