Demand is growing within Fianna Fáil to run Bertie Ahern as a candidate in the Presidential Election. 

The party has not nominated a candidate for President since Mary McAleese in 1997 and has yet to decide whether it will do so this time. 

The former Taoiseach has never ruled out standing in the election and many TDs believe he is Fianna Fáil’s best chance of winning the Presidency. 

“Although he doesn’t lead the polls, he never fairs all that terribly badly either,”  Virgin Media Political Correspondent Gavan Reilly explained to Newstalk Breakfast. 

“Given there appears to be a bit of a vacuum where there are some people talking about expressing an interest but there was no obvious frontrunner, we decided to assess the mood of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party to see how they might stand about a hypothetical Bertie Ahern candidacy. 

“What we found there is a majority of them who would like to see him on the ballot paper.” 

Áras an Uachtaráin. Picture by: Alamy.com.

As Fianna Fáil President, Mr Ahern won three General Elections for the party in a row and came close to securing an outright majority in 2002. 

He also played a key part in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. 

For some loyal Soldiers of Destiny, the Ahern era remains a golden era for the party. 

“There’s probably people who maybe of a slightly older generation who’ve been around for a couple of electoral cycles who aren’t quite accustomed of Fianna Fáil being a party that is always somewhere in the low to mid-20s and always think of themselves as being back in the 30s and 40s,” Mr Reilly added.  

“If you think of it purely in electoral terms, Bertie Ahern does have that kind of romanticism, where they’ll remember when Bertie Ahern won three successive General Elections and he was bringing Fianna Fáil to the low 40s or the high 30s.” 

Bertie Ahern with  Mary O'Rourke looks at the book makers odds on the Irish Election during visit to Athlone in 2007. Picture by: AP Photo/Peter Morrison.

While Mr Ahern remains popular with the Fianna Fáil grassroots, the 73 year old Dubliner comes with some risky baggage as well. 

His economic policies led to the catastrophic crash of 2008 that saw the State being bailed out by the EU and IMF. 

He also resigned from Fianna Fáil in ignominy in 2012 after the Mahon Tribunal criticised him for giving untrue evidence about his finances. 

It was only 2023 that Mr Ahern was allowed to rejoin the party he once led. 

“It was also with Micheál Martin’s blessing that Bertie Ahern was formally brought back into the party,” Mr Reilly noted. 

“That is a couple of years ago; it was to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and there was something of an argument at the time that Fianna Fáil really wanted to reclaim its legacy as the co-authors of the Good Friday Agreement and they couldn’t do that while Bertie Ahern was still outside of the fold.” 

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern with Senator George Mitchell and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Castle Buildings Belfast, after they signed the Good Friday Agreement. Picture by: RollingNews.ie/Pool.

If Fianna Fáil does nominate Mr Ahern, Mr Reilly predicted it would provoke Sinn Féin into nominating a candidate of its own.  

“You were certainly to imagine that if Fine Gael were to run someone and if Fianna Fáil were to run a candidate of their own and it has to be a relative political heavyweight with the record that Bertie Ahern, there would definitely be an instinct on Sinn Féin’s part to run somebody," he said. 

“That might perhaps be the tipping point to run somebody from party leadership on either side of the border - whether that’s Michelle O’Neill or whether it be Mary Lou McDonald.” 

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald and Vice President Michelle O'Neill. Picture by: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie.

Independent TD Catherine Connolly has been nominated by a number of left-wing parties in the Oireachtas, while Fine Gael is widely expected to back former Minister Heather Humphreys. 

Any other candidates will need the support of 20 Oireachtas members or nominations of four county councils. 

Main image: Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Picture by: PA Wire/PA Images.