Best Reads
- Opinion: Fintan O’Toole: Connolly is going to win. Humphreys needs to be a better loser
- Q&A: How do I vote tactically in the presidential election?
- Watch - the Presidential election explained: The candidates, how to vote, the powers of the president, and when will we know the result?
- Have your say: What is your view on the presidential election campaign?
And that’s a wrap. The final presidential debate of the campaign season is now over.
Independent Catherine Connolly “stood over her record and her views during the final debate of the presidential election campaign last night but said she understood that her role as president would be different to her role as politician,” write Ellen Coyne and Pat Leahy in their assessment of the final TV debate of the presidential election campaign.
“A combative Heather Humphreys, the Fine Gael candidate who polls suggest is well behind in the race, sought to take on her opponent on a number of issues, but failed to land any knockout blows.”
The tenth President of Ireland will be decided by voters this Friday, when polling stations open across the State from 7am to 10pm.
Last week’s Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll showed that Catherine Connolly – at least at the time the poll sampling was done on Monday and Tuesday – had a huge 18-point lead.
Can Heather Humphreys overturn that by Friday? It would take an earthquake.
All will soon be revealed. Three more sleeps until election day. Goodnight.
The final question of the night asked both candidates if there was anything that they regret.
Heather Humphreys cited the Government’s regulations during Covid-19, which stopped people from having contact with loved ones when they were dying. “We could have found a way around that, I regret that. I genuinely do.”
Catherine Connolly said she regretted agreeing with the Government on the same regulations. “It was the most appalling thing to watch,” Ms Connolly said.
Both candidates were also asked about the appointments they would make to the Council of State.
Heather Humphreys said she would like to appoint more women and people with a perspective on climate change, as well as a parallel council of youth.
Catherine Connolly said that the Council of State will be “vital” to her, and she wants to have a diverse range of people including young people, old people and disabled people.
Both candidates were asked about the ongoing unrest and violent protests in Citywest. Heather Humphreys said that what we are seeing on the streets of Dublin tonight is “absolutely horrific.”
“I would say to anybody listening tonight, if you know somebody that is at those rights, please, please, please ask them to go home. This is not what we are as a country, this is not what we are as a people.”
Asked about the current and former Government’s record on immigration, Ms Humphreys said she agreed that people should be able to come here legally.
“But for those people who shouldn’t be here, who are coming here illegally, we need to process them quickly. And if they shouldn’t be here, they need to go back to their own countries or where they came from.”
Catherine Connolly said that it is “deeply upsetting that this has happened”. She said that the issue of direct provision has been conflated with people who are coming here legally to work.
Miriam O’Callaghan and Sarah McInerney are hosting tonight’s debate, which has just taken another short break.
Catherine Connolly declined to say if she had discussed what a former staff member had intended to do with guns that she was convicted of possessing.
Ms Connolly had hired Ursula Ní Shionnáin as an administrative support to work with her in Leinster House in 2018.
Ms Ní Shionnáin had been released from jail having served almost four and a half years of a six-year sentence for possession of arms and ammunition.
“She had already been convicted in the court. She had served her prison sentence, and she was rehabilitated,” Ms Connolly said.
Ms Connolly said that “nobody” had raised with her that the woman was a risk and she did not get permission to walk around Dáil Eireann on her own.
She declined to say if she would invite Ms Ní Shionnáin to the Aras.
“Who I’ll invite to the Aras, I’ll decide in due course,” Ms Connolly said.
On the issue of rehabilitation, Ms Humphreys said there is an “appropriate place” to rehabilitate people but only after they admit that they have done wrong. “I think it’s important that somebody like that would get an opportunity in a place that was less sensitive than Dáil Éireann.”
The candidates were divided on the issue of fox hunting.
“There’s a lot of foxes around, as we know, and people go hunting the foxes. And once the controls are in place, and once the rules are abided by, I support rural pursuits,” Heather Humphreys said.
