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 Minister, and current Labour Party president, originally indicated that he was interested in receiving the party's nomination in September 2010. Like Higgins, two other candidates put their names forward in late May 2011: For the first time in any presidential election, Fianna Fáil neither ran a candidate nor supported the nomination of a candidate. The decision was made at a meeting of the parliamentary party on 31 August 2011, and was in line with the recommendations of the six-person subcommittee formed by the party leader Micheál Martin to consider the matter. In June 2011 press reports had indicated that the