Bertie Ahern has conceded that he will not run for the presidency for Fianna Fáil and said he respects the party “far too much” to consider a tilt for Áras an Uacharáin as an Independent.
The former taoiseach’s remarks to supporters came at an event in Drumcondra last weekend.
Nominations close on Friday evening for Fianna Fáil’s internal contest to select its presidential election candidate.
Former Dublin football manager Jim Gavin and Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher are expected to be the two potential candidates to emerge from the process to vie for Fianna Fáil’s backing.
The internal contest will be decided by a vote by secret ballot at a parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday.
Mr Gavin has considerably more public declarations of support, including the backing of Taoiseach Micheál Martin and all of Fianna Fáil’s senior ministers.
While 30 parliamentary party members have said they are supporting him, there are just five public declarations for Mr Kelleher.
Mr Ahern had just one declared supporter, Senator Niall Blaney.
However, Mr Ahern signalled to supporters at an event in Drumcondra last weekend that he accepted he would not be the Fianna Fáil candidate.
A recording of his comments was sent to The Irish Times by his office in response to queries on Mr Ahern’s intentions in relation to the presidential election.
In his address to supporters Mr Ahern went though his record as a politician, saying work developing the economy while he was minister for finance “is really what set off the whole boom in the economy in the early ’90s” and speaking about his time as taoiseach.
He said: “People always talk about the Good Friday Agreement but I’m not going to even talk at all about that,” though he later went on to say he was “proud to play the role in helping to secure a peace on the island”.
He also said he is “proud” of the work of his government’s infrastructure committee that saw an upgrading of roads to Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Waterford and Galway.
And he spoke about “representing Ireland on the world stage”.
Mr Ahern said: “On that basis I’m confident my experience and service would have qualified [for] the role of president.”
Billy Kelleher greets Bertie Ahern during an event commemorating the 50th anniversary of Éamon de Valera’s death, at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
However, in response to questions on whether he would seek to stand for Fianna Fáil or as an Independent, he said: “In truth, it’s because I respect the Fianna Fáil party, its membership, and its elected and unelected people that I feel I could have been a good president for the people and feel that I’ve given the time to do so I could have run a campaign to seek their support.
“But I think, without the support of the leadership of your party, in all my time in Fianna Fáil I’ve never seen a period where the leadership really lose out in these things.
“That’s the way it’s been in my time and other times as well.
“And particularly when the leadership indicates so strongly and personally gets involved for a candidate, it’s unlikely that the leader loses out on these things.”
He also said: “As a former leader of the party I respect Fianna Fáil, its legacy, far too much to even consider that Independent idea.
“I’ve always been a Fianna Fáil person.”
In response to a question on why Mr Martin did not back him, Mr Ahern said: “I suppose he saw, in his view, that there was a candidate 20 years younger, and somebody kind of from outside the party [Mr Gavin].”
He also said Mr Martin had “indicated in the past why he was anti-me was to do with the Mahon Tribunal and the economy”.
The final report of the planning tribunal on payments to politicians in 2012 concluded that Mr Ahern failed to “truthfully account” for the source of large sums of money that passed through his bank accounts when he was minister for finance from 1991 to 1994. It rejected his evidence that some of his money was raised in a “dig-out” arranged by his friends.
Mr Ahern has always disputed the findings.
He told his supporters last weekend: “I said at the time of the tribunal report, I was very disappointed that the tribunal said that I failed to give a truthful account.
“That statement is unfair. It’s inaccurate having regard to the evidence, it’s one that I cannot accept … I gave the tribunal truthful evidence and reject completely any suggestion that I did otherwise.”
He also said: “Friends of mine gave money, not any robbers or crooks or gangsters. Friends of mine all went to the tribunal, gave evidence that they did, all explained the money.”
He added: “Just again, to reiterate what I’ve said a million times, I answered all the questions put to me to the best of my ability. I’m satisfied with the account I gave it.”
Mr Ahern said he stepped down as Taoiseach in 2008 because he felt the controversy was impacting on the work of ministerial colleagues, and he did not want that for them or the country “which has always been my priority”
He also said: “I did not know exactly how long one has to wait to be forgiven, or whether my sins were greater or less than anyone else, but there’s no way to know.
“In any event, I would have happily given my account in an election campaign, if I was asked to do so, as I’ve done to you here tonight, and done many times before.”
The economic crash happened shortly after Mr Ahern’s time as taoiseach.
He said: “I think we did our best on the economy and the difficulties that were there.
“We never shy away from the role that we did. We brought huge growth to the economy.
“The banks did a lot of things that now everyone knows what happened and I wasn’t responsible for that.
“I had no control over what the banks do, nor should that moment define my entire legacy as taoiseach.”
In response to a question on how tough a decision it would be not to run for the presidency, Mr Ahern said: “There are good bits and bad bits about that.”
He said he was “heartened” by the support he received in opinion polls last month, and support within the party.
Mr Ahern said: “It is hard, but not because of my own ambition, just because of the level of support and encouragement that I received from all sorts of people who contacted me to try and encourage me, I feel in some way I might be letting them down, that I’m not up for the fight, or that I consider the office not worthy of the effort, and I think people will know there’s nothing further [from] the truth.”
He said of the presidency: “I think this role could be uniquely significant for Ireland in the short term, with our place in the world stage changing.
“We need to someone who understands the role, understands the possibility it has for our island.”
He also said: “Let’s be just clear, without saying too much, and saying there are decisions that were made beyond my control, and I can do sweet nothing about them.”