Asked if she had considered if fox hunting should be banned on the basis that it’s cruel, Ms Humphreys said: “Well, as I said, it is a rural pursuit. No minister has banned it, and nobody has come forward with proposals to ban it.”
She said she wasn’t aware of a bill currently going through the Dail to ban fox hunting, which has been brought forward by Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger.
Ms Connolly said she had a “huge difficulty” with fox hunting for the “sake of it”. She said that foxes were not a protected species.
Catherine Connolly was again asked about a controversial 2018 trip to Syria. The Irish Times reported last week that Ms Connolly was pictured with Saed Abd al-Aal during the trip, a militia leader linked to war crimes against Palestinian refugees.
Asked if she had been naive or used by the Assad regime, Ms Connolly said: “I was far from naive, in relation to Assad’s dictatorship.”
“There’s no naivety on my part in relation to a dictatorship, the Syrian regime. I’ve never had any doubts about the Syrian dictatorship.”
She said that a picture of Taoiseach Micheal Martin meeting Assad when he was foreign affairs minister could also be used by the same regime. “That doesn’t mean that the Taoiseach, the current Taoiseach, when he was minister, endorsed that regime.”
Ms Connolly was also forced to defend the fact that she paid for the trip from a taxpayer funded parliamentary allowance, after claiming that she had funded the trip herself. “First of all, we’re all paid in taxpayers’ money. Our salaries are paid in taxpayers money,” Ms Connolly said.
Ms Humphreys interjected, and Ms Connolly responded: “I didn’t interrupt you at all. I didn’t come back in relation to Lucia O’Farrell and there are many things I could say on that.”
Heather Humphreys was again forced to defend herself for failing to support the campaign for an inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell, a young man who died in her constituency after being struck by a motorist who should not have been on the road.
Last month, The Irish Times revealed that Lucia O’Farrell was “terribly disappointed” that, as a TD and minister, Humphreys did not support the family’s campaign for a public inquiry into the 2011 death of her son Shane in a hit-and-run by a man who was out on bail at the time.
Asked why she “didn’t bother” to meet Ms O’Farrell, Ms Humphreys said she spoke to Ms O’Farrell on a “number of occasions.”
Asked if she failed Ms O’Farrell, an emotional Ms Humphreys said: “I did my best … and I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to deliver what they wanted at the time.”
Ms Humphreys declined to say if she felt the way she handled the case had been an error of judgement.
Heather Humphreys declined to say if she agreed that the United States had “enabled” the genocide in Gaza. Instead, the Fine Gael candidate said that the US has been a “part” of the peace process that has led to the current cease fire.
Catherine Connolly, who has previously described president Donald Trump as a person who has enabled genocide, was asked if she would share her criticism with the US president if she met him as president. Ms Connolly said “it obviously depends on how I’m meeting them, what subject is.”
“I’m giving you a clear answer, but it’s a speculative question,” Ms Connolly said.
“If it’s just a meet and greet, then I will meet and greet. If the discussion is genocide, that’s a completely different thing.” Ms Connolly added that she doubted the issue of the genocide in Gaza would be on the agenda if she were meeting Mr Trump as President of Ireland.
In response to questions about previous comments where she said there were certain countries that Ireland could not trust, Catherine Connolly said “I think it’s very important as a small country that we speak truth to power.”
“Any sensible person in Ireland, anybody that stands and reads and looks at what’s happening, would have to be concerned at the increasing money going into the militarization of Europe, and that’s their direction that we’re going.
And my views are shared by quite a number of people in Ireland, at the increasing militarization while we cut back on welfare, we cut back on housing and we cut back on other essential services.”
Ms Connolly said she does not think there is “any fear at all that I will not fulfill my role as president, as professionally and humanly as possible.”
Ms Humphreys was asked if she just “accepts” everything the European Union does, or if she has ever been critical of the political bloc.
Ms Humphreys said she felt that Europe “should have acted sooner” on Gaza. Ms Humphreys said she had also spoken up and raised concerns on “overregulation” from Europe, but struggled to give a more specific example.
