Norris To Re-enter Presidential Race?

Senator David Norris is on the verge of a sensational return to the race to succeed Mary McAleese as president, according to weekend newspaper reports.

Norris was the frontrunner in the contest, before being forced to withdraw in controversy during the summer, after it emerged he wrote a letter in 1997 seeking clemency for his former partner who was found guilty of statutory rape in Israel.

However, public support has remained high for Norris despite the controversy.

And the four declared candidates - Gay Mitchell, Michael D Higgins, Sean Gallagher and Mary Davis - have failed to inspire.

Many commentators have lamented that the campaign for president has been lackluster and boring since the exit of Mr Norris on August 2nd.

The eccentric Senator has been out of Ireland since his dramatic exit and returned at the weekend.

He was reported to have met his most senior advisers and supporters, and is planning a high profile TV appearance on the Late Late Show next Friday.

After a recent opinion poll showed that 34% of people wanted to see him return to the race, and 18% indicate they would still give him a first preference, Norris tweeted that he had been "heartened" by the continuing support of the Irish public.

Some of his advisers have encouraged him to re-enter the race.

And an internet campaign calling on him to get back into the contest has collected over 7,000 signatures.

But despite this, if Norris does wish to become Ireland's first openly gay president, he faces an uphill battle.

In order to get on the ballot paper, he needs the support of 20 TDs and Senators by September 28th.

Before his departure from the race, he had garnered the support of only 15 Oireachtas members.

Several of his most high-profile supporters, including Independent TD Finian McGrath, withdrew their support in the wake of the controversy.

They are unlikely to change their minds now.

Mr Norris could need the support of either Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein to secure a place on the ballot paper.

It would reflect well on either party to facilitate the nomination of a clearly popular candidate, without having to actually back him in the race.

But it would be a dramatic development for them to do so.

Mr Norris also has the problem that the controversy over his clemency letter has not gone away.

During his resignation speech in August, he declared that he did not regret writing the letter, but admitted that he had shown poor judgment in not expressing enough concern for the victim in his letter.

Whether he could successfully 'deal' with the issue in a renewed campaign is an open question.

And while polls show that he remains a popular candidate, the others in the race have upped their campaigns significantly in recent weeks while he has been absent.

A victory is looking less likely than it did before he quit in August.

Finally, there is the question of financing a presidential bid - as all monies donated to his campaign were returned after he withdrew.

All of these factors point to Mr Norris not returning to the race, despite what the weekend newspapers say.

However, it's clear that he still has the support of significant number of TDs and Senators.

Members of the left wing United Left Alliance, who were not among his original backers, have indicated that they may help him run.

Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit said he would support Mr Norris.

And Clare Daly of the Socialist Party said she and her colleague Joe Higgins would also back him.

"We would not exactly be on the same wavelength as Senator Norris on a huge range of issues but we believe fervently he has the right to stand," she told the Sunday Independent.

Independent Senator John Crown said: "Senator Norris still has my support. The big difficulty is for him to get the 20 nominations. Personally I fear it is unlikely but I believe the people should decide. My position is that I am not part of his campaign.

"I told him all along that I thought he deserved to be on the ballot paper because of his strengths, because of his popular support and because of the attempts by the political parties to thwart his nomination."