Dana calls on FF and Independents to support nomination

Former MEP Dana Rosemary Scallon has formally entered the presidential race this afternoon, asking TDs and Senators to nominate her.

At a press conference in Dublin this afternoon, she said the contest should not become known as the "what if" election.

She wants Oireachtas members to nominate her has as an independent, saying that he has asked Independent TDs and Senators, as well as those from Fianna Fáil, to sign her nomination papers.

She has also called on Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin to allow his parliamentary party to have a free vote to support an external candidate.

Scallon said that everybody, regardless of their stance, has a right to enter the race.

"I asked them to grant me a nomination as an independent candidate," she said.

"I wouldn’t want this to be known as the ‘what if’ presidential election ... what if ... that they will exercise that very precious constitutional right, and I believe that it would be the first time to allow an independent candidate to be nominated and to run."

“As nominations close on September 28, I am calling on those members of the Oireachtas to grant me a nomination, so that the people of Ireland can decide,” she said.

“In the interest of equality, I ask that members of the Oireachtas make room for a second woman.”

Dana won the 1970 Eurovision for Ireland and won a seat in the European Parliament for Connaught/Ulster in 1999
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