Tony: Aras bid's a step too father..

DR Tony Holohan said concerns over the potential impact on his friends and family has led him to rule himself out of the presidential race.

- BY CILLIAN SHERLOCK

The former chief medical officer, who held a key role in the response to Covid-19, said he believed he did have a “pathway” to securing a nomination to run.

But he added he also had a responsibility and a duty to think of his family.

Speaking on RTE’s News At One, Dr Holohan said: “I have confidence in my own ability to explain and to defend issues that I've been involved in the past during my professional role.

“But other people in my family don’t have that capacity, they don’t have the insights or experience.