Main Points
- Catherine Connolly past trip to Syria was a ‘fact-finding mission’ in latest interview
- Heather Humphreys has said that she in ‘good faith’ attended a charity function that is now the subject of a garda investigation over concerns about how funds raised at the event were used
- Tánaiste Simon Harris won the motion of confidence in the Dáil by 94 votes to 65, with one abstention from Independent TD Paul Gogarty
Key Reads
- Kathy Sheridan: Catherine Connolly should ask Jim Gavin what a smear campaign looks like
- Miriam Lord: Winter may be coming, but Opposition not short of fuel to roast the Taoiseach
- Sign-up for our political newsletter Inside Politics and never miss an update on the campaign trail
That’s all from us on the live story for this evening. Check back in tomorrow for more updates on the presidential election.
From Jack Horgan-Jones:
Elsewhere, the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party has agreed the terms of reference of a review into the collapsed Jim Gavin presidential campaign. The party’s TDs, MEPs and Senators met on Wednesday evening and agreed that the review will come back with a specific set of proposals by Novemeber 12th.
It will be chaired by a Senior Counsel and include three members of the parliamentary party.
It will consider the steps taken during the identification and selection process, the basis for identification and selection of a candidate and the campaign itself up to the point where Mr Gavin withdrew on 5th October.
With all this talk about the election, you might be wondering, once someone actually gets elected, what do they do? Is it similar to the taoiseach?
Not quite. But, the president has a lot of powers and functions, outlined in the Irish Constitution, writes Kate Byrne.
[ What does an Irish president actually do?Opens in new window ]
From Jack Horgan-Jones:
Asked about a trip to a Palestinian refugee camp while in Syria and who showed her around it, she said “a number of people” showed them around. Katie Hannon put it to her that pictured alongside her at that tour were members of a pro-Assad militia - the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - designated as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US. Ms Hannon put it to her that this group were seen by those in the camp as enforcers of the Assad regime.
Pressed on who had organised the trip, she responded saying she went on a fact-finding mission, and it was organised by “somebody who organised trips to Palestine and the West Bank every year”.
She characterised it as a tour.
“We met quite a lot of people there who showed us around,” she said, adding that the “whole purpose” was to meet refugees.
Hannon asks her if she does not accept that getting a visa from the Assad regime and being shown around in part by militias loyal to him, that would influence what was being shown, she says, “Absolutely in one way”, but says they were shown around by different groups of people.
“We went around to listen and to hear,” she said.
Ms Connolly reaffirmed that she would only serve one term if elected. – Jack Horgan-Jones
Jack Horgan-Jones writes:
Asked about her support for a united Ireland and whether it was a recent interest to court Sinn Féin, she rejected suggestions she put a Border poll in her campaign as the price of Sinn Féin support.
Ms Connolly said she had travelled many times to the North, including in her capacity as chair of the Irish language committee.
Additionally, Ms Connolly disclosed that she does have two cats, and they are named “Cat One” and “Cat Two”.
From Jack Horgan-Jones:
The Galway West TD said that Ursula Ní Shionnain was, in her understanding, a supporter of the peace process when she worked with her. She says she did not ask her whether she was a member of Éirígí . She says she did not know Ms Ní Shionnain before hiring her but she was highly recommended by former Fianna Fáil minister Eamon Ó Cuív.
Ms Ní Shionnain’s employment by Ms Connolly has been a contentious point as she was convicted of firearms offences in the Special Criminal Court.
Asked if she would release correspondence with the Oireachtas in which she sought an update on Ms Ní Shionnain’s permanent pass for Leinster House, she says she had nothing to do with the vetting or the guards, and all her contact was with the superintendent’s office.
She says “the real issue here is the hypocrisy around reintegration”.
Pressed on a statement she made in the past referring to Brexit as “a first step in exposing the EU”, Ms Connolly says she was not pro-Brexit, but that she was “having respect for the democratic process”.
