Michael Flatley dances around Irish presidency bid
Flatley, who is eligible to run as an Irish citizen, said he had not made a final decision on the matter but is consulting with a 'team of advisers'.
Speaking to RTE Radio One about newspaper speculation on a potential bid, the Irish-American said he is stopped on the street 'everywhere' he goes and asked if he will run.
However, he said that speculation was the result of his last appearance on the show with host Brendan O'Connor.
The choreographer and dancer said: 'I take it seriously but no I have not made a decision'.
Pressed on the matter, Flatley said: 'I have a huge business to run, I have an army of dancers counting on me to make a living.
'I have a whiskey company, a beautiful young wife and son that I want to spend time with.
'If I thought that I could be of benefit to the Irish people and – maybe more importantly – if I thought I could be a voice of the Irish people'
He added: 'Right now, I don't think they have a voice – not a true proper deep voice that you know that speaks their language.'
Flatley said he hears they concerns of 'average person on the street' and they are not 'happy right now', adding: 'Somebody has to speak for the Irish people.'
He said he was not sure the role needed another politician, adding that he had spent three decades promoting Ireland and Irish culture.
He said he had not been approached by any political party, but had been contacted by some 'people in the know'.
'It's certainly not something that I've made any decision on, but it does get frustrating when you see the hardworking Irish taxpayer working as hard out and having no say in things.'
Asked if he was leaning more in favour of running, he replied: 'Let it be said that I stand for Ireland and the Irish people.'
To be eligible to run, a candidate must be an Irish citizen who is 35 or older.
They must be nominated either by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas or at least four local authorities.
Former or retiring presidents can nominate themselves.
So far, two candidates have secured sufficient backing to enter the race.
Mairead McGuinness, who was a TV presenter and farming journalist before becoming an MEP and EU commissioner, is the nominee to become Fine Gael's presidential candidate.
Catherine Connolly, Independent TD for Galway West, has received the backing of the Social Democrats and People Before Profit, as well as independent TDs and Senators.
Fianna Fail, the party with the most TDs in the Dail, has not clarified if it will run a candidate and is to make a decision in the early autumn.
Sinn Fein has also not indicated a final decision on the race.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
3 minutes ago
- The Independent
Funding golf tournament was not attempt to ‘butter up' Trump, says Swinney
Scottish Government funding for a golf tournament at Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire course was not an attempt to 'butter up' the US president, John Swinney has said. The Government announced on Saturday, just days before the First Minister met Mr Trump, that £180,000 of public money would be spent to bring the Nexo Championship to Scotland next month. Mr Swinney said he had 'courteous' talks with Mr Trump on Tuesday morning, ahead of the official opening of a second course in Aberdeenshire. Gifts were also exchanged ahead of the meeting, with Mr Swinney giving the US president framed historic documents showing his family connections to Scotland, and a map of the Isle of Lewis. In return Mr Trump gave the First Minister an American bald eagle figurine. The leaders discussed the situation in Gaza and tariffs on Scotch whisky, which Mr Swinney said the president appeared to be willing to move on. Speaking to the PA news agency, the First Minister said the tournament funding was not to curry favour with the president. Asked if it was an effort to 'butter up' Mr Trump, he said: 'No, I think what I was trying to do is to make sure that a tournament that was coming to Scotland could be properly promoted. 'It's coming here, we've essentially intervened to secure a tournament quite late in the day.' Mr Swinney added that the Government provides cash to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) in St Andrews. 'If the principle is good enough for the R&A, it's good enough for Trump International,' he said. Asked about his relationship with Mr Trump following his first face-to-face meetings with the leader, Mr Swinney said there had been 'very good and courteous' conversations between the two. 'I think we talked well about the issues that matter to the people of Scotland,' he said. 'He has a deep affinity with Scotland, so he's got a warmth and an empathy towards Scotland and he was interested in all the issues that I was raising about Scotland. 'So I think we had a very welcome opportunity to engage in dialogue and to build a relationship.' Asked if he believes that positive relationship will continue into the future, the First Minister said he does, adding the president ended the meeting by urging him to contact the US administration should he wish to raise any issues. 'I intend to take him up on that issue, because my job as First Minister of Scotland is to promote and protect the interests of the country and I can engage constructively with the president of the United States to do that,' Mr Swinney added. As well as a meeting early on Tuesday, the First Minister was also invited to a dinner on Monday evening at the Aberdeenshire club alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Over a meal of langoustines and beef, the First Minister had his first face-to-face meeting with the US president – having spoken over the phone after his election win last November.
