IRELAND: Openly Gay Senator Drops Bid For National Presidency

Openly gay Sen. David Norris has dropped his bid for the presidency of Ireland after revelations that he once pleaded for clemency for a former boyfriend imprisoned for statutory rape.

Mr Norris held a press conference outside his home in Dublin this afternoon to inform supporters he was withdrawing from the race. "I deeply regret the most recent of all the controversies concerning my former partner of 25 years ago, Ezra Yitzhak Nawi," he said. “The fallout from his disgraceful behaviour has now spread to me and is in danger of contaminating others close to me both in political and personal life. It is essential that I act decisively now to halt this negative process. I do not regret supporting and seeking clemency for a friend, but I do regret giving the impression that I did not have sufficient compassion for the victim of Ezra’s crime," Mr Norris said.

Norris had been considered the front-runner for the position, which in Ireland is largely ceremonial.