In 1997, Dana Rosemary Scallon expressed an interest in having a run in the presidential election.
Her route to a nomination was novel. Instead of seeking the backing of 20 Oireachtas members, she went to Article 12 of the Constitution. One of its provisions on presidential elections had been untouched since Éamon de Valera drew up the document 60 years beforehand. It had never been used.
Scallon and her team saw immediately it gave a clear alternative path. If she received the backing of four councils, she could secure a nomination. Scallon wrote to councils. Some held special meetings to hear her pitch. She received the backing of five local authorities: Donegal; Kerry; Longford; North Tipperary; and Wicklow. She was in the race.
Very quickly, in the same election, another Independent candidate, Derek Nally, a victims’ rights advocate, followed suit and also received five nominations.
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Scallon’s initiative set a precedent. In 2011, no fewer than four candidates – Mary Davis, Seán Gallagher, David Norris and Scallon again – received their nominations by going down the council route. In fact, 26 of the then 34 local authorities backed one or other of the candidates, with Davis (an early favourite) getting the backing of 14 councils.
When Michael D Higgins sought re-election in 2018, four of his opponents – Peter Casey, Gavin Duffy, Joan Freeman and Seán Gallagher – were nominated by local authorities. Almost all councils held special meetings to give candidates an opportunity to make a case. A record 16 prospective independent candidates criss-crossed the country to local authority meetings during September of that year.
The 2025 presidential election will be no different. While the campaign itself will probably be decided by candidates who have been nominated by TDs and senators, do not dismiss the chance that at least one candidate will be nominated by county councils, even if Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin nominate their own candidates.
In the past, for presidential elections where candidates from the bigger parties have stood, councils dominated by councillors of those same parties have given the nod to candidates they see as deserving of being given a chance. It is one of the few ‘national’ powers that councils have and they have tended to take the responsibility seriously. Councils are far less partisan than the Dáil and Seanad, and councillors attached to parties have displayed an independent streak on presidential nominations, even when instructed by party headquarters not to endorse any candidate.
The chairs or mayors of 12 councils have confirmed to The Irish Times that they will hold, or are planning to hold, special meetings in September to allow prospective independent candidates make oral submissions. Cllr David Collins, chair of Galway County Council, said that as many as 13 candidates might have written to the local authority seeking an audience. Most councils are waiting for the election order to be made before making specific arrangements. That is likely to happen late this month, or early September (it must allow 60 days between the day of the order and polling day). However, some councils have already designated a date. Carmel Kelly, chair of Kildare County Council, said it has picked two dates in September from which to choose a meeting.
Among the candidates who have written to councillors are the Co Offaly businessman Gareth Sheridan and Nick Delahanty, a lawyer who has contested elections in Dublin.