The EU has “definitely gone down a route of further and further militarisation”, she adds.
“As a woman and as a mother, I’m seriously concerned at the direction that countries are going spending more money on arms and the militarisation, while we reduce the money spent on welfare,” Ms Connolly says.
“I have very little contact with Clare Daly and Mick Wallace because most of the time they’re not in the country,” Ms Connolly says in relation to the pair’s lack of involvement in her campaign.
Asked about the funding for her trip to Syria, which has been the subject of plenty of coverage, Ms Connolly says, “I’m very conscious that it’s public money. My salary is public money.”
“Under that parliamentary activities allowance, you’re allowed to carry out research, policy development,” Ms Connolly says, adding that she has “chosen to use the vast majority of that money for research, for policy”.
She describes the trip to Syria as a “fact-finding mission”.
Speaking on RTÉ, Connolly says momentum for her campaign is building, which now has “over 14,000 volunteers”.
“I have repeatedly spoken out for those that don’t have voices,” she says of her time in the Dáil. Asked if her husband will take a bigger role should she become president, Ms Connolly says she’ll leave that up to him.
Catherine Connolly will shortly be appearing live on RTÉ One’s The Katie Hannon Interview.
As Connolly and Humphreys enter the final nine days of the campaign, Jack Horgan Jones and Ellen Coyne join Hugh Linehan to launch our daily podcast coverage.
Election Daily: Is Humphreys playing it too safe?
Two members of the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade have clashed on comments made by the Taoiseach around the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) earlier this week.
Micheál Martin suggested that the Government is unlikely to include trade in services in the scope of the OTB, telling the Dáil that “the feedback I’m getting, it’s not just implementable”.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, Senator Patricia Stephenson of the Social Democrats disagreed with Fianna Fáil TD Shay Brennan’s assertion that there would be technical difficulties involved in implementing services in the Bill. Mr Brennan said the Taoiseach was “just voicing practical concerns”, and that the attorney general is yet to publish his recommendations.
Ms Stephenson questioned the length of time it has taken to get the attorney general’s recommendations.
She said that the Government is “completely slow-walking” the implementation of the OTB, pointing to “clearing the decks today on the confidence motion” as an example of its ability to “act with such urgency when it suits them”.
From Cormac McQuinn and Ellen Coyne:
Heather Humphreys has said that she in “good faith” attended a charity function that is now the subject of a garda investigation over concerns about how funds raised at the event were used.
She said that there was “absolutely no wrongdoing” done by anyone who attended the event. Ms Humphreys attended the event as a high profile guest.
An Garda Síochána has confirmed that it is “investigating the organisation and running” of the event.
“As this is an ongoing criminal investigation An Garda Síochána is not making any further comment,” a spokesman for An Garda Síochána said.
Speaking at a campaign event in Cootehill, Ms Humphreys confirmed that the event is now the subject of an investigation.
“I attended that event along with many others, and there was concern that perhaps the money that we had contributed to that event may have been defrauded. And of course, there is an investigation by the gardaí. But I just want to say that the gardaí have very, very clearly stated that there was absolutely no wrongdoing on behalf of anybody that attended that event,” Ms Humphreys said.
“We all attended it, we contributed to it, and we attended it in good faith. So it is subject to a garda investigation and I really don’t want to say anything further about it.”
Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys was in Cootehill, Co Cavan to meet with the students of St Aidan’s Comprehensive School.
Away from the motions of the Dáil, independent candidate Catherine Connolly was canvassing in Co Meath this afternoon.
A question many people are likely to be pondering ahead of polling day on October 24th, can Jim Gavin still become president? Despite ending his campaigning earlier this month, the one-time Fianna Fáil candidate will still appear on the ballot papers.
Chief executive of the Electoral Commission Art O’Leary explains all in this video from Dan Dennison.
Explainer: Can Jim Gavin become president?
