Main Points
- Ireland has become a place where younger people “cannot afford to live”, Catherine Connolly has said
- Heather Humphreys has stood by her comments about People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy’s role in a 2014 Jobstown incident with then-tánaiste Joan Burton
- Former Fianna Fáil tánaiste Mary Coughlan and former Progressive Democrats leader Mary Harney have both said that they will support Humphreys
Key Reads
- Connolly v Humphreys: Five takeaways from the latest debate
- How much will Jim Gavin’s failed presidential bid cost Fianna Fáil?
- Fintan O’Toole: This has become an election about the nature of the presidency
- All the presidents of Ireland so far, ranked from nine to one
That’s it from us for this evening. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live coverage of the presidential election.
Speaking live on RTÉ’s Six One News, Catherine Connolly said the “electorate have a clear choice to elect an independent minded person with an independent mind, who will reflect the core values of our people.”
Asked if she would be a president that “constitutionally toes the line”, Ms Connolly said she is “fully conscious of the constitution” and has read it many times. She said that, based on her record in the Dáil, she is “not sure who’s worried about” her ideals being far to the left.
On the notion of a president speaking out against Government policy, she said, “The policy is determined by Government. I, more than anyone else, know that from my own background. But the president has to reflect the concerns of the people of Ireland.”
Ms Connolly would not officially clarify whether or not she regretted hiring a person with a criminal conviction, but said, “This goes to the very heart of what rehabilitation is about. I employed somebody who is absolutely a model prisoner, a model of rehabilitation.
“She didn’t serve the full sentence because she is such a model and then I offered her employment. We complied with all the rules. I complied with all the rules. The real question here is how did this information become public?”
Asked whether she had any concerns about Ireland being part of the European Union, Ms Connolly said, “I have no concerns. I’m absolutely a committed European.”
She added, though, that she has “great concerns” about the “increased spending on militarisation” and has had those concerns for a very long time.
Earlier today, former tánaiste Mary Harney said that Ms Connolly is “happier attacking European defence than attacking Russia’s war in Ukraine”.
Ms Connolly said this was a point that had been put to her repeatedly, “particularly by the other candidate who says that she listens and she’s repeatedly said that I’ve never condemned Russia”.
“That is so far from the truth, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious,” Ms Connolly said.
“I’m on the record condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine over and over. What I have pointed out is that, as a sovereign, independent, neutral state, we have the duty to call out the abuse of power by wherever it occurs.
“If we go back to America, and the funding and the resourcing of genocide in Palestine through Israel, then we must question that equally in the same way that we condemn the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.”
Former Galway senator for the Green Party Pauline O’Reilly has said it is a mistake for her party to back Catherine Connolly’s presidential campaign, and suggested she will not be voting for her.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Ms O’Reilly said “there was no need to back a candidate unless you were running a candidate”, adding “I certainly will not be telling anybody how to vote in this election.”
Earlier today, Limerick City TD Brian Leddin announced his resignation from the Green Party over its backing of Catherine Connolly.
Ms O’Reilly said she was “sad to see Brian go as a member”.
Asked if she would follow former Labour Party leader Alan Kelly in casting a “reluctant vote” for Heather Humphreys, Ms O’Reilly said, “I think very similar to Alan Kelly. I have huge respect for Heather Humphreys. She’ll do a good job on the diplomatic front but we’d have differences of policies, but I don’t think that they extend to foreign affairs.”
Fine Gael’s deputy leader and Minister for Education Helen McEntee has called on candidate Catherine Connolly to publish the emails in which she queried the vetting process from when a person convicted of firearms offences was hired.
In a statement on Tuesday evening, Mc Entee said: “Someone who wants to become our president but has admitted to signing a serious criminal into our national parliament for half a year has to release all details on this to enable the public have all relevant information.”
The Minister’s call comes following the recent revelation that Connolly hired Ursula Ní Shionnain, an activist with Éirigí who was convicted to six years imprisonment for firearms offences in 2014 in the Special Criminal Court. She served 4½ years of the sentence.
[ Connolly grilled on Virgin Media over gun offences by former employeeOpens in new window ]
In a Monday night interview on Virgin Media, Connolly said Ní Shionnain was perfectly qualified for the role, an Irish language adviser to the TD, and was a ‘model example of rehabilitation’.
