DUBLIN, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The presidential election of Ireland will be held on the coming Oct. 26, said a senior government official here on Tuesday.
Eoghan Murphy, Irish Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, confirmed the election date during an interview with the local media RTE.
He said that submission of nomination papers of presidential candidates will be closed on Sept. 26 and the election will take place one month later.
According to the Irish election rules, those who want to be the presidential candidates require a minimum support of four local authorities or a minimum backing of 20 members of the parliament, and the sitting president can nominate himself or herself to contest the election.
The incumbent Irish President Michael D. Higgins has decided to contest the election for his second term. The 77-year-old Higgins assumed office as the Irish president in November 2011. According to the Irish laws, each term of the president can last for seven years and the president can hold the office for a maximum of two terms.
Fine Gael, the ruling party in Ireland, has expressed support for Higgins' decision to contest for his second term as the Irish president.
Sinn Fein, one of the major opposition parties in the country, said that it will field a candidate in the coming election though the name of the candidate has not been announced yet.