Government motion of confidence in Tánaiste passed
Tánaiste Simon Harris has won the motion of confidence in the Dáil by 94 votes to 65, with one abstention from Independent TD Paul Gogarty.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín told the Dáil he had pledged to introduce of a motion of no confidence at the earliest opportunity following the death of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, noting that this earliest opportunity was next week.
Marie O’Halloran reports:
“If the death of a child, if the continuous painful suffering of a child, of hundreds of children, if the disablement of hundreds of children is not reason enough for a motion of no confidence, what the hell is?” Mr Tóibín said.
The Meath West TD highlighted the case of Kira Carbury, a 22-year-old from Longford, who was diagnosed with early onset scoliosis at the age of 10.
She had a thoracic curvature of 45 degrees at the time but did not see a consultant for 11 months and in that time the curvature more than doubled, he said.
While she waited “she damaged her thyroid, which affected her mood, her lungs were crushed and left her with lung disease. She struggled with stomach problems, which causes her chronic pain every single day, and she’s dependent on medication to deal with that pain.”
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns said the Government “will drop everything to defend itself and shield itself from criticism”, Marie O’Halloran reports.
She said the Government “cobbled together this motion and ripped up the Dáil schedule”.
Ms Cairns hit out at the Government’s “appalling treatment of some most vulnerable citizens” and “its record on disability”, including “a failure to even acknowledge the cost of disability in the budget”.
She said “we have a mountain of reports that are gathering dust on Government shelves, none of which have been acted on in any meaningful way.
“But the result is that generations of children are being failed.
“There have been repeated promises that waiting lists will be addressed and services would be improved. Those promises have been made for at least 12 years. It never happened,” she said.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she had great respect for medical specialists but acknowledged there must be change within practices and processes and “also real cultural change in relation to listening to parents, respecting parents, responding to parents”.
“I’m putting every element of my energy and good faith into trying to improve that,” she said, adding that the Tánaiste is working with her.
She described Mr Harris as a “committed public representative”, one who seeks to serve his constituents, his community, and the State.
“We are all here because we too are committed to the people we represent. We all act in good faith, and we have a substantial body of work,” to improve services, she said.
Labour’s Marie Sherlock told Mr Harris she did not doubt “the sincerity of your intentions then” but successive governments failed “to ensure a functioning Children’s Hospital Ireland”.
“We have an inappropriate system of care for the most vulnerable children in our State, and that arises because it’s a failure of corporate governance, a failure of clinical governance, and a failure of management.
“And the buck stops with governments, the previous government and this Government in terms of how children have been repeatedly failed.”
Her party’s spokesman on housing, Conor Sheehan, subsequently described the motion of confidence as a “complete waste of time designed to shield a clapped-out Government from political accountability in the lead-up to the presidential election”.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said her party had to oppose the motion of confidence in the Tánaiste, and that it derived “from a broken promise” in 2017 that no child should wait longer than four months for spinal surgery.
It is a broken promise “when we still see children waiting. But this is just one in a litany of broken promises,” she said.
She added that “never before have the actions of a Government in Ireland been so divorced from the manifestos on which the governing parties ran”.
Ms Bacik pointed out that “just today, a 16th deadline passed” for the opening of the national children’s hospital.
“We’ve seen enormous issues with the governance of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI),” and all of these issues are “uppermost in the minds of those parents whose children are awaiting surgery,” she said.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald trenchantly criticised the Tánaiste, saying:
“I have no confidence in you. The families you have let down have no confidence in you.
“The wider public increasingly have no confidence in you either and God hurry the day that they get to remove you from power.”
Marie O’Halloran writes:
Ms McDonald described the Government’s motion of confidence as “cynically designed to intercept and shut down a prospective motion of no confidence” in Mr Harris and “to shield him from being held to account for his litany of failures, but primarily, his profound failure of children with scoliosis and spina bifida”.
She said the pace the Government moved to protect him “stands in very marked contrast to the constant delay that is the hallmark of his failure of some of the most vulnerable in our society”.