“This is a woman who served her prison sentence and was rehabilitated, and we really need to talk about what rehabilitation means,” Connolly said.
The mother of hit-and-run victim Shane O’Farrell has reiterated her disappointment with Heather Humphreys for failing to support her family’s campaign for a public inquiry into failings in the criminal justice system in the aftermath of her son’s death.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Lucia O’Farrell said she and her family “would have welcomed and appreciated her support because she was a member of Government.”
O’Farrell said Catherine Connolly raised their case in 2018, and got involved in debates held in the Dáil.
“I would have thought that Heather, being a local TD and in Government, it would have been wonderful for our family and we would have really welcomed that support,” O’Farrell said.
Ms O’Farrell mentioned a vigil outside the Dáil in 2018 that Ms Humphreys did not attend, and her failure to support two subsequent votes in the Dáil for a public inquiry following the incident.
“I know she states, oh you know, she’s ‘sorry if Lucia feels I didn’t do enough’. Well, I think that’s kind of shifting responsibility. It sounds like an apology but it’s really avoiding her inactions.”
Asked what difference Humphreys’ support may have made, Ms O’Farrell said: “We would have been allowed [to] grieve our child having got a measure of justice.”
Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin David Kenny has done a series of videos with Dan Dennison explaining some of the nitty gritty elements around the presidential elections and what is within a president’s power once they are elected.
Here’s a few to get you started and the rest can be found on our video page.
The president’s greatest power has never been used
Can the president criticise the government?
Can anyone run for president?
Former Fianna Fáil tánaiste Mary Coughlan and former Progressive Democrats leader Mary Harney have both said that they will support Heather Humphreys for president, Ellen Coyne reports.
Ms Harney, who served as tánaiste from 1997 to 2006, accused Catherine Connolly of being “happier attacking European defence than attacking Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
“I couldn’t vote for somebody like that,” Ms Harney said.
The former Progressive Democrats politician said that Ms Humphreys “has all the qualities to make an outstanding President.”
“She can be trusted. She supports Europe. She is pro-business. She supports rural Ireland. And above all else, I think she is a very decent person with an extraordinary record in Government. And that’s important at a time when Ireland is so vulnerable, given what’s happening in the global economy.”
Ms Coughlan said that “given the fact that we don’t have a Fianna Fáil candidate, I will be supporting Heather Humphreys.”
“She is a woman who has great empathy with rural Ireland, with the farming community, and most particularly as someone who lives in Ulster, very much appreciates the border issue and the national issue,” Ms Coughlan said.
Ms Harney, who served as tánaiste from 1997 to 2006, said she was supporting Ms Humphreys because “given the geopolitical issues that arise in the world today, Ireland is very vulnerable as a small country.”
Ms Coughlan and Ms Harney endorsed Ms Humphreys alongside fellow former tánaiste and Fine Gael minister Frances Fitzgerald.
Ms Fitzgerald, who is a former cabinet colleague of Humphreys, said that the Fine Gael candidate was “uniquely placed, as a Presbyterian Republican, to represent the very best of Ireland, North, South East and West.”
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has said a Catherine Connolly win in the presidential election next week would not impact Government thinking on changes to the triple lock in any way, reports Emmet Malone.
Ms Connolly has been clear she doesn’t believe the current arrangements on deployments of Irish peacekeeping troops overseas should not be altered to dispense with the need backing from the Government, the Dáil and the UN.
Mr Harris, however, said presidential elections are not referendums on individual policy matters and the Government would not be influenced by it.
The Tánaiste is in Trim, Co Meath to address the annual delegate conference of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco).
“I think the people of Ireland understand that Vladimir, Putin, Donald Trump, the president of China, or anybody else, shouldn’t have a role in deciding where our peacekeepers get sent,” he said.
“It’s up, in my view, to the democratically elected representatives of this country to decide where to deploy our peacekeepers.
“Presidential elections are about a whole variety of things, and I think regardless of the results, it would be very imprudent to deduce from it any one particular issue.”
Some photos coming in now of Catherine Connolly campaigning in Co Kildare, during which she visited the Clane Men’s Shed and took part in an exercise class in Naas.
Heather Humphreys has stood by her comments about People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy’s role in a 2014 Jobstown incident with then-tánaiste Joan Burton, Ellen Coyne reports.
