European Parliament President Martin Schulz not seeking re-election
The current president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, has announced he will not seek re-election to the position.
Mr Shulz says he will return to German national politics instead.
Midlands North-West Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness yesterday announced her intention to run for the position.
She is currently one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament.
Ms McGuinness is seeking the nomination from her own political group - the European People's Party - but she acknowledged that she faces a tough battle.
"I need to persuade all of the delegations, the large and small, that if they support me, they have a candidate that they can be very convinced of, and that they know that I will do the job as Speaker of the House to the very best of my ability in these very difficult times for the European union," she said.
"And many of them, I think, already agree with me and they believe that that can be the case."