The Dublin Central TD claimed “the making and breaking of promises has come to define his time in office as minister for health, as taoiseach and now as Tánaiste”.
The call for a no-confidence motion in the Tánaiste and calls for him to resign did not originate in the Dáil, she said.
“Those calls came directly from a groundswell of public anger, an anger that grew and grew throughout the weeks of late summer, conveyed in protest and marches, following the harrowing death of nine-year-old Harvey Morrison Sherratt.”
The heartache, hurt, and anger of his parents, Gillian and Stephen, “is traced back and connected to the promise made by the Tánaiste in 2017, when as minister for health, he promised that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery, she said.
“What that promise meant to those children and their families should never, ever be underestimated.”
They took him at his word, but “over the last eight years, that promise has been broken over and over again,” she said.
“Children have been left to wait in agony, their conditions deteriorating by the day as they are denied the operations that could change their lives, indeed, that might save their lives.”
The Tánaiste’s promise “came to be seen for what it was, something that sounded good on radio, good for the moment,” she said, and the anger about this “broken promise has only been aggravated by his attempt to pass the book to HSE officials”.
Minister of State Seán Canney said he found Tánaiste Simon Harris “to be honest and open” and to act with integrity, Marie O’Halloran reports.
He said the Tánaiste “has not shied away from difficult positions or challenging conversations.
“He has stood up and spoken out when it was not easy or popular to do so, but when it was necessary. This is what true leadership looks like,” he said.
“Leadership is not about chasing headlines or popularity polls. It’s about standing firm in your conviction, being honest with people, and doing what is right, even when it is difficult.
“The Tánaiste has shown those qualities, time and again, both at home and abroad,” he said.
Mr Harris said “in every capacity that I’ve served, I’ve always taken responsibility and accounted for my actions before this House, before the Seanad, in committees, in public, and crucially at the ballot box.”
“I’ve acknowledged time and again that we’re not where we need to be in addressing ongoing deficits in the care of children in spinal services, despite the sincere efforts of successive ministers, governments”.
He said he was “very conscious of the tragic loss of Harvey Morrisson Sherratt, and I’ve expressed directly my deep sorrow to his parents, Gillian and Stephen.”
The Tánaiste added: “We must listen to and work with parents and advocacy groups who are highlighting hugely worrying and important issues.
“We must humbly listen and act. That has been the purpose of my engagement with Harvey’s family and with other parent advocates.”
Tánaiste Simon Harris said: “I have never claimed to be infallible, but I do act in good faith. And when I make mistakes and when I err, I acknowledge them”.
He added: “I don’t always get everything right but let us distinguish scrutiny from cynicism and accountability from opportunism,” as he defended himself.
“Let’s reduce the toxicity in political debate. I respect every member of this House because each one carries a mandate directly from the Irish people.
“We must not permit the framing of debate to be decided by those who view politics as a zero-sum game, composed of confrontation rather than conviction.”
Opening the debate, the Taoiseach said the Government has to do better. He acknowledged Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín’s good faith but he said such motions did not progress the issue.
Micheál Martin again expressed condolences to the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt whose death in July led his parents to campaign for an inquiry which the Government has made a commitment to introduce.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has announced her intention to fully integrate CHI into the HSE and he fully supported her decision on this, he said, adding that this will bring coherence across the provision of health services for children and young people.
A new spinal surgeon started in August and “is already having an impact”, he said, adding that spinal services remain a priority to ensure children receive surgery when it is necessary.
The Dáil has voted by 90 to 56 with one abstention on Dáil business and a motion of confidence in Tánaiste Simon Harris is now being debated.
The debate is about to begin on the Government’s motion of confidence in Tánaiste Simon Harris and already a vote has been called as the Opposition objects to Dáil business being cleared to facilitate the debate.
Marie O’Halloran reports:
Sinn Féin whip Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said it was “unprecedented” to move a confidence motion when “there hasn’t been a formal receipt of a motion of no confidence”.