Catherine Connolly hit back at Fine Gael’s campaign against her previous work as a barrister, saying she had been “accused of doing something that there’s absolutely no basis for.”
“To resort to this type of allegation is very low,” Ms Connolly said.
Catherine Connolly has claimed that she has “never avoided any question in my life” when asked about her response to scrutiny of her history working as a barrister representing banks in repossession cases.
“Actually, my life would be easier if I was less blunt and less straight and less direct,” Ms Connolly.
Asked specifically about an incident when she was asked seven times about her former work as a barrister by The Irish Times, Ms Connolly said “I absolutely confirmed that I worked for credit institutions and for different clients.”
Ms Connolly said that “orders for possession are made in a court of law or in a country register’s court. It has nothing to do with the barrister.”
Ms Connolly said the people responsible for repossessions were “successive governments.”
Ms Humphreys was forced to defend an attack video and her campaign’s strategy against Ms Connolly from Sunday.
The Fine Gael candidate said the campaign strategy was “not a smear campaign.”
Ms Humphreys said that far left campaigners have been saying “horrible” things about her and her family online.
Ms Connolly said that her opponent Ms Humphreys is “unfortunately, more of the same in relation to what the governments have done repeatedly over the years.”
Ms Connolly said that she would be an “independent president with an independent mind.”
In her first contribution to the debate, Heather Humphreys has appealed to the public to ask anyone that they know who is part of the unrest at Citywest to ask them to go home. Ellen Coyne reports.
“Can I just say that what we’re seeing unfolding on our television screens this evening is absolutely awful. And we’re seeing members of an Garda Síochána being attacked with the stones and with such things,” Ms Humphreys said.
She added that this is not “what we are as a country.”
The two candidates are in the Prime Time studio - the debate is about to begin.
The countdown is on. Thirty minutes until the two candidates go head to head on RTÉ 1.
The playbook for presidential election campaigns has been thrown out the window, writes Harry McGee.
The received wisdom of candidates maintaining a dignified public appearance has not been followed, especially on the Fine Gael side. Contrast the approach of Heather Humphreys’ campaign in the first live TV debate in which she tried to stay above the fray and the political attacks on her opponent, Catherine Connolly, in the past few days.
Yes, the gloves are off. And we expect the second and final live debate tonight on RTÉ’s Prime Time to be a tense and bad-tempered affair.
Stay with us tonight while we bring the latest updates to you, as it all unfolds.
Heather Humphreys has now also arrived at RTÉ, telling press gathered outside “wish me luck”.
Catherine Connolly is the first to arrive at RTÉ ahead of tonight’s final televised debate of the presidential election.
Heather Humphreys shares photos with “former boss” and former Taoiseach Enda Kenny on social media.
The debate over Catherine Connolly’s work on behalf of financial institutions has brought an intense focus on the work barristers do – and what could, or should, be read into it. So, how might a barrister come to be briefed in such a case?
Several legal professionals, speaking privately to The Irish Times, say that the allocation of work to a particular barrister depends on an array of circumstances. Read the full explainer from Jack Horgan-Jones here.
Disability rights activists call on voters to support Connolly
Disability rights campaigners, including Senator Tom Clonan, have called on people with disabilities, carers and their families to support Catherine Connolly’s presidential bid.
Disability activists held a press conference in Buswells Hotel in Dublin on Tuesday morning in support of Ms Connolly.
Earlier this month, Fine Gael defended Heather Humphreys’ record on carers’ and disability rights after Mr Clonan claimed the former minister was “adamant” she would back a controversial plan to change social welfare payments for people with disabilities.
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Michael Healy-Rae voices support for Humphreys
Independent minister Michael Healy-Rae has said he is supporting Heather Humphreys because she supports “rural pursuits” like the live animal exports, and greyhound racing, Ellen Coyne reports.
