Four presidential hopefuls including conservative campaigner Maria Steen are expected to make pitches to a group of TDs and Senators to seek nominations to contest the presidential election.
Aspiring candidates need the support of 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities to enter the race.
Eleven Oireachtas members are set to take part in a meeting on Thursday, September 10th, with a view to potentially coalescing behind one prospective candidate to generate momentum for their campaign to secure a nomination.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has been lobbying for a caucus of Independent politicians to come together behind a candidate so a “more diverse range of people in Irish society” can “have their voices heard” in the election campaign.
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He said the 11 TDs and Senators will hear presentations from four candidates and afterwards there would be a vote among the Oireachtas members on the basis of PR-STV (proportional representation – single transferable vote).
The TDs and Senators will be asked to nominate the winner of that vote to be a presidential election candidate, though Mr Tóibín said this is “not obligatory so if a person doesn’t feel comfortable at that stage, that’s fine”.
Mr Tóibín declined to comment on which four presidential hopefuls will be addressing the meeting.
Ms Steen, a barrister who works within the home as a stay-at-home mother, is expected to be one of the candidates to address the meeting.
It has previously been reported that businessman Declan Ganley, who has yet to publicly declare an intention to run, could be a possibility. Mr Ganley did not immediately respond to attempts to contact him.
Mr Tóibín also would not set out which 11 Oireachtas members are involved though he and his party colleagues deputy Paul Lawless and Senator Sarah O’Reilly are three of them.
On why he was not commenting on the identity of the candidates or Oireachtas members, he said the process of seeking to build a nominating caucus was “delicate” and “these things are often better carried out outside of the spotlight of the media. It’s more likely to be successful”.
He said the purpose of the meeting was “to give momentum to a particular candidate” to help them either get more Oireachtas nominations or to indicate they are “front-runners” as they seek nominations though local authorities.
The only confirmed candidates so far are Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin and left-wing Independent TD Catherine Connolly.
Mr Tóibín argued that at present the presidential election was “a bit flat”.
He said the presidential election “is a brilliant opportunity for the competition of ideas and values within a society” and he believed there was a need for “a far more diverse range of people in Irish society to have their voices heard”.
