Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill doesn't rule herself out of Áras bid
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill has declined to rule herself out of being Sinn Féin's candidate in the upcoming Irish Presidential election.
Despite saying that she was busy as First Minister, she did not rule herself out of being the candidate in the election.
President Michael D Higgins will leave Áras an Uachtaráin in November, with the election likely to take place in October.
Parties have been slow out of the traps to announce whether they will run a candidate and who that candidate will be.
When asked at the North South Ministerial Council in Armagh on Friday, if she would be running for Sinn Féin, Ms O'Neill did not directly say no, despite being asked twice.
She said: 'We [in Sinn Féin] haven't completed our own deliberations in terms of the presidential race itself.
'I think I have plenty to do being First Minister here.
'But I think that the fact remains that I could stand for election. I could be elected as Uachtarán na hÉireann, but I can't vote in that election.
'That's where there's a deficit of what we need to see is presidential voting rights extended to the north, so that Irish citizens can vote for their Uachtarán.'
When asked if she was considering putting her name forward, Ms O'Neill said: 'I am currently working our way through our deliberations as we speak.'
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that there has been no communication between Fianna Fáil and former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood about the prospect of him being Fianna Fáil's candidate.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr Eastwood, who resigned as SDLP leader in October, stated that he was considering entering the race.
The Taoiseach, however, denied suggestions that the MP for Foyle would be the Fianna Fáil candidate.
He said: 'There's been no contact with me, and there's been engagement that I am aware of with the Fianna Fáil party.. That hasn't been on the agenda at all, in terms of Colum.
'I was surprised when I heard that this morning that he was considering it. But of course, it's open to everyone to put themselves forward.
'Colum is a very effective parliamentarian, has been a political leader in Northern Ireland for quite some time.
'But we will make our choices as a party, and we haven't concluded deliberations at all.'The Taoiseach stated that previous experiences from Presidential elections, that later in the summer would be a 'more optimal time' to announce who is running for the party.
The Irish Mirror understands that the Fine Gael nomination process for the presidential election campaign will open in July.
Other parties, including the Social Democrats and Labour, are still mulling over whether to run a unity candidate in October's election.
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