Speaking at Ms Humphreys’ last campaign event before tonight’s Prime Time television debate, Mr Healy-Rae said he was appealing to people voting on Friday to “seriously consider what you’re going to do.”
“Do you want to vote for somebody who has common sense, who supports live exports, rural pursuits - whether that’s greyhounds, whether it’s race horsing, she has always been to the fore in all of those issues,” Mr Healy-Rae said.
“What I would call fundamental, down to earth, common sense stuff. Not airy fairy nonsense.”
Asked if he believed Catherine Connolly, Ms Humphreys’ rival, supports “airy fairy nonsense,” Mr Healy-Rae said “oh, absolutely not.” “Did I mention anybody?”
Mr Healy-Rae appeared alongside fellow independents Marian Harkin, Noel Grealish and Kevin Boxer Moran at a press event for the Humphreys campaign in Merrion Square on Tuesday.
Ms Humphreys was asked about concerns some voters may have about “rural pursuits” like hare coursing and fox hunting. Ms Humphreys said there are “a lot of controls in place around these pursuits.”
“And indeed, I might as well tell you, you’re talking about fox hunting. I was speaking with a farmer just this morning, and he said that he had 30 lambs killed by foxes. So you know, there’s two sides to every story.”
Humphreys struggles to account for claim she was out of the country during Dáil vote
Heather Humphreys struggled to account for her claim that she had been out of the country during a Dáil vote calling for an inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell.
Ms Humphreys had told Virgin Media’s Big Interview on Monday night that she was out of the country on a trade mission when a vote calling for an inquiry to be set up took place on June 14, 2018.
Last month, The Irish Times revealed that Lucia O’Farrell was “terribly disappointed” that, as a TD and minister, Humphreys did not support the family’s campaign for a public inquiry into the 2011 death of her son Shane in a hit-and-run by a man who was out on bail at the time.
According to ministerial diaries and flight records checked by The Irish Examiner, Ms Humphreys arrived back in the country shortly after 11am on the morning of the vote.
“I hardly know what day it is this week, never mind what time the flight came in at seven years ago,” Ms Humphreys said, at a press event in Merrion Square on Tuesday.
“But I definitely was, I was out of the country. I was out of the country.”
“I was abroad that morning, I certainly was. I don’t know what time the flight came in at, to be honest with you. As I say, I hardly know what day it is today. Seven and a half years ago, would you remember what time a flight came into Dublin airport?”
Humphreys denies ever saying Connolly made money from people’s misfortune
Heather Humphreys has denied that she ever said that Catherine Connolly made money from people’s misfortune, Ellen Coyne reports.
In a confusing press event, the Fine Gael candidate appeared to row back on comments she made in a Sunday newspaper interview. But she then went on to imply that Ms Connolly may have profited from people’s misfortune if she was paid for her work representing banks in home repossession cases.
Ms Humphreys also appeared to come unstuck on a previous claim that she had been out of the country when a vote on the establishment of an inquiry into the death of Shane O’Farrell had taken place.
The Fine Gael candidate held a press event in Merrion Square on Tuesday, on the eve of the final televised debate of the presidential election. Ms Humphreys was joined by independent politicians Noel Grealish, Marian Harkin, Michael Healy-Rae and Kevin Boxer Moran.
Ms Humphreys was asked about her claim that independent left wing candidate Catherine Connolly had profited from people’s misfortune, by acting as a barrister for banks in home repossession cases.
“No, I did not say that. I did not say that … no, please, I did not say that,” Ms Humphreys said.
In an interview with the Sunday Independent, Ms Humphreys said “I’m different to Catherine because before Catherine got into politics and before I got into politics, she was working for UK banks to repossess Irish homes.”
Ms Humphreys went on to tell the Sunday Independent that she had worked for a credit union, trying to help “keep” customers in their homes.
“I have always tried to help people. I’ve never tried to capitalise on somebody’s misfortune and to make money out of it. And that’s the difference — and I have a very, very clear record on that,” she said.
