Hizzoner: If Nominated, I Will Not Accept . . .

On a trip to the last of the “three I’s” Mayor Bloomberg announced that he will not be running for President:

During his first trip to Ireland since winning election in 2001, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Tuesday ruled out a run for president in 2008, saying that he would serve out his remaining three years as mayor before leaving politics and starting a full-time career in philanthropy.

Speculation about the political plans of Mr. Bloomberg, 64, a multibillionaire whose term runs through 2009, has escalated over the past few months as he appeared to flirt with the idea of a presidential run. But his comments in Ireland appeared to close the door on that.

“I am the mayor of the greatest city in the world,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters in Ballymote in west Ireland, the ancestral home of a brigadier general of the American Army’s 69th or Fighting Irish Infantry Regiment, where he went to unveil a cylindrical statue. “I have the greatest job in the world, and it’s got 3 years, 4 months and about 10 days left to go, and I plan to serve all of that.”

The mayor said that he was flattered by the speculation and his mother enjoyed news reports about it, but he added that he planned to leave politics. “I think you can expect me to be mayor through my term and leave political life and try and do something else and continue to make the world better for my kids,” he said.

Asked whether that was a definite no, Mr. Bloomberg said: “I do not know how many times I have to say I am not going to run for president. But I’ll say it one more time. I have no plans to run for president.”

But even if he doesn’t want to admit it, the man has the political prowess of a Jack Kennedy:

The trip to Ireland completed Mr. Bloomberg’s trilogy of “I”‘s that New York mayors traditionally visit, which also includes Italy and Israel, and he used the trip in part to promote the role of business leaders in politics. Speaking earlier to civic leaders here, Mr. Bloomberg said that promoting an all-island economy between north and south in Ireland was the right policy.

“Sometimes, business leaders and entrepreneurs provide civic leadership by finding the common ground that all people share: a desire for good jobs and a secure future — and a willingness to work together to create them,” Mr. Bloomberg said.

But the visit also seemed to inspire a more relaxed mood than the mayor has often displayed at public events in New York. Outlining his relationship to Irish culture in his speech, he spoke fondly of his Friday nights as a young man at O’Flanagan’s Pub on the Upper East Side.