Mr Mac Lochlainn said he had raised the fisheries crisis as an issue that should be debated but the business committee, which determines the Dáil’s agenda, said “no time can be made available from the Government’s side” but “time has all of a sudden been created” for the motion of confidence.
Labour’s Duncan Smith said it was “making a mockery of this parliament and we all know what’s going on and the context for this and it’s absolutely wrong what’s happening”.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, meanwhile, said the Government decided “to rip up the Dáil schedule last night”, but would not come into the House and debate the Occupied Territories Bill or “address the shortcomings of disability services or treatment for children”.
Instead they were having a “back slapping exercise and a confidence motion” in themselves, she said.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has accused the Government of a “cynical political trick to ensure voters will not be thinking about the Government’s abysmal record when they go to the polls next week”, Marie O’Halloran reports.
His party’s motion of no confidence in Tánaiste Simon Harris over controversies in Children’s Health Ireland and waiting times for scoliosis surgery prompted the Government to introduce a motion of confidence in the Fine Gael leader, which is due to be debated this afternoon.
Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy said there was a “salient ruling” that there would be no mention of the Presidential election in the House.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he believed Mr Harris acted “in good faith and belief all along”.
He said he made his commitment that no child would have to wait more than four months for treatment “in good faith based on interactions with health authorities at the time”.
During a presentation on Tuesday to politicians by the Scoliosis Advocacy Network, Mr Tóibín said mothers spoke of the “continuous extreme pain” children felt and their stomach and lungs being crushed.
It was outrageous that parents have to “pour out their grief over and over again” to shock the political system to deal with this issue, he said.
He said they were told this was all in the past but “much is in the present tense”.
The Meath West TD said Mr Harris promised in 2017 that no child would have to wait more than four months for treatment but had failed to fulfil that promise as had every succeeding minister.
He said he asked Mr Harris 13 months ago how many children were taken off the waiting lists for scoliosis treatment, adding: “Thirteen months later, Simon Harris doesn’t know the answer.”
The Taoiseach offered his deepest condolences to the family of Harvey Morrison Sherratt who had spina bifida and scoliosis. The nine-year-old died in July and faced multiple delays in receiving emergency scoliosis surgery.
Mr Martin expressed his condolences to all those who lost children in “very difficult and very challenging circumstances”.
“I accept we need to do better in respect of the children in this country, and particularly in terms of access to timely healthcare. Every child should receive treatment and surgical intervention when it is recommended.”
The Government’s objective is to “consistently improve capacity” in medical teams that do the surgery and “better governance within hospitals, particularly within CHI”, he said.
Quite a number of reports had been commissioned on the situation, he said, adding: “I do understand the anger and frustration” of families.
Communication between clinicians and parents “should be a primary consideration and needs to improve”, he said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik also raised energy costs and asked why the Government did not put a levy on companies or insist that no households be cut off over the winter, Marie O’Halloran writes.
She pointed to profits by energy companies and said Flogas has hiked its prices by 7 per cent after its parent company recorded operating profits at €820 million.
Bord Gáis, after a year in which it made €75 million euro in profit, is adding €218 a year for the average bill, increasing almost 10 per cent despite having increased revenues by nearly 40 per cent last year, she said.
Energia is increasing electricity prices by more than 12 per cent after €154 million in profits last year, she added.
Ms Bacik said last week’s budget “pulled the rug from thousands of struggling families as winter bites”.
The Taoiseach reiterated the budget provisions made to assist families, but pointed out that it is a “fundamental problem with our energy mix and our location as an isolated island, our low density, and widely dispersed population also influences prices”.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has, for the second day in a row, raised the report that Irish households are paying energy prices three times above the wholesale cost.
Our Parliamentary Correspondent Marie O’Halloran reports:
In other EU states, governments ensure they have full oversight of price hedging by energy companies, and “in almost every other EU state, the drop in wholesale costs is being passed on to customers”, Ms McDonald said during Leaders’ Questions.
