2011 Irish presidential election party was unlikely to run a candidate both for financial reasons and also because it was unlikely that a Fianna Fáil nominee could be successful. In early August 2011 there was press speculation that RTÉ broadcaster Gay Byrne might seek a nomination. On 6 August Micheál Martin rang Byrne at his holiday home to indicate that Fianna Fáil Oireachtas members would facilitate his nomination. Byrne indicated that he had yet to make a decision on whether to put his name forward, but said that if he did so he would not run under the Fianna Fáil banner but as an
2011 Irish presidential election of the single transferable vote", a single-winner election cannot be proportional. All Irish citizens entered on the current electoral register were eligible to vote. Following the general election in February 2011, and subsequent Seanad election, only three political parties had the 20 members of Oireachtas required to nominate a candidate: Fine Gael (76 TDs and 19 senators), the Labour Party (37 TDs and 13 senators) and Fianna Fáil (19 TDs and 14 senators). Sinn Féin, the next largest party in the Dáil Éireann, had 14 TDs and 3 senators. For other candidates to be nominated by Oireachtas members, support would