The 2004 Irish presidential election was the twelfth presidential election held in Ireland. The poll for the election was scheduled to be held on Friday, 22 October 2004. However, nominations closed at noon on 1 October and the incumbent president, Mary McAleese, who had nominated herself in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, was the only candidate nominated. Accordingly, she was re-elected for a second seven-year term of office without the need to hold a poll. This was the third time a president was returned unopposed, following Seán T. O'Kelly in 1952, and Patrick Hillery in 1983. McAleese was inaugurated for her second term on Thursday, 11 November 2004.
Background
Under Article 12 of the Constitution of Ireland, a candidate for president could be nominated by:
- at least twenty of the 226 serving members of the Houses of the Oireachtas;
- at least four of the 34 county or city councils; or
- a former or retiring president through self-nomination.
The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government made the order opening nominations on 13 September 2004. Nominations closed at noon on 1 October, while 22 October was set as the date for a contest, if required.
Potential nominees
Mary McAleese
Incumbent president Mary McAleese nominated herself for a second term on 24 September 2004. She received support from the governing parties Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, which had also backed her in the 1997 presidential election. Opposition parties including Fine Gael and Sinn Féin also supported her candidacy.
The Labour Party and the Green Party both considered running candidates against McAleese, but neither party ultimately entered the election.
Dana Rosemary Scallon
Dana Rosemary Scallon had previously contested the 1997 presidential election and served as a MEP from 1999 until her defeat in the 2004 European Parliament election. In 2004, she again sought nomination for the presidency through local authorities, but received support only from Galway City Council. After failing to secure enough council nominations, she wrote to members of the Oireachtas seeking support for her candidacy.
Independent TD Jerry Cowley briefly supported Scallon's campaign before withdrawing his support. On the day nominations closed, Scallon unsuccessfully appealed to the President of the High Court. A separate High Court challenge by a lay litigant seeking to extend the nomination deadline to allow Scallon to be nominated was also unsuccessful.
Labour Party
In early 2003, the Labour Party said it intended to run a candidate in the presidential election, even if President Mary McAleese sought a second term. Former Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht Michael D. Higgins was among those considered as a possible nominee. However, as the 2004 European Parliament election and the 2004 local elections approached, party leader Pat Rabbitte suggested that Labour's focus had shifted toward those campaigns instead.
On 15 September 2004, Labour's parliamentary party recommended against running a candidate. Two days later, the party's National Executive voted by 13 votes to 12 not to contest the election.
Green Party
Green Party TD Eamon Ryan let it be known that he was interested in seeking a nomination to run. However, practical difficulties included a lack of support from non-Green Party parliamentarians (fourteen of whom would be needed to nominate, as well as the six Green Party TDs), Mary McAleese's personal popularity, and funding issues. Having been endorsed by the party leadership, Ryan subsequently withdrew his name before a meeting of the Green Party National Council and the Green Party ultimately did not run a candidate.
Results
The only candidate nominated was Mary McAleese and she was declared elected at the close of nominations on 1 October.