Ms Humphreys made the original comment on RTÉ’s This Week programme on Sunday. In 2017, Mr Murphy and five other men were found not guilty of false imprisonment of Ms Burton.
Mr Murphy has now sent a letter to Ms Humphreys, indicating that he intends to issue defamation proceedings against the presidential candidate if she does not come to an agreement with him to apologise and undertake not to repeat the comments.
Ms Humphreys stood by her comments on Tuesday morning while speaking to reporters in Dublin city centre.
Asked about the legal letter, she said she had not seen it yet. “Obviously, I will see it,” she said.
The Fine Gael candidate was speaking ahead of a brief canvass around Grafton Street on Tuesday morning.
She met a group of students from Scoil Chaitríona who were on their way to a school tour to the European Commission building on Chatham Street. “Well, I’m very pro-EU,” Ms Humphreys said.
On arriving at Bewley’s on Grafton Street, Ms Humphreys met former Labour TD for Dublin Central Mary Upton. Ms Upton said she will be voting for Ms Humphreys, who she believes is “the best candidate for a hundred miles” and who “knows when not to say too much.”
Ms Upton said she was disappointed when Labour supported Catherine Connolly, who Ms Upton said was “far too left-leaning”.
“She has been anti-Europe, as far as I can read, anti-France, anti-Germany, anti-UK, anti-US, and all of those things matter,” Ms Upton said.
Following this morning’s debate with Newstalk’s Pat Kenny, both presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail.
Heather Humphreys is campaigning in Dublin city centre this morning, while Catherine Connolly is heading to Co Kildare for the day, visiting Naas, Clane and Maynooth.
Momentum is “going in one direction and it’s with Heather Humphreys”, Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris says.
Noting that Fine Gael’s presidential candidate now has the backing of members of the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil, and former Green Party TD Brian Leddin, Mr Harris said he expects “that momentum to grow in the time ahead”.
The debate ends with questions from listeners. One is put to Connolly, asking if she would invite Clare Daly and Mick Wallace to the Áras.
“All of this is speculation as to who I’ll invite,” she says, and criticises the level of questioning in relation to both Ms Daly and Mr Wallace.
She says both are “two respected parliamentarians”.
“We differ on many things, my campaign is made of many parties and none who support the values that I stand for, without necessarily agreeing with everything,” she says.
Humphreys is asked by a listener if she supports fox hunting.
She says she has not been fox hunting in her life, but does support “rural pursuits”.
“There’s a lot of controls in place around rural pursuits, and I think once the rules are abided by, I support rural pursuits,” she says.
Put to her that this includes fox hunting, she says she supports “the right of rural people to continue on with the pursuits that they have been doing for many, many years”, once they “abide by the rules”.
Asked for her thoughts on US president Donald Trump, Humphreys says she respects his mandate, but “you never know what you’re going to hear from Donald Trump”.
“I have to recognise that he has done a lot of work in terms of getting a peace deal in Gaza,” she says.
Connolly, meanwhile, says there has been no recognition of “what has led to this genocide over the last two years”.
She adds: “Somebody who funded and armed genocide is now being proposed as a recipient of a peace prize.”
Asked if she represented banks in repossession cases while a barrister, Connolly says she represented “lots of people in my career”.
“I’ve represented credit institutions, I’ve represented people who were the subject of orders for possession,” she says.
Put to Humphreys that she passed on communication from a constituent to the Department of Agriculture about an animal cruelty case that was subsequently dropped, she says she “abhors” animal cruelty.
Asked if she read the letter before passing it on, she says she “glanced” at it.
She adds that she did not know the constituent and never met them beforehand.
“The letter was sent by my staff to the Department of Agriculture, I had no further role or input into that,” she says.
Put it to her that another constituent, Lucia Farrell, whose son Shane O’Farrell was killed in a hit-and-run in Co Monaghan in 2011, said Humphreys did not “stand shoulder to shoulder” with her, Humphreys says she spoke to Ms Farrell on a number of occasions.
“My heart was broken for her,” she says, adding that she did make representations on her behalf.
“I’m sorry if she thinks I didn’t do enough, I did my best, and I’m glad that she has got a State apology,” she says.