But “your Government is happy to trust companies”, she told Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
She said her party had introduced a Bill to deal with this, and the Government should accept it and “put manners on these companies”.
Ms McDonald said more than one million households are facing significant increases, saying one woman who is “up to 90” is wondering how she will afford the bills and fears being cut off.
She said one mother was left with no choice but to switch to a prepay system to stay afloat.
The Taoiseach he is “very conscious” of costs, and acknowledged prices are slow in coming back down, saying companies should reduce prices more quickly.
He highlighted a number of measures the Government had taken to assist families, including through the expanded and increased fuel allowance and €550 million to cut home energy costs.
Ms McDonald said the “Government is sitting idly by” while wholesale prices had come down 70 per cent and companies are engaging in “blatant gouging, blatant profiteering”.
The Taoiseach told her, to some heckling, “you’re operating from a prepared script,” and the Government had taken a number of actions, including the VAT reduction to 9 per cent.
There would have to be structural reforms, and the Minister for Energy Darragh O’Brien had established a forum to review the regulatory framework, he said.
The minister continues to engage with companies and they would continue with targeted projects to assist households, he said.
Heather Humphreys has said she is determined to ensure “the next generation knows that the tricolour belongs to us all”.
Speaking at her former school in Cavan, St Aidan’s Comprehensive, Ms Humphreys said the national flag represents bringing communities together.
“As a Presbyterian, and a proud Irish republican, I feel strongly that our flag symbolises the spirit of inclusion, and the aspiration for unity between people of different traditions on this island,” she said.
Ms Humphreys said she hopes to build on the Flags for Schools programme, which she started as part of the 2016 Centenary programme.
Under the programme, a tricolour and proclamation were brought to each primary school in Ireland, while secondary schools were invited to Croke Park to receive a flag at an event led by President Michael D Higgins, which Ms Humphreys described as a “huge success”.
“Ten years later, I believe we should repeat and expand this for 2026, to mark 110 years from the Easter Rising.
“If elected president, I will work with the Defence Forces and with Government to develop a Presidential initiative where the flag is brought to every school, but there is also discussion on the meaning and symbolism of the tricolour.
“I am determined to ensure that the next generation knows that the tricolour belongs to us all,” she said.
Independent Senator Frances Black has said she is “extremely concerned” the Government may “walk back on its commitments” on the Occupied Territories Bill after the Taoiseach signalled it was unlikely to include a ban on services.
“This would significantly undermine both the intent and impact of the Bill, and is totally at odds with the clear, unanimous vote of all members of the Foreign Affairs Committee – including TDs from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
“It’s also totally out of line with our obligations under international law and the ICJ ruling, which Government have insisted they will implement, and the comments of Govt-backed presidential candidate Heather Humphries just a few days ago,” Ms Black said in a statement.
“Leadership now means including services. That is where the money is. It’s what the ICJ says is required, and it’s where intense pressure is being applied to get Ireland to back down,” she said, adding that the Government must clarify its position “urgently”.
Ms Black, who first published legislation seeking to curtail trade with the territories in 2018, said the Irish people are “frustrated in waiting for action on this”.
Mr O’Donovan said Peadar Tóibín’s motion of no confidence in Simon Harris was “about politics, as opposed to children’s health”.
When asked if the confidence vote could have an impact on the presidential election, Mr O’Donovan said that remained to be seen.
“Is this really about health or is it about the fact that he doesn’t have a horse in the race? I genuinely don’t know,” he said.
The Government’s motion of confidence in Tánaiste Simon Harris is an opportunity “to clear the decks” in terms of Government business, Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan has said, Vivienne Clarke reports.
“We’re going to lay out in very clear terms what has been done and what is being done.
“There have been failures, there’s no doubt about that, and I’m not, as a father, condoning in any way what hasn’t been done for children who haven’t been properly served.
