IRISH actor Kevin Sharkey has announced he will be running to be the next President of Ireland.
The Dublin actor, who is best known for delivering the iconic line "Sure I wouldn't know, I'm from Donegal" in the hit Irish comedy series Father Ted, has launched his campaign to succeed Michael D. Higgins as President.
Speaking to the Fingal Indpendent, Sharkey said: “I’ve been giving politics serious consideration for years and I looked really long and hard into the effectiveness of politicians in Ireland, the way the party system almost suffers individual idealism.
“I concluded that the Presidency of Ireland struck me as a much better platform for giving something back in relation to my own personal experiences and my own relationship with Ireland.”
The Dubliner also expressed his determination to become a ‘Citizen President’.
One of the main platforms of Kevin’s politics is a call for greater control over immigration in Ireland.
He said: “When you as an individual, as an Irish citizen, bring up the subject, for example, of immigration, just to bring it up you have people jumping on you and say ‘Oh you’re against immigration’.
“But nothing could be further from the truth, my father was an immigrant. We need immigration – it’s very important for our hospital, for our workers and all of that but I do think that if we are not mindful of the long-term effects of mass immigration, it could be a problem for us in the future.”
He has also expressed his desire to get Ireland out of the “experiment” that is Europe, and believes the country would “thrive” outside of the EU.
At the moment Michael D Higgins remains favourite to continue his reign and become President of Ireland for a second term.
Business man Gavin Duffy has also thrown his hat in the ring ahead of the upcoming election.
Here's that famous line from Father Ted!