Asked about signing in former Eirigí member Ursula Ní Shionnain to Leinster House, Connolly denied making a mistake in doing so, saying she came “highly recommended from TDs”.
Connolly maintains that no rules were broken, while Humphreys argues that the security of the Dáil was “at risk”.
Humphreys says: “you can turn your life around but there’s different levels of crime”.
“This woman is an absolute success story of the prison system,” Connolly says.
“Just on the ‘risk’, let me say that this woman was with me every day. I know nothing in the sense of what the concerns were from the guards because nobody ever communicated with me,” she adds.
She says she was aware that Ms Ní Shionnain had been convicted, adding that she “took advice” in hiring her from former Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív.
Asked if she is unlikely to thwart the wishes of her former Government colleagues in relation to legislation, Humphreys says it is “not about the wishes of anybody”.
She says Bills must comply with the Constitution.
“That’s the decision that the president has to make, and I will make that decision, and I will always represent the people and protect the Constitution,” she says.
She adds that she would like to appoint more women to the Council of State.
Asked about difficulties in signing certain Bills, Connolly says she has served in every role as “professionally as possible”.
Asked about the size of Áras an Uachtaráin (52 hectares/130 acres) and whether it is “too much”, Humphreys says it is “the people’s house”, adding that she would have no problem with reducing its size.
Connolly describes it as a “wonderful asset for the people of Ireland”, saying she will be exploring possibilities in terms of biodiversity, and an “asylum in the true sense of the word, for people to enjoy the 130 acres”.
Asked who will be living with them, Connolly says she would live there with her husband, while Humphreys says the same, adding that her husband is “capable of running the farm as well”.
Asked what the theme of their presidency will be, Humphreys says it is community and unity, adding that “we live in a divisive world”.
“I live on the Border, as you know, I’m very conscious of the divisions that are still there,” she says.
Humphreys adds that she wants to represent Ireland on the world stage.
Connolly says she has a number of themes, including being a voice of peace, a voice for climate change and a voice for a united Ireland.
“I would love if that happened during my tenure,” she says.
Newstalk’s presidential debate has begun with Pat Kenny asking the candidates to essentially pitch themselves.
Catherine Connolly says: “We need a courageous president.”
“I believe I have the characteristics necessary for a president, given my track record and given the various roles I have served in. I have an ability to listen, to hear and to reflect,” she said.
Connolly denied that she has “political prejudice”, saying she has stood proudly as a TD since 2016, and will do so as president.
She adds that Heather Humphreys is a “Government candidate”.
Humphreys, meanwhile, says she brings a lot of experience to the role, including both life and political experience.
“I want to see an Ireland that is compassionate, an Ireland that is dignified,” she says, adding she has a “track record in bringing people together”.
She adds she has “never had the advantage” of sitting on the Opposition benches “and say exactly what I wanted to say”.
She promises to bring “honesty, commitment and service” to the role.
Ahead of another day on the campaign trail, both presidential candidates are set to take part in a debate with Newstalk’s Pat Kenny at 9am today.
Former Green Party TD Brian Leddin announced on Monday he was leaving the party, saying its decision to support Catherine Connolly’s presidential campaign only deepened my concerns about its current direction.”
In a piece published by The Irish Times, Mr Leddin said:
“As things stand, the Green Party is not one that I would join, and so it no longer makes sense to remain a member.”
Read more here.
Ireland is “failing its younger generation” and has become a place “they cannot afford to live”, presidential candidate Catherine Connolly TD has said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, Ms Connolly said Ireland’s youth is now facing worse economic prospects than their parents, are “trapped in a housing crisis not of their making”, and are forced to emigrate in search of opportunity.
“They are facing crippling rents, unaffordable homes, and insecure work – and for many, the dream of a decent, stable life here has slipped out of reach.
“Being a parent of young adults and seeing the challenges their generation faces, I know how hard it is for them to find security – to afford rent, to build a future, to stay in the communities they love.
“That is not progress. That is a national scandal and a tragedy – because this generation has so much to offer our country,” she said.
Ms Connolly said she has been “deeply inspired” by young people across Ireland while campaigning, adding that they are asking for fairness and “a Government that plans for their future”.
“They want a home they can afford, secure work that pays fairly, and a planet that can sustain their dreams. They want a Republic that listens to them – not one that leaves them behind.”
