Bob Geldof has spoken about whether he would run for the Irish presidency.
The Irish presidential election is due to take place on Friday October 24, ending the 14-year tenure of Michael D Higgins.
As BBC News reports, independent candidate Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin of the Fianna Fáil party, and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys will contest to become the new leader.
Speaking to Sky News earlier this month, singer-songwriter and activist Geldof was asked whether he would throw his hat in the ring. “My kids are here, my missus is here, my homes are here,” he responded. “I’d miss London. The band is here, I wouldn’t be able to play.”
According to Citizens Information, any Irish citizen aged 35 or older can run for the presidency.
However, the candidate must be nominated by either at least 20 members of the Oireachtas – Ireland’s national parliament – or at least four local authorities. Former or retiring Presidents can nominate themselves.
Geldof said he “simply wouldn’t have had time” to take on the role, but did reveal that he had considered it. The Boomtown Rats frontman thought the job could be something “new, interesting and useful” at this stage of his life and career.
He explained that he had briefly spoken to Irish PM Micheál Martin. “[I asked,] ‘What would you think about Bob Geldof being the candidate for the Fianna Fáil Party?’ He said, ‘I think it’d be great, but I’ve already chosen someone’.
“I said, ‘That’s the end of the conversation Taoiseach, thanks very much’, and that was it.”
The period for nominations in this year’s Irish presidential election closed at midday on Wednesday (September 24).
Geldof said he was relieved that mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor was no longer in the running.
Over the summer, the singer hit out at the “abysmal” starvation of children in Gaza with a plea to Israel, saying: “Just… stop. For all our sakes.” He wrote: “Your government and your army seem to be out of control. Why do you, the people of Israel, tolerate and permit this?”
He later called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “liar” and accused Israeli forces of “lying” about the starvation crisis.
In May, NME spoke to Geldof about the 40th anniversary of Live Aid, Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical and the cast album. He told us that he felt “a personal obligation” to get the stage show off the ground.
“If someone could create the sense of what happened then, then it’s politically useful,” he explained. “Then there’s the obligation that if someone’s offering to make us money, then we do it.
“We don’t think about money, we think about, ‘How can we resolve this issue that’s just come in over email?’ By that I mean the mass rape of women and the deliberate starvation of children, just from today’s emails.”
When asked if a Live Aid would be possible in 2025, Geldof told NME that “we’re in the age of the death of kindness, and I object”, adding: “To understand Band Aid and Live Aid, then you’ve got to understand the agents – not just in music, but politics.”
He continued: “Thatcher was in excelsius. It’s true that we needed to move from an industrial to a service economy, but the consequences were brutal. You know: ‘There’s no such thing as society’, ‘greed is good’. I think Live Aid was a reaction to that. There’s no such thing as society? July 13, 1985, here we fucking are – yes, there is such a fucking thing as society and greed is stupid.
“We’re back to that. We’re back to a terrible selfishness.”
Meanwhile, The Boomtown Rats are set to embark on a UK 50th anniversary tour next month.
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