Higgins the big winner after FG's Mitchell pulls out

YOUTH FORUM:LABOUR CANDIDATE Michael D Higgins comfortably won over an audience of young people at a presidential youth forum in Dublin at the weekend, to which all seven candidates had been invited, but just five attended.

While Dana “just declined the invitation” to the SpunOut.ie Youth Rising forum, Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell “cancelled at the last minute”, according to organiser Ruairí McKiernan.

“I’m pretty disappointed in him. This was organised three months ago and last night he said he had to go to Cork instead. I think it says a lot about his attitude.”

SpunOut.ie is an independent youth-powered national charity. About 400 young people from across the State attended, and were polled on their way in and again at the end.

In their opening addresses, Seán Gallagher described creating an Ireland where every young person could “sing your song”, Mary Davis spoke of having four adult children and understanding the challenges they faced, Martin McGuinness spoke of having transformed the lives of young people in the North through the peace process and David Norris said he would be a “24-carat Independent voice”. However, Mr Higgins drew the loudest applause by urging the audience: “Question language. Question inevitability . . . Be together, be radical, talk emancipation, be emancipation. That is what you will get when I am president.”

Ms Davis was asked by a young Donegal woman her opinion on airbrushed posters of women candidates, “given the pressure on young people to conform to a certain perfection in how they look”.

Ms Davis said her “poster picture was not airbrushed” but “a combination of good photography, good lighting” and other factors.

On the way in Ms Davis polled 8 per cent, Mr McGuinness 14 per cent, Mr Gallagher 24 per cent, Mr Norris 25 per cent, and Mr Higgins 29 per cent. When polled on the way out, the candidates came as follows: Ms Davis 5 per cent, Mr Gallagher 14 per cent, Mr McGuinness 15 per cent, Mr Norris 19 per cent, and Mr Higgins 47 per cent.