Mary Hanafin rules out European Parliament bid

Former Minister for Education Mary Hanafin has ruled herself out of running for the European Parliament for Fianna Fáil.

She was understood to be interested in looking the party’s nomination for the Dublin constituency, but had not made any public comment on the matter.

However, Ms Hanafin, who was a TD for Dun Laoghaire, today said she is "not persuaded that Europe is where I want to be".

“There are many challenges facing people in this country and I want to be where I can best use my experience to address them.”

She said she remains involved in the Dun Laoghaire constituency.