Presidential Election – Selection of a Fine Gael candidate

Fine Gael will tomorrow (Monday) open its’ nomination process for anyone seeking the Fine Gael candidacy for the upcoming Presidential election.

President Michael D Higgins’ term will conclude on November 11^th. As per Bunreacht na hÉireann, the election of the next President must take place within the sixty days before that – so any stage from September 13^th to November 10^th.

Fine Gael’s Executive Council, in line with party’s constitution and rules, have decided the following applies for the party to select a candidate.

• Nominations will open on Monday, July 7^th and close at 4pm on Tuesday, July 15^th.
• To be nominated, a candidate needs the nomination of 20 members of the Parliamentary Party, 25 Fine Gael Councillors and five members of the Executive Council (in the event where a public representative is also a member of the Executive Council, they must indicate in which capacity they are nominating).

In the event of a contest:

• An electoral college voting system applies – the same as to ratify the Programme for Government or elect a Party Leader. Under this electoral college system, every member in compliance with the two-year rule has a vote. The membership element of the college is worth 30% of the overall vote, the Councillors’ votes are worth 15% and the Parliamentary Party votes account for 55%.
• There will be a number of hustings held in late July with a postal ballot of members to take place across August. The Parliamentary Party will vote in one location in September, and a decision is to be taken as to how councillors will vote.

In all circumstances, the selected candidate will be ratified at an event in September.

The party will not be providing any comment or updates during the ongoing nomination process.