“But by the same token, we have made huge strides in the last number of years and we are going to continue to do that,” he told RTÉ Radio’s Today with Claire Byrne.
“I think the most important thing here is, first of all, that we’re able to deal with Simon Harris’s record, not just as Tánaiste, as taoiseach and as minister, but as well as that, that we are able to deal with some of the issues that have been referred to by Aontú too,” he said.
He acknowledged there was “a multiplicity of issues for donkey’s years” in relation to failures in the health service.
There were situations where health issues were going to arise on an individual basis, he said, adding: “I’m not condoning that. What I am saying is that we have a Government at the moment that is clearly focused, and there are parents, grandparents in that Government who are absolutely at one. We have to do better by the children who seek assistance, and it’s not only children, it’s adults as well.”
What happens if Jim Gavin wins?
Having missed the deadline to withdraw from the presidential election, the Fianna Fáil candidate has simply withdrawn from campaigning, not the election itself, and will still appear on the ballot
“The winning candidate can either take up office on November 11th,” explains Art O’Leary, chief executive of the Electoral Commission. “Or they can indicate that they decline to do so. Under Article 12.3.3 of the Constitution, that would trigger a fresh election within 60 days.”
Read more from Hugh Linehan here.
Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described Heather Humphreys as a “uniter not a divider”, noting that Labour Party and Green Party figures have endorsed the Fine Gael presidential candidate.
“The fact that more Labour and Green figures have joined Independent and FF (Fianna Fáil) ones in endorsing Heather is notable. Even more interesting to hear their reasons,” the former Fine Gael leader said on X.
Labour TD Alan Kelly has said he will “reluctantly” vote for the Fine Gael candidate, while former Green Party TD Brian Leddin resigned from the party over its support for Catherine Connolly, writing in The Irish Times that he will be voting for Ms Humphreys.
While campaigning in Dublin city centre on Tuesday, former Labour TD for Dublin Central Mary Upton described Ms Humphreys as “the best candidate for a hundred miles”, one who “knows when not to say too much”.
Former Green Party senator Pauline O’Reilly, meanwhile, said it was a mistake for her party to back Catherine Connolly’s presidential campaign, and suggested she will not be voting for her.
If you missed the clash between the two presidential candidates during yesterday’s debate on Newstalk, during which they were pressed on past work and plans for the Áras, Cormac McQuinn has the five takeaways here.
Mr Tóibín separately said he has not yet decided whether he will vote in the presidential election next week.
“Like many people, I feel that I don’t have a choice in this election at all, which is quite incredible,” he said, adding: “Politics is in my DNA, I’ve voted in every election in the last 30 years, and, really, I don’t see an option or a choice for myself.”
The Aontú leader said people are “incredibly angry at the democratic deficit in this particular election”.
“Indeed, a poll there about a week ago showed that 22 per cent of the population wanted to vote for Maria Steen, which is incredible that nearly one in five people are locked out of this election in many ways,” he said.
Asked about a campaign for a spoiled vote in the election, Mr Tóibín said he was cautious about the issue.
“Oftentimes, when people get into a voting pattern, they repeat it election after election. So I am cautious around that,” he said.
His party is not giving any advice or direction in how people should vote, he said.
“I’m finding it extremely hard to decide whether to vote or not in this election. I won’t be voting for the Government, I don’t think the Government’s record means that they should get elected into this position.
“But I honestly think that Catherine Connolly hasn’t done anything really to actually reach out to the one in five voters who feel that they have been locked out of this election, and I’m disappointed at this stage that that hasn’t been done.”
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has accused the Government of putting its own electoral interests ahead of an “important debate” about children’s health and scoliosis services, Vivienne Clarke reports.
Mr Tóibín announced on Tuesday that his party would table a motion of no confidence in Tánaiste Simon Harris over controversies in Children’s Health Ireland and waiting times for scoliosis surgery.
