Norris wants right to submit his job application

Tom Carron Senator David Norris is a more formidable man than the image we get of him on television. While just above medium height, he has the broad shoulders of a retired football defender. He wouldn't be out of place in the midst of a sentimental get together of a group of sturdy ex Kerry or ex Cavan corner backs of yesteryear. He was in Cavan on Friday evening on his nationwide tour to press home his case to be nominated to run in the forthcoming Presidential election. Under the Irish electoral system a Presidential candidate must be nominated by four county councils or 20 members of the Oireachtas. Senator Norris has already received a commitment from Fingal County Council and has the support of ten members of the Oireachtas. He believes that he has currently a level of support that should justly entitle him to submit his candidature to the Irish people and cites previous recommendations from the main political parties which if implemented would have guaranteed his nomination already. Although taking nothing for granted, Senator David Norris is confident that he can secure the required level of support under the existing rules come September when county councils and Oireachtas members must decide on their endorsement of a particular candidate. David Norris has been a member of the Seanad for the past 25 years and is a senior lecturer in English at Trinity College for many years. He previously lectured on history and the classics and is a noted Joycean scholar. Indeed he is the originator of the Bloomsday festival in Dublin. On Friday he visited the Johnston Library during which he met county librarian, Josephine Brady and staff. Speaking afterwards Senator Norris was very complementary of the architectural design of the county library remarking that it was not surprising that it won a number of architectural awards. He particularly liked the paintings of P. J. Lynch with their unique depiction of Gulliver's Travels and as chairman of the Friends of Trinity Library he could honestly say that the Cavan library had a cataloguing system of which they could be very proud. Speaking of his quest for the Presidency, Senator Norris said that the Irish President didn't have policies but did have values. The three pillars of his campaign were: mental health and well being, the promotion of enterprise and the promotion of culture. There is no family in the country who were unaffected by mental health issues and if elected he would shine a light on this issue within Irish society. He would continue his lifelong commitment to championing Irish culture and would also use the Presidency to promote Irish indigenous enterprise - observing that there was a strong ethos of enterprise in Cavan. Senator Norris said that he was getting a fantastic response from people of all ages on his nationwide tour. "The Irish people have plenty of good sense and can see through the tabloid rubbish," he said - adding that both Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese were also the recipients of similar invective. He was in good company, he reckoned. Asked if he was confident he could win the Presidency if he secured the nomination, David Norris stressed that he was taking nothing for granted. He believed that the successful candidate must deserve to be elected. "This is a job application and I am applying to the people of Ireland for the job," he said.