FIANNA FÁIL LEADER and Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is not aware of any engagement with former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood over becoming the party’s candidate for the Irish presidency.

It has been reported by the BBC that Eastwood is considering a bid for Áras an Uachtaráin.

Eastwood is currently an MP for Northern Ireland’s Foyle constituency, which takes in Derry.

He resigned as SDLP party leader in October last year, having announced his intention to step down a couple of months prior.

The BBC today reported that Eastwood is “considering” a bid because “people have asked and we’ll see where it goes”.

“There’s very few candidates in the field right now. It’s something that needs a lot of consideration.”

He added: “I’m going to take the time to think about it, but it’s a long summer and there’s enough to be getting on with before any decisions around that would have to be made.”

Aged 42, Eastwood has previously served as the youngest mayor of Derry between 2010 and 2011.

He became an MLA in 2011 and became party leader in 2015. 

Eastwood was then voted in as an MP in 2019 and was return to Westminister in 2024, though with a much smaller majority. 

Rumours have swirled in recent days that Eastwood is being considered as a potential nominee by Fianna Fáil.

Asked to confirm if Eastwood had indeed been approached by the Fianna Fáil party, Martin questioned the basis for the question, adding: “There’s been no contact with me, there’s been no engagement that I am aware of from the Fianna Fail party and it hasn’t been on the agenda at all.”

Speaking at a North South Ministerial Council meeting today in Co Armagh, Martin said he was “surprised” to hear Eastwood was considering a run but said “it’s open to everybody to put themselves forward”.

He said Eastwood was a “very effective parliamentarian” but Fianna Fáil had not concluded on deliberations “at all”.

The SDLP and Fianna Fáil entered into a “policy partnership” in 2019 but this was ended in 2022.

Talks of a possible merger between the two parties had been ongoing at the time, however, rather than a full-on merger, the parties instead agreed to the “policy partnership”. 

Eastwood told a meeting of his party delegates in September 2022 that the time had come for the SDLP to “stand on its own two feet”.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland First Minister and Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill has not ruled out a run for the Irish presidential election.

Asked at the North South Ministerial Council if she was considering putting her name forward, O’Neill said Sinn Féin is working its way through deliberations on putting forward a candidate.

-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper and Press Association