This article is from page 2 of the 2011-04-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
SHANNON wants to welcome President Barack Obama to the airport town, like it did Presidents Kennedy, Clinton and others in times past, but it could yet have its own president to come as one of its own.
That’s because longtime honorary ‘Shannon man’ Pat Cox has revealed that he is now prepared to give “serious consideration” to contesting the race to succeed President Mary McAleese in Áras an Uachtarán.
The former Progressive Democrats and independent politician has been out of elected politics since retiring from the European Parliament in 2004, but is now on the cusp on announcing a dramatic return to the hustings.
“I have been surprised and shocked by the huge volume of calls I’ve got on standing,” Mr Cox said on Saturday in giving the clearest indication yet that he could be contender in the autumn election.
Cox was a Progressive Democrats TD and MEP from 1989 to 1994, before he controversially moved to the independent benches ahead of the 1994 European elections when he beat his former Progressive Democrats party leader for a seat in European Parliament.
The 59-year-old was born in Dublin, but raised in Shannon where his family settled and lived for a number of years. “I have great affinity for Shannon,” he said in 1989 after the
people of Clare helped
elected him to the Eu
ropean Parliament.
Now, Cox, who built
up a formidable repu
tation in a 15-year
stint in Europe that
culminated in a two
year term as President
of the European Par
liament from 2002 to
2004, is paving the
way for a possible re
turn to national politics by mounting a presidential bid.
“It wasn’t on my radar screen at all,” said Mr Cox, “but I’ve had so many mails and calls and so on, I certainly would take some time to consider it. It is a very big issue to do with life, family, duty and responsibility, but I’m prepared to ask myself the question this week that wasn’t even on my mind a week ago.”