2011 Irish presidential election "foisted on him and he had not known anything about it and what it would involve". This followed unease among Fianna Fáil parliamentary party Oireachtas members, with a number unhappy that a candidate was being imposed by the leadership without discussion. On 16 August 2011, the "Irish Examiner" reported that Micheál Martin had moved to pull the party out of the presidential race over the fallout from the approach to Gay Byrne, the cost involved and the slim chance of a candidate being elected. On 24 August, however, the party's deputy leader Éamon Ó Cuív told Raidió na Gaeltachta that
2018 Irish presidential election 2018 Irish presidential election The Irish presidential election of 2018 took place on Friday, 26 October, between 7.00 a.m. and 10.00 p.m. President Michael D. Higgins, who was elected in 2011, was seeking re-election. This was the first time since the 1966 election that an incumbent president faced a contest for a second term, and the first occasion on which an incumbent president nominating themselves for re-election had been opposed, as Éamon de Valera was nominated by Fianna Fáil when he sought re-election in 1966. It was also the first election with two candidates (Higgins and Seán Gallagher) who contested