As the postcard effort was reaching its peak, tabloid newspapers speculated that the Labour Party wanted to put Hewson up for the Irish presidential election of 2004, with the "Daily Mirror" quoting an unnamed party insider as saying, "She's a mother of four but she has always had world issues at heart and she'd make the perfect candidate." (Labour had succeeded with its candidate Mary Robinson in the 1990 election but came in fourth with Roche in the 1997 election.) Hewson stated that she had not been approached, and that "It's not a serious proposition. It would obviously be a huge honour if I was asked to take on such a huge task, but for one thing I'm not sure I'm qualified, and for another I've got four small kids to bring up first." She also expressed contentment with incumbent President Mary McAleese staying for another term. She jokingly added that she could not see Bono agreeing to live in a smaller house. Hewson received a media mention two years later as a possible Social Democratic and Labour Party candidate in the 2004 European Parliament elections after John Hume had stood down. The notion of her running for Irish president came up again in 2008 in conjunction with the 2011 election. Hewson demurred once more, saying she did not speak the Irish language well enough, this time adding humorously that she could not see her husband being willing to walk behind her at events. The candidate that Labour did put up, Michael D. Higgins, won the post. Notwithstanding this speculation, Hewson generally shies away from political comments in the media.