But on Tuesday, Ms Humphreys claimed she had never claimed that Ms Connolly had profited from anyone’s misfortune. The Fine Gael candidate then went on to imply that Ms Connolly may have done so, if she had been paid for her work representing banks.
Asked if she believed Ms Connolly had profited from people’s misfortune, Ms Humphreys said: “I don’t know … Catherine worked for or represented banks to repossess homes. And that’s the fact. I don’t know if she got paid for it or not.”
Asked if she regretted the comments, Ms Humphreys said “I said what I said.”
“I was speaking about myself,” Ms Humphreys said.
“I’m speaking about what I said, that I did a lot of voluntary work. I did a lot of work with people. And I never did say … I never mentioned Catherine’s name in all of that.”
Paul Murphy raises election campaign row in Dáil
The presidential election was raised in the Dáil by Opposition party whips in a row over this week’s agenda in the House, Marie O’Halloran reports.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy highlighted the latest row in the campaign about candidates’ previous roles before their move to politics.
He called for a debate “about the new principle being espoused by a presidential candidate that TD should have to declare previous professional work before speaking on it in the Dáil”.
Citing the Minister for Justice, he said Jim O’Callaghan “would have to declare if before he spoke about violence, he was ever involved in defending a murderer” because it would “be assumed that he was sympathetic to murderers as a result”.
Sinn Féin whip Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said there were a number of TDs who are barristers including the Minister for Justice “who expressed his concerns about the attempts to undermine our justice system”.
He said there should be statements and questions to defend that system. To some interruptions he said the Minister for Justice “was attacked politically in this regard and he knows what it feels like”.
Social Democrats whip Gary Gannon hit out at the “co-ordinated attack by Government parties on our legal profession”. He believed “it’s a dark week in this House” and it was important that “members of Government reaffirm their commitment to rule of law which they have undermined”.
Labour whip Duncan Smith said “our party strongly echoes those concerns”.
Government Chief Whip Minister of State Mary Butler said the Dáil will debate a motion on the Office of the President “and there’s ample time there if somebody wants to raise an issue”.
How do I vote tactically?
Are you confused about how to vote tactically, or how Jim Gavin’s votes will be distributed?
Art O’Leary, chief executive of the Electoral Commission, explains how the process will work.
Presidential election explained
Who can be president? What are their powers? Who can vote in presidential elections?
Here is an explainer on everything you need to know about how Ireland’s presidency works and the extent of the powers the office holder has.
Labour, Soc Dems and the Greens defend Connolly
Some more detail from Harry McGee about the press conferences held on the plinth outside Leinster House this afternoon:
Questions about Catherine Connolly’s legal work representing banks before her entering national politics dominated separate media events organised by Opposition parties on Tuesday.
Labour, the Social Democrats and the Greens all castigated Fine Gael and Heather Humphreys for the attack video focusing on Independent candidate Ms Connolly’s work as a barrister in Galway when she was a councillor. It was described as “nasty” and Trumpian by Labour leader Ivana Bacik.
Pressed by the media as to whether or not Ms Connolly had been forthcoming in detailing her work for the banks, all three parties defended the candidate saying she had answered all questions fully and appropriately.
Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said Fine Gael’s decision to attack lawyers for doing their work in the presidential campaign was “shameful” and looked like it was following a pattern of the Trump administration and British Tories.
He said it was not reasonable to ask lawyers in the Dáil such as Jim O’Callaghan of Fianna Fáil, and Barry Ward and James Geoghegan of Fine Gael, to declare everybody they represented in their work as barristers.
“I actually understand the separation between politics and the courts. I fully accept that that’s the norm, but if we break it, it’s gone forever. I think what Fine Gael has done, and what Simon Harris has done by presiding over it, is shameful.
“It’s endemic of a party who doesn’t like the fact that they are not doing as well as they would like to see their candidate doing.”
Asked if Ms Connolly had specifically confirmed she had represented banks, or had disclosed the number of cases, Mr Gannon said he recalled that the Galway West TD had responded she had represented people from across the spectrum including banks.
