Ex-GAA boss and former minister bid for Irish presidential race

Heather Humphreys and Sean Kelly have declared they will seek their party's nomination to be the candidate for the Irish Presidency

A former president of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and an ex-Irish minister are bidding to enter the Irish presidential election race.

Heather Humphreys, the granddaughter of unionists and former cabinet minister from Cavan-Monaghan, has confirmed she is seeking support to be the Fine Gael candidate.

The former Monaghan TD has strong links with Northern Ireland and has talked in the past about her unionist connections.

Fine Gael MEP Séan Kelly, who was GAA president for three years, has also declared he will seek the party's nomination to be the candidate for the Irish Presidency.

Kelly, one of Fine Gael's members of the European Parliament (MEP), said he had taken the decision after consideration with his family and supporters.

Meanwhile, Ms Humphrey's grandfather, Robert James Stewart, signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912 in protest at the Home Rule bill which sought to set up a parliament in Dublin.

Sean Kelly says he is delighted and enthusiastic about the prospect of running for president

The party's original candidate, Mairead McGuinness, said last week that she would not run any more due to health issues.

Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland programme, Kelly said his original decision not to run was "the hardest decision" he ever made.

However, he said that now nominations were open again he was "delighted and enthusiastic about the prospect of running for president, reflecting what many people have said to me".

Ms Humphreys said she had decided to "go for it" after being contacted by people within politics and by those "with no political affiliation at all".

Speaking to Cavan and Monaghan local radio station Northern Sound, external, Ms Humphreys, who stood down as an elected politician at the last general election in the Republic of Ireland - said she had "plenty in the tank" and that the timing was right, despite ruling herself out of the contest earlier this year.

"I have thought long and hard about this… I have decided to go for it and I will be seeking the Fine Gael nomination," she said.

"I want to deepen relations between the people of this island north and south."

When is the Irish presidential election?

Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Simon Harris said the decision to reopen nominations would enable the party to have a candidate in place by mid-September.

Nominations reopen at midday and will close at midday on 2 September.

No date has yet been set for the presidential election, but it needs to be held before 11 November when Michael D Higgins' 14-year term in office officially ends.

A new twist to the long running Irish reunification debate?

Analysis: Enda McClafferty, BBC News NI political editor

Heather Humphreys has a backstory few of her political peers can match.

Her grandfather was willing to fight to keep Ireland in the UK while his only granddaughter led the commemorations for a Republican rebellion to drive the British out of Ireland

She was the government minister in charge of marking the 1916 Easter Rising centenary anniversary.

"Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined such a scenario," she said about her grandfather.

As a Presbyterian from Monaghan she is proud of her roots and often talks about a new Ireland where unionists would feel welcome.

Her grandfather Robert James Stewart was 19 when he signed the Ulster Covenant alongside an estimated 12,000 fellow Monaghan men.

According to his granddaughter the Protestant story on the island has yet to be fully explored.

If she was to win the presidential race then it could bring a new twist to the long running Irish reunification debate.