The upcoming race for the Áras needs to see a contest in Fine Gael to find the best candidate, according to political commentator Fergus Finlay.
Mr Finlay was speaking to Katie Hannon and Paul Cunningham, as Fine Gael decide their next move following the shock withdrawal of former MEP and EU Commissioner, Mairead McGuinness.
"There isn't a natural Fine Gael vote big enough to elect a president in Ireland," he said.
"What they have to do is they have to pick somebody who will add to the Fine Gael vote.
"They have to pick somebody whose profile, story, history and appeal will be broader than just Fine Gael.
"They’ll get the Fine Gael vote in Mount Merrion no matter who they run – but they need the Fine Gael vote all over Ireland."
Fergus Finlay, who is a former Senior Advisor to the Labour Party, outlined why he "wanted to be considered as a candidate" for president for Labour.
He said he had messaged party leader Ivana Bacik in January this year.
"I’ve never believed I’ve any entitlement to be anything, but I wanted to be part of the process," he said.
"I think it became clear that Ivana… felt this was not a winnable situation for Labour.
"Maybe she felt it wasn’t winnable for Labour with me, maybe she felt that I was a burned out aul' waste of space – I have no idea.
"She’s far too polite ever to say anything like that," he added.
However, Mr Finlay said he was "very disappointed" that Labour gave its backing to Independent TD for Galway West Catherine Connolly, who officially launched her presidential bid last month.
"There’s a lot of stuff I don’t agree with Catherine Connolly about, there’s a lot of stuff I admire her for," he said.
On Fianna Fáil, Mr Finlay said he believes the party has to pick a "heavyweight" candidate.
"I don’t think it will be Bertie [Ahern]," he said.
"If it is going to be Micheál Martin, the election is over – if it’s not going to be Micheál Martin, they have to find a senior member of the present Government who’s very active [and] strong in politics.
"They’ve got to find somebody – Dara Calleary, Jim O’Callaghan – senior from within the ranks, preferably not necessarily a Dubliner, they have to find somebody who’ll take that on."
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Non-political candidates need the support of at least 20 members of the Oireachtas or at least four local authorities to make it on the ballot paper.
Mr Finaly told Katie and Paul he believes that businessman and former dancer Michael Flatley could be a strong contender.
"I think Michael Flatley’s different," he said.
"You’ve got to schmooze and really schmooze hard – if there’s anyone in Ireland who can schmooze, it’s Michael Flatley.
"He is absolutely brilliant on a one-to-one basis… so I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that he could get four nominations."
A presidential election must take place in the 60 days before 10 November.
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