The other three regional chairs have all sought support to run in the upcoming elections. South Leinster chair James Murphy was nominated by the Kilkenny executive last week, as was north Leinster/Ulster chair Bert Stewart by Monaghan.

Connacht chair Tom Turley is locked in a contest for the Galway nomination with the county's environment chair, Bertie Roche.

The fact that James McCarthy's native Kerry has a candidate in the presidential field may have affected his decision not to run again. Flor McCarthy is the first ever Kerry candidate for the presidency, and typically the counties with presidential candidates have refrained from the deputy and regional contests. Indeed, James McCarthy was the first Kerryman to hold a national officer position in the IFA.

It remains to be seen whether Clare IFA county chair Andrew Dundas will attempt to run for regional chair in Munster. Dundas indicated to us as recently as Monday that he "has not yet ruled out" running for Munster. It is possible his hesitancy was related to McCarthy's delayed declaration on whether he would contest his current position or not.