Speaking on Wednesday morning, Mr Tóibín said his party wanted justice for Harvey Morrison Sherratt, a nine-year-old boy who died in July after waiting years for spinal surgery, alongside “justice and treatment for every other child who’s suffering at the moment”.
“We want to use our Private Members’ time. We don’t get that much of it, but we want to use it next week to raise this issue and make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” he told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.
However, the Government has tabled a motion of confidence in the Tánaiste, which is due to take place later today.
“The Government is incredibly cynical here. They are moving the date of the motion because of the presidential election. The Government are actually putting their own electoral interests ahead of this important debate in terms of timing.
“It’s just incredibly cynical for the Government to think that they can actually trick people in their voting decisions by actually pulling this forward a week. I don’t think people are as easily fooled as the Government think,” he said.
Mr Tóibín said his party “may still” table a motion of no confidence in the Government, “which will mean that there will be an opportunity to discuss this issue next week as well”.
In a statement on Wednesday morning, Ms Connolly said climate change and the destruction of the natural environment represent the “defining social and moral challenges of our time”.
The Independent presidential candidate said the Government has failed to give the climate and environmental emergency “the sustained attention, focus, and action it deserves”.
“We need more than slogans and targets. We need a fundamental shift – one that places environmental responsibility and social justice at the heart of everything we do.
“This is not simply about carbon budgets or emissions – it is about fairness, the quality of life we leave behind, and the kind of country we want to build,” she said.
Ms Connolly said it is the poorest communities across the world who suffer the most from the effects of climate change.
“Here in Ireland too, it is those least able to afford it who are paying the price – from flooding and energy costs to the loss of natural habitats and community green spaces.”
As president, she said she would make climate action and the protection of Ireland’s natural heritage a central theme of her presidency.
“As president, I will use my voice and the platform of the Áras to highlight the urgency of climate action – to support communities, scientists, and activists working for change, and to celebrate the deep connection between the Irish people and the natural world.
“Our rivers, our bogs, our coastline, our forests – these are not just resources to be managed, but gifts to be protected and cherished. We have a duty to future generations to act now, to protect our shared home,” she said.
Catherine Connolly is set to be interviewed this evening by RTÉ’s Katie Hannon at 7pm.
It will follow a day of campaigning in Co Meath where Ms Connolly is scheduled to visit community groups and meet people in Trim, Navan and Ashbourne.
The Occupied Territories Bill is likely to feature on the campaign trail today after Taoiseach Micheál Martin signalled it was unlikely to include a ban on services.
On Tuesday, Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys said she was in favour of including services, which has also been recommended by the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee. The other presidential candidate, Catherine Connolly, is strongly in favour of including services.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “the feedback I’m getting, it’s not just implementable”, though the official Dáil record contains a slightly different version of what Mr Martin told the House.
Read more on that from Pat Leahy here.
The Government is set to force through a Dáil motion of confidence in Simon Harris today.
It comes as Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said his party would next week table a no-confidence motion in the Tánaiste over controversies in Children’s Health Ireland and waiting times for scoliosis surgery.
The Government motion is an apparent bid to offset the risk of a debate on disabilities next week, the final week of campaigning in the presidential election.
Late on Tuesday, party whips were informed that the Coalition will put down a confidence motion in Mr Harris at 1.12pm on Wednesday, with a vote to follow at 3.30pm.
Read more on that here.
Good morning. With nine to days to go, both presidential candidates are on the campaign trail once again today.
It comes as several non-Fine Gael figures, including former Fianna Fáil tánaiste Mary Coughlan and former Progressive Democrats leader Mary Harney, backed Heather Humphreys on Tuesday, with Tánaiste Simon Harris saying the Fine Gael candidate was gaining “momentum”.
Former Green Party TD Brian Leddin, meanwhile, announced his resignation from the party over its support for Catherine Connolly and its current direction, while former Green Party senator Pauline O’Reilly said it was a mistake for her party to back the candidate.
