Sinn Féin decision on Irish presidential race to be made in September

Mary Lou McDonald insisted the party was not split in its decision on whether or not they will run a candidate or if they will support another candidate from outside the party

The Sinn Féin president says the party will announce in September whether it will run a candidate in the upcoming Irish presidential election.

Speaking to BBC News NI, Mary Lou McDonald insisted the party was not split in its decision on whether or not it will run a candidate or if it will support another candidate from outside the party.

McDonald once again would not confirm or deny whether she herself will be running, insisting that "all options are on the table".

The election for a new Irish president has to be held before 11 November.

'Really interesting and lively discussion'

The Sinn Féin leader was in west Belfast on Sunday to speak at a hunger strike commemoration event.

She defended the party's decision to hold back on making any announcement.

"I wanted us to take time to thoroughly examine what our options are and to involve as many people as we could in the discussion," McDonald told BBC News NI.

She said there had been "really interesting and lively discussion across the party" and as the summer comes to an end they are at the point where they are going to "have to make a call on that".

"We'll do that collectively, we'll do it having listened very carefully to our grass-roots and then we'll have a decision in September," she said.

McDonald said the summer break is the reason why it has taken Sinn Féin so long to make a decision, insisting that the party still has time.

"It's very important that whoever becomes president recognises that they have a duty to Irish citizens everywhere, here in the north of Ireland, and that that duty is taken seriously so it's going to be an interesting campaign," she added.

"We will be participating in it, the question just is - in what way."

How do you become president of Ireland?

To run for the office of President of Ireland, you have to be an Irish citizen and aged over 35.

You also have to be nominated.

In order to formally contest the election, an individual needs the backing of either 20 members of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) or four of the 31 local authorities.

Michael D Higgins was inaugurated as the ninth president in 2011, when he took over from Mary McAleese, and was re-elected in October 2018.

Higgins is not eligible to stand again as he will have completed two full seven-year terms.

McAleese is the only president to come from Northern Ireland.