DUBLIN — Former EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, the early front-runner to become Ireland’s next president, on Thursday withdrew from the race citing health concerns.
McGuinness, 66, made her surprise announcement a week after her previously undisclosed hospitalization for an unspecified illness.
While not all potential candidates have declared for an election that must be held by November, McGuinness had been rated the most likely winner in all opinion polling and political betting markets.
“My priority now is my health. Given that the election is in a short couple of months, I do not believe that I have the strength to give the campaign my all,” McGuinness said in a statement issued by her political party, Fine Gael.
Her withdrawal means the centrist Fine Gael party, a part of four coalition governments since 2011, must scramble to find a new candidate. Potential replacements include former MEP Seán Kelly, former Justice Minister and MEP Frances Fitzgerald, and former Business Minister Heather Humphreys.
“This has come as an awful shock to us all,” said Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs, trade and defense.
Ireland’s presidency is a largely ceremonial role separate from government. It comes with a seven-year term, a stately home in Dublin’s vast Phoenix Park, and a platform to pontificate on the state of the nation. The two-term incumbent, Michael D. Higgins of the opposition Labour Party, is constitutionally prohibited from running again.
McGuinness’ withdrawal leaves only one credible candidate in the field: socialist Galway lawmaker Catherine Connolly. The other principal government coalition party, Fianna Fáil, and the main opposition Sinn Féin party are expected to pick candidates in September.
Other potential candidates include retired mixed-martial arts fighter Conor McGregor, Riverdance star Michael Flatley, and pharmaceutical entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan. None of them has nailed down the required minimum level of support from within Ireland’s political system to be listed on the eventual ballot.
A candidate must win backing from at least 20 members of parliament or four local councils to become an official candidate.
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