Ms Bacik said that people who supported Fine Gael were among those who were “really disgusted by this style of tactic that has been used by Fine Gael, this negative campaigning”.
“It is wrong, it is nasty. And I’m appealing to Fine Gael in these last few days to raise its tone, and provide its supporters with some positive reasons to vote for its candidate. It is not healthy to have campaigning that is so negative from one side.”
Asked if Ms Connolly was equivocating in her responses to questions about her work for banks in repossession cases, the Labour leader said Ms Connolly “has been answering questions more than any other candidate”.
“She’s certainly been out in the field longer. She’s been subjected to more questions. I’ve heard her answering questions about a myriad of issues that have been put to her, including her time as a professional.”
When it was put to her that Ms Connolly had refused to say how many cases with which she was involved, Ms Bacik said: “As somebody who practised as a barrister, including during a time I was a member of the Oireachtas, my clear view is that barristers are bound by the ‘cab rank’ rule whereby you take cases that you are capable of doing and you do not discriminate against clients who come to you.”
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman claimed there was a “whiff of desperation” in Fine Gael’s attack video and said it was bringing an undignified aspect to the final week of the campaign.
Asked if Ms Connolly should have declared her previous work for the banks when making Dáil statements criticising repossessions, he said: “It’s difficult for every one of us to qualify every single thing we say in the Dáil, in terms of our own experiences.
“I don’t see how that’s doable, to be quite honest.”
Roderic O’Gorman says presidential candidates ‘expect scrutiny’
Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman has said it is “legitimate” that presidential election candidates are asked questions about their record during the campaign.
“People expect scrutiny,” he told reporters outside Leinster House.
When asked if Catherine Connolly should have disclosed that she represented banks in repossession cases while discussing related issues in the Dáil, Mr O’Gorman said: “It’s difficult for every one of us to qualify every single thing we say in the Dáil, in terms of our own experiences.”
Oireachtas members must declare their interests in the Register of Members’ Interests, which is updated annually, but are not obliged to disclose the same information during oral debates in the Dáil or Seanad (although they can if they want to).
Bacik accuses Fine Gael of ‘Trumpian’ smear campaign
Labour leader Ivana Bacik has criticised Fine Gael’s “negative campaigning” against Catherine Connolly, describing it as “a new low”, Harry McGee reports.
Speaking on the plinth outside Leinster House, Ms Bacik discussed the criticism levelled at Ms Connolly for representing banks in repossession cases.
“As somebody who has been a practising barrister myself in the past, I think this is really a new low ...
“There is a clear smear campaign being conducted by Fine Gael. It’s a negative campaign. It’s a sort of Trumpian tactic, I think that’s fair to say.
“It’s a new low, and it will have the effect that it will put people off running for public office if they see this sort of tactic being resorted to in a presidential campaign.”
The Dublin Bay South TD said she believes the approach may be “an own goal” for Fine Gael.
Ms Bacik said people she has met while canvassing for Ms Connolly, including some Fine Gael voters, disagree with this style of campaigning.
“I think many people are really disgusted by this, by this style of tactic that has been used by Fine Gael, this negative campaigning. I think it is wrong, it is nasty.”
Humphreys says ‘European values are our values’
Heather Humphreys has said she will support Ireland’s place within the European Union if elected president.
“Ireland has gained from our membership of the European Union. We have become a fairer, more open country.”
“Next year, Ireland will host the presidency of the European Union. Across those six months, leaders from across the European Union will come here for meetings.
“Thousands of events around the country will take place to mark this important milestone,” Ms Humphreys said on Tuesday.
In a statement, she noted: “European values are our values and they should also be the values of our next President ...
“On Friday, please lend me your vote and I promise I will represent this country with pride on the world stage.
Canvassing continues apace
Both candidates are still canvassing in earnest in advance of polling day on Friday.
The social media battle has already been won, but can the last TV debate turn the tide?
