ÁRAS CANVASS:THE FIVE confirmed candidates in the presidential election were all in Athy yesterday, seeking to secure the votes of some of the 71,000 people attending the National Ploughing Championships.
Sinn Féin candidate Martin McGuinness used the occasion to call for the vote in presidential elections to be extended to Irish citizens north of the Border.
“The Northern counties have as much interest in this election as anybody else, even though they don’t have the vote,” he said. “That is a very important campaign which I think all of the parties here in the South need to consider in the context of the next presidential election after this one.”
Independent candidate Seán Gallagher said he wanted to expand the role so that the office could make more of an impact.
“We have got to redefine the role and we have got to make it relevant, and the only way to make it relevant is to deal with the real current issues of the day.
“What people really need now are jobs. I want to do now for enterprise and job creation what Mary McAleese has done for the peace process – jobs are what keep communities together.”
Mr Gallagher said the attention given to Mr McGuinness’s announcement that he would take only the average industrial wage if elected had “undermined the office” of the presidency.
“I have made it very clear: I don’t set the salary, the Government sets the salary, and I think that what is going on now is taking away from the office. This could be a race to the bottom, people talking about doing it for this or that or 10 per cent less,” he said.
Labour candidate Michael D Higgins called for change to the system of nominations following the difficulties encountered by hopefuls Dana Rosemary Scallon and David Norris.
Candidates require the support of 20 members of the Oireachtas or four county councils before they can enter the race. “I’ve always regarded the system of getting into the race as archaic . . . it should have been changed long ago,” Mr Higgins said.
He expressed satisfaction with how his campaign was going. “My own strategy is working. I have done 19,000km since the 19th of June and I have talked to every group that have asked me, as much as I could fit in, and I am getting a very good response.”
Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell suggested caution needed to be exercised on how changes were brought in for the nomination process.
“If we simplify it and have 100 candidates, it could become very confusing – I don’t know how you organise debates around that; if you look at the present system, people that are Independent have been able to come through.”
He said should he become president, he would be careful not to politicise the office or to get “in the hair of the Government”. He would, however, target specific goals. “I will try to, for example, to address the suicide issue.”
Independent candidate Mary Davis said she had no issues with Mr McGuinness’s entry into the race, despite his past membership of the IRA. She would be concentrating on the future, she said.