She said that as president, she would be a strong and independent voice for young people – “using the moral authority of the office to highlight their challenges, amplify their voices, and celebrate their contribution to national life”.
“In this election, I believe I best represent the aspirations and values of young people – their hope, their fairness, their belief in peace and equality.
“As president, I will ensure that their voices are heard and their future is protected. Because Ireland’s greatest resource is not its wealth – it’s the spirit and idealism of its young people,” she said.
How much is Fianna Fáil likely to lose following its failed presidential bid?
On Monday, responding to reports that Fianna Fáil’s bill for the Gavin campaign could end up being €500,000, Minister for Higher Education James Lawless was sceptical.
“I haven’t heard the final figure. It’s certainly in the hundreds of thousands. I don’t know if it’ll reach five,” he said.
Read more from Cormac McQuinn here.
Similarly asked if she would appoint one or other of two former MEPs, Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, to the Council of State, Ms Connolly replied: “I’m not going to speculate on who I put on the Council of State, which is a very important body that will advise me in relation to different matters. And it’s really important that we don’t speculate as to who I put on.
“I would be looking for diversity, and I’d be looking for expertise to help me in relation to that,” she said.
Ms Connolly said she had been struck by the “violence of the language” used by broadcaster and former Fine Gael TD Ivan Yates when he had advised Fine Gael to “smear the bejasus out of her”.
“I think he really did me a favour, and he did the people of Ireland a favour by using that language to clarify what Fine Gael were actually doing.”
Asked about her trip to Syria in 2018, Ms Connolly was asked about comments in July that she had paid for the trip herself. She said that she had said that to clarify that the trip had not been funded by the Syrian regime or by any other body.
When asked about it being taxpayer funds rather than her own money, Ms Connolly replied: “The taxpayer funds my salary. The taxpayer funds the three allowances that I get. One for travel, one for an office, which I back up. And then this particular one, which allows for research and policy.”
She dismissed any suggestion that she was being used. “It would be very hard to use me as propaganda or to stage management, actually, in any sphere. I’m an independent candidate with an independent mind, and I think that it would be very difficult to stage manage me,” she said.
She said that her one regret is that she probably should not have met Faris al Shahabi, a supporter of the Assad regime.
“I had nothing to do with Assad. I’m on record for condemning him. But by contrast, Micheál Martin met with Assad, and we know that, and very few questions were asked of him actually meeting this man,” she said.
She agreed that US president Donal Trump deserves some credit for the peace deal that has been reached for Gaza, adding she hoped the peace would last.
She said the US president was volatile and unpredictable.
“It is interesting the comments and labels that have been used in relation to me ... that I’m a loony left, that I’m a nun, [that] I’m populist in the manner of Trump, [according to] different commentators and different papers.”
Good morning, presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has declined to say if she asked a woman she employed in 2018 what she intended to do with guns and ammunition found in her possession four years earlier.
In an interview on Virgin Media News on Monday night, Ms Connolly was repeatedly asked if she asked Ursula Ní Shionnáin, an activist with Éirigí, what she intended to do with arms in her possession at the time of her arrest in 2012, Harry McGee reports.
Ms Ní Shionnáin was convicted to six years’ imprisonment for firearms offences in 2014 in the Special Criminal Court.
Ms Connolly, the Independent left candidate, said that Ms Ní Shionnáin was perfectly qualified for the position she was offered working as an Irish language adviser to the Galway West TD. She said several times that she was a “model example of rehabilitation”.
Pressed by interviewer Colette Fitzpatrick on why she never asked Ms Ní Shionnáin what use was intended for the guns, Ms Connolly replied that the person had served her prison sentence and was rehabilitated.
Ms Fitzpatrick said: “You have said repeatedly during this campaign Catherine that you’re a voice for peace. And what is a gun other than violence itself? It is only used to threaten, to maim, to disfigure, to injure, to kill people, and you didn’t think to ask her, where were those guns going to end up?”
Ms Connolly replied: “This is a woman who served her prison sentence and was rehabilitated, and we really need to talk about what rehabilitation means.”
When asked by Ms Fitzpatrick if she would employ the woman in Áras an Uachtaráin, Ms Connolly said Ms Ní Shionnáín already had a career and added she was not going to discuss who she would employ if elected president.
