The summer orgy of speculation about potential presidential candidates may drag on a little longer, but what is needed as we head towards the real election campaign is some sense of presidential vision. Confirmed candidates will need to be honest about the constitutional parameters of the office, but they also need to offer firm narratives about how they might use their soft power if elected. The modernisation of the presidency has not been without controversy, but it remains more about symbolism than active politics and requires a head of state who will act and speak with decorum and dignity.
At a time of domestic population expansion and international volatility, and as we are provided with regular reminders of both wealth and a frayed social contract, a president for the next seven years needs to convince the electorate they can find an original way to represent and project the complexity of modern Ireland, its strengths and fault-lines, without creating tensions about constitutional propriety.
This is not about seeking perfection. Presidential elections have become fraught and even frenzied in recent decades and candidates should not be subjected to unreasonable and unfair demands or intrusions. We need a dignified campaign that recognises candidates are as human as the people whose votes they seek. It takes courage and commitment to stand for this office, but those seeking it also have an obligation to give proper time and thought to a realistic presidential narrative.
In 1990, Mary Robinson promised to be a “President with a Purpose”. She spoke during the campaign of the neglect of Irish emigrants and promised there would always be a light burning for them in Áras an Uachtaráin. She also made a commitment to stand up for “people who have no-one else to represent them.”
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In 1997, Mary McAleese focused on bridge-building between nationalist and unionist, and north and south, during the peace process era, and cultivated warmer Anglo-Irish relations, culminating in the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland in 2011. The same year, the current president Michael D. Higgins, spoke of aspiring towards “a sustainable social economy and a society which is profoundly ethical and inclusive.”
What we need for this campaign are new narratives of presidential purpose; not to pretend that presidents can encroach on the policy domain, but to generate debate about where we are as a society, and who can best represent us with dignity, especially given the increased visibility of the office. Using the election to settle scores or punish those deemed responsible for political failings will diminish the contest. What is needed instead is space to allow ideas that are above the cut and thrust of everyday party politics to breathe.