Daily Record
4 minutes ago
- Daily Record
John Swinney defends funding Donald Trump golf course tournament and denies 'buttering him up'
Mr Swinney said he had 'courteous' talks with Mr Trump but said tournament cash was not an attempt to 'butter up' the US President. Scottish Government funding for a golf tournament at Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire course was not an attempt to 'butter up' the US president, John Swinney has said. The Government announced on Saturday, just days before the First Minister met Mr Trump, that £180,000 of public money would be spent to bring the Nexo Championship to Scotland next month. Mr Swinney said he had 'courteous' talks with Mr Trump on Tuesday morning, ahead of the official opening of a second course in Aberdeenshire. Gifts were also exchanged ahead of the meeting, with Mr Swinney giving the US president framed historic documents showing his family connections to Scotland, and a map of the Isle of Lewis. In return Mr Trump gave the First Minister an American bald eagle figurine. The leaders discussed the situation in Gaza and tariffs on Scotch whisky, which Mr Swinney said the president appeared to be willing to move on. Speaking to the PA news agency, the First Minister said the tournament funding was not to curry favour with the president. Asked if it was an effort to 'butter up' Mr Trump, he said: 'No, I think what I was trying to do is to make sure that a tournament that was coming to Scotland could be properly promoted. 'It's coming here, we've essentially intervened to secure a tournament quite late in the day.' Mr Swinney added that the Government provides cash to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) in St Andrews. 'If the principle is good enough for the R&A, it's good enough for Trump International,' he said. Asked about his relationship with Mr Trump following his first face-to-face meetings with the leader, Mr Swinney said there had been 'very good and courteous' conversations between the two. 'I think we talked well about the issues that matter to the people of Scotland,' he said. 'He has a deep affinity with Scotland, so he's got a warmth and an empathy towards Scotland and he was interested in all the issues that I was raising about Scotland. 'So I think we had a very welcome opportunity to engage in dialogue and to build a relationship.' Asked if he believes that positive relationship will continue into the future, the First Minister said he does, adding the president ended the meeting by urging him to contact the US administration should he wish to raise any issues. 'I intend to take him up on that issue, because my job as First Minister of Scotland is to promote and protect the interests of the country and I can engage constructively with the president of the United States to do that,' Mr Swinney added. As well as a meeting early on Tuesday, the First Minister was also invited to a dinner on Monday evening at the Aberdeenshire club alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. Over a meal of langoustines and beef, the First Minister had his first face-to-face meeting with the US president – having spoken over the phone after his election win last November.
The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on Nigel Farage and ‘lawless Britain': dangerous hyperbole has real-life consequences
During last year's general election campaign, Reform UK settled on 'Britain is broken' as a slogan. This summer, intending to dominate the news agenda during the long Westminster recess, Nigel Farage has decided to ramp up the dystopian rhetoric. 'Broken' has morphed into 'lawless', as Mr Farage tours the country deploying language reminiscent of the 'American carnage' speech delivered by Donald Trump at his first inauguration in 2017. Unfounded claims of a huge rise in crime have been breezily tossed out to bolster the assertion that Britain is 'facing nothing short of societal collapse'. The crisis of lawlessness on the streets, wrote Mr Farage in a recent article for the Daily Mail, was being compounded by the government-sponsored arrival of 'droves of unvetted men into our towns and cities'. Commenting on recent protests outside an Epping hotel accommodating asylum seekers, after a resident was charged with sexually assaulting a local teenage girl, he remarked that the country was close to 'civil disobedience on a vast scale'. According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales – which Mr Farage chooses to ignore but which is the most robust source of relevant evidence – incidents of theft, criminal damage and violence have been in long‑term decline since the 1990s. But Reform's leader is more interested in sinister mood music than data, as he seeks to foment a feelbad factor. His aim is to portray a country in which disinterested elites preside over a law and order crisis intimately connected to immigration, and where there is a yearning for an authoritarian response along the lines suggested by Mr Farage. Reform's pledge to repeal the Online Safety Act, made on Monday at a 'Britain is lawless' press conference, underlined its willingness to risk the further pollution of public discourse by disinformation and hate speech. As the chief constable of Essex reminded Mr Farage last week, after he falsely alleged that police had driven counter-protesters to the site of the Epping hotel, inflammatory talk has real‑life consequences. In an echo of last summer's riots after the appalling murder of three young girls in Southport, asylum seekers have reported being chased and attacked in the town. Having in many cases fled violent and unstable situations elsewhere, they now fear for their safety again. In Essex, and elsewhere in the country, far-right groups are seeking to create the conditions for another conflagration. These are worrying developments. But Britain's social fabric is not unravelling and the country is not on the verge of widespread civil conflict. A year ago, the vast majority of citizens backed a hardline response to the scenes of disorder that took place. Nevertheless, the deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, was right to argue last week that much more needs to be done to enhance social cohesion in places buffeted by change and starved of resources. The problem with Mr Farage is that his hyperbolic claims are designed to heighten and sharpen tensions rather than truly address them. For a party that aspires to govern and claims to be in the mainstream, fuelling a sense of insecurity and anger in this way is deeply irresponsible. Britain is still a long way from being Mr Trump's America, and Reform's cynical opportunism may fail to yield the political dividends hoped for. But we have been served with another reminder of the darkness at the heart of Mr Farage's politics.
