Newly elected senator says he would run for the presidency - if a big party come knocking
Speaking on RTÉ's Drivetime this evening, McCarthy said that his name had come up in the presidential discussion in recent days.
McCarthy is an Independent senator and
founder of homeless and addiction charity Tiglin
. He said that although he may not be known nationally, his charity Tiglin has helped people all across Ireland.
'I've been involved for 20 years working in advocacy, homelessness, social inclusion,' McCarthy said.
'If I got it [support from a big party] I would certainly consider it [running] seriously,' he said on the show. He added he felt it wasn't democratic for parties to enforce their representatives to back their party's candidate – which has yet to be agreed on.
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He said that he has been approached by a number of politicians within both the Seanad and the Dáil, but mentioned that one must need 20 members of the Oireachtas backing their bid to appear on the ballot.
'I don't think that's possible, because Catherine Connolly has sewn up a lot of the independent route, and then you go down the council's route, and you need the four councils.'
Would he accept the nominations of Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin?
'If I was approached by either party, then you have broad support. But I work with left, I work with right, and you'll see even my work in the Seanad is very focused on the areas of housing, on the areas of people and marginalisation.'
He said that it would be difficult to run a successful campaign as an Independent without the backing of a larger party.
'This evening, I'm going to charge my phone to make sure I can take calls from those parties,' he said.
At the end of June, McCarthy had expressed to Virgin Media News that
a potential run for the presidency was 'something to consider'.
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McCarthy said at the time that he would 'love the opportunity' to run as a social inclusion candidate where 'housing, where second chances are part of the norm'.
He added that he was focused on his role in the Seanad, where he sits on the housing committee.
McCarthy was first elected to the Seanad this year in the Dublin University constituency. The Co Kildare man has been heavily involved with projects combatting homelessness and addiction, as well as rehabilitation for those who are affected by either issue.
Currently, the only candidate formally in the race is Independent TD Catherine Connolly, who has the backing of the Social Democrats, Labour, and People Before Profit. Heather Humphreys is leading in the nominations race to secure herself as Fine Gael's candidate.
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