O’Leary says presidency should be abolished

The office of the president should be scrapped and the Taoiseach should move into the Aras, according to airline boss Michael O’Leary.

The Ryanair chief set out his plan for the head of state, which is prescribed in the Constitution, during a press conference on Tuesday.

Mr O’Leary said he had not decided who he would vote for in the election but added he would be “very happy and proud” if either Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys or Fianna Fail’s Jim Gavin wins.

“The only one I wouldn’t want to see elected is the loony fringe from Galway.”

He said left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly should not be elected.

“I would keep the lefty looney fringe out above it, but I’d be very happy and very proud if either Heather Humphreys or Jim Gavin were elected president of the country.

“I do believe, by the way, we should abolish the presidency.

He added: “I don’t know what it costs us a year, the president gets paid 300,000.

“Has a big house in Phoenix Park, which I think the Taoiseach should be living in, and a staff of God knows how many.

“And you know, if you need someone to meet the ambassadors or pass out the Ferrero Rocher, the Minister for Foreign Affairs can do it.”

Mr O’Leary said this would keep the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste in the country, as he criticised them for “swanning around” the US and Canada this week and not taking swifter action to remove a passenger cap at Dublin Airport.

Ryanair’s unveiled its winter schedule on Thursday with 96 routes, including one new route to “Morocco’s winter sun capital” of Rabat as well as extra frequencies on 28 other routes including Birmingham, Budapest, Krakow, Milan and Valencia.