Bertie For President!

Or maybe not.

As the adage goes - if you don't vote, you lose the right to complain. But voting for a potential presidential candidate in 2025 may leave a lot to complain about for the more discerning voter.

The news that Bertie Ahern has rejoined his local Fianna Fáil branch in Dublin Central - 11 years after he resigned from the party in the wake of the Mahon Tribunal report has fuelled speculation he will run in the next presidential election. Only political nerds get turned on by this stuff.

Bertie said he wants to be “helpful” to Fianna Fáil after rejoining the party. A lot of very serious people in Fianna Fáil would rather Bertie be very helpful somewhere else and not within Fianna Fáil. People have overlooked in recent days that Bertie resigned from the party before Micheál Martin moved to expel him. Bertie likes to hold a grudge. He’ll nurse a grudge, hold it to his bosom and breastfeed its grievance.

There’s a long history between them. Too much to document here. Bertie once replaced Miche…