Michael Flatley. Photo source: Ken McKay / ITV / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
Michael Flatley, the star of Irish dance, known as the public in Romania for the show “Lord of the Dance” wants a new role: president of Ireland, The Guardian reports.
The Irish-American dancer and businessman plans to return from Monaco to Ireland and wants to get a nomination for the following presidential elections, writes News.ro.
According to a deposition during a trial at the High Court, related to a dispute on renovations at the Mansion of Flatley, the 67 -year -old artist “will try to get the nomination to apply for the presidency of Ireland.”
The elections for this position must take place 60 days before November 11, when the in charge president, Michael D. Higgins, ends his second term, after 14 years in office.
Flatley suggested for the first time the possibility of a candidacy last week, in an interview for RTé, saying that people in Ireland “are not happy at this time” and that they lack “a true, deep voice to speak on their language.”
His lawyer, Ronnie Hudson, confirmed the intention in court, mentioning a “significant change of circumstances” and specifying that Flatley, Irish citizen, will move back to Ireland within 14 days to get a nomination.
The deposition was made in the context of the legal action of the choreographer on the renovation works in Castelhyde, its Mansion from the eighteenth century near the Fermoy, in Cork County.
The dancer, now 67, withdrew due to an injury after a show in Las Vegas, on Saint Patrick's Day, in March 2017.
What conditions should meet in order to be nominated
In order to be eligible to the presidency, a candidate must be an Irish citizen and be at least 35 years old. In order to appear on the ballot, a nomination of at least 20 members of the Parliament or at least four local authorities is required. It is not clear whether the Lord of the Dance star will be able to get this support.
In April, the former mixed martial arts fighter, Conor McGregor, complained that the rules of nomination could block his declared intention to run.
So far, two candidatures have been officially confirmed: MaiRead McGuinness, former journalist and European Commissioner, is the candidate of the Fine Gael party, while small left parties support Catherine Connolly, an independent politician and former mayor of Galway.
The parties Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have not yet announced their own candidates.
The Independent Ireland group, which owns four places in the Parliament, said it was open to discuss with Michael Flatley and other potential candidates, as long as they have a “real chance” to collect another 16 votes to get a nomination.
Flatley remained in the public's attention after his withdrawal from the dancer career. His 2022 spy film, Blackbird, was ironized by critics.
In 2023, he announced plans for a biographical series “without censorship”, entitled Dancelord, who promised to illustrate the “grandiose epic” of a life that reached “a level beyond the ordinary fame of rock stars”
