Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has spoken out on the rumours of him running for the Presidency after months of speculation.
Chatting to his son-in-law Nicky Byrne on his podcast, Bertie went over all the pros and cons of going for the Presidency at his age.
Nicky opened up the floor to Bertie by revealing how his and Georgina's daughter Gia was grilling her grandad about whether he was going to run or not while they were on holidays.
'And little Gia, my daughter said, "grampa, are you going to go for the presidency?" Nicky joked. 'And you just went, "ah you go for it Gia!', Nicky laughed, mimicking Bertie's way of dodging the question.
Nicky posted a snippet of his episode with his father-in-law to his social media, captioning the clip: 'With all the speculation about whether Bertie would run for President - I decided to just ask him…'
Bertie admitted on the podcast that 'he has thought it', saying he gets 'a number of phone calls and letters, emails' about it.
He went on to list a number of factors that he would have to consider if he were to run for President, including public support, his family, and his age.
Bertie listed the factors that could potentially help if he were to run for the Áras, like how he is on the council estate, the group that helps advise the President of Ireland.
Bertie also mentioned that he was in 'various' governmental roles during his career, including the Department of Finance and, of course, the role as Taoiseach. 'So the operation of how it works and the links between the president and the executive, I know the detail inside out,' he said.
As he's 'everywhere in this country' and worked externally in the European Council for 20 years, Bertie says he doesn't think 'there's anyone around that has that experience, quite frankly.'
But on the cons side of running for the presidential election, the former Taoiseach said there 'was not much point' in running if he did not have a nomination from his party, Fianna Fáil. 'I haven't got a clue. I don't know who in Fianna Fáil would want it,' he said.
When asked about public support, Bertie followed up by saying that 'like anything, if you don't have a meaningful chance, there's no point wasting your time.'
Finally, Bertie mentioned that the other factor that would hold him back from running would be his age and his family time. Bertie turns 74 next year and is not too keen on the idea of spending 'his last few years' away from his family.
'Even if you were elected, would you want to spend the last seven years of your life, having limited time to be with the kids and you. That's a hard one, you know,' he said to Nicky.
Bertie finished off his chat with Nicky by saying that he's not ruling running for the Presidency out, but 'one way or the other', he's 'not going to lose sleep over it. We'll see how it plays out.'
So it seems time will tell if Bertie will put his name in the hat for the Presidency, with his granddaughter Gia even giving him the nudge!
