After a brief but intense campaign, Maria Steen bowed out of the race for the presidency on Wednesday, shortly after the 12 noon deadline for filing her nomination papers had elapsed.
Steen had secured 18 nominations from TDs and Senators, two short of the required number. Earlier on Wednesday, she received what would turn out to be her final signature, from Trinity Senator Aubrey McCarthy. Efforts to persuade other Oireachtas members proved fruitless, as was beginning to look inevitable since Tuesday afternoon.
Now a fierce blame game is ongoing as supporters of Steen point the finger at those who they feel let them down – Senators Michael McDowell, Victor Boyhan, Gerard Craughwell, junior ministers Seán Canney and Noel Grealish and several others are the names most mentioned.
Even McCarthy is being castigated in some quarters for nominating her too late. McDowell, however, is getting most of the blame. The online backlash in some quarters is vicious. So near, and yet so far.
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Originally, winning the presidency was not really on the agenda of Steen and her supporters. Instead, the campaign was conceived as sort of “fly the flag” exercise – get out there, make your arguments in public, remind pro-life and conservative voters that they weren’t alone. A useful exercise, but not one with victory on the horizon.
Steen consulted people whose opinions she valued before the summer but did not make a final decision until August, according to people familiar with her campaign, and did not actually get into the race until later that month.
But as the race began to take shape – and as Steen began her campaign in typically articulate and assured fashion – it began to occur to some of supporters that she might be in with a chance of winning the contest. The eventually ratified other candidates – Catherine Connolly, Heather Humphreys and Jim Gavin – didn’t seem to be catching, even at that early stage, the public imagination. None of them held any fears for Steen in a debate; in fact, her supporters thought she would dominate it.
The same thoughts were occurring to McDowell – he was beginning to think she could win, backed by a coalition of pro-lifers, broad social conservatives, anti-government voters and new right-wing supporters. McDowell had worked with Steen previously and had a high regard for her abilities. But he had profound political differences with her and did not want to see her as president. He resolved not to nominate her, and did not engage with efforts to persuade him.
As the clock ticked down in recent days and McDowell – as well as the group of Senators known to be close to him – showed no sign of relenting, the search for nominations for Steen began to get more frantic.
A letter was sent from 70 Independent councillors appealing to the Independent Senators – who need councillors for election – to nominate her.
Elsewhere, a barrage of social media pleas, abuse and threats – without the endorsement or direction of the candidate herself, it should be stressed – was directed at the Oireachtas members that Steen supporters reckoned could or should sign her nomination papers. They reported a flood of emails and calls; some polite, others less so.
All of this seems to have backfired – and hardened their resolve not to nominate her.
Senator Gerry Craughwell sent Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín – who was lobbying hard for Steen – an example of the abuse and threats he was getting. Tóibín sympathised, but appealed to him to focus on the more important thing – giving voters a broader choice. On Monday, in a face-to-face meeting, Craughwell talked to Steen. He thought she could have done more to disassociate herself from and discourage the wave of abuse.
Fianna Fáilers came under pressure too. Some of Steen’s supporters believed Gavin would flop as a candidate and she could benefit. Malicious and untrue social media allegations about Gavin – taken down by some of the platforms earlier this week – aroused suspicions of a dirty tricks campaign, heightened when it emerged the author of the malicious posts had a call with Steen a few weeks ago. There is no suggestion, of course, she approved or knew anything about it, and she utterly condemned it when asked about it. But it did get some Fianna Fáil hackles up.
Ultimately, Steen probably got into the race too late. Even a few more weeks – certainly, a few months – would have given her the opportunity to make her case personally to Oireachtas members and in the media. When Steen and her supporters reflect on the last three weeks, that conclusion is likely to be unavoidable.