As the presidential election campaign enters its final three days, it remains theoretically possible that tonight’s Prime Time debate on RTÉ could upend the pecking order. Possible, but not likely. Still, it has happened before, Hugh Linehan writes.
In his latest column, he breaks down how Catherine Connolly has won the digital media battle to date.
“In the broadcast version of events, three candidates entered the fray, then became two. Most observers agreed that Catherine Connolly won the opening debate on Virgin Media, clearly and decisively.
“Heather Humphreys improved her performances subsequently, particularly once Jim Gavin exited the race, but she was always chasing the lead. So, advantage Connolly.
“Online, there has been no contest. The Connolly campaign has been omnipresent across podcasts and social feeds, while Humphreys has barely registered.”
Connolly urges voters to ‘make your vote count on Friday’
Catherine Connolly has urged people across Ireland to use their vote in the presidential election on Friday, amid concerns there will be a low turnout.
“Your vote is your voice. Use it. Don’t let anyone else speak for you or decide your future,” Ms Connolly said on Tuesday.
“Democracy only works when people take part – and when citizens stand up and say: we are not to be taken for granted.”
The Galway TD added that every single vote will count in shaping Ireland’s future.
“Don’t let anyone tell you your vote doesn’t matter. It matters deeply – because it’s yours. This Friday, stand up, go out, and vote for the Ireland you believe in. Send a message that this country belongs to its people.”
Former IFA presidents back Heather Humphreys
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon, Fine Gael’s director of elections, has welcomed the endorsement of Heather Humphreys by eight former presidents of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), calling it “a momentous show of trust from some of rural Ireland’s most prominent farming voices”.
“This letter of support, signed by no fewer than eight former IFA Presidents, represents a hugely significant moment in this campaign.
“These signatories have given a voice to Irish farmers over several decades, and their united support for Heather Humphreys is a strong message to rural Ireland, this is your candidate,” Mr Heydon said on Tuesday.
The letter, publicly released in advance of polling day this Friday, is signed by Donie Cashman, Tom Clinton, John Donnelly, Tom Parlon, John Dillon, John Bryan, Eddie Downey, Joe Healy, and Tim Cullinan – all of whom served as national presidents of the IFA.
In their message, they urge people from all political backgrounds to vote for Ms Humphreys, highlighting her “proven experience” and commitment to “championing the agricultural sector and rural life at home and abroad”.
Could Catherine Connolly have refused to act for banks in repossession cases?
Barristers are obliged to take on clients with regard to the area of law in which they practise, Colm Keena reports.
They have what is sometimes called a “cab-rank system”, meaning barristers “pick up” the cases they are asked to take on.
Ensuring everyone can access justice is central to trust in the rule of law, the Bar Council has said in response to criticism of Ms Connolly.
Harris says Connolly must answer questions about repossessions
Speaking on his way into Cabinet this morning, Tánaiste Simon Harris called on Catherine Connolly to answer questions about representing banks in repossession cases.
“I fully understand and respect the role a barrister has to play, but I also think it’s very important that people are consistent in terms of their public utterances,” Mr Harris said.
He referenced an interview in today’s Irish Daily Mail with a man who voted to elect Ms Connolly as a councillor in Galway and was later surprised to see her acting for a bank trying to repossess his home.
Paul Stevenson described Ms Connolly as being “ruthless” during the court case in 2013.
Mr Harris said Ms Connolly must answer questions about this.
“That’s what is meant to happen in elections – people debate and discuss issues, people get scrutinised on their record, on their judgment, and then the Irish people decide.”
Inside Politics podcast
The Inside Politics team is bringing out an Election Daily podcast every day during the campaign, with host Hugh Linehan and the political correspondents parsing all the latest twists and developments of the day. Here is the latest.
All eyes on tonight’s debate
The playbook for presidential election campaigns has been thrown out the window, Harry McGee writes.
The received wisdom of candidates maintaining a dignified public appearance has not been followed, especially on the Fine Gael side.
Contrast the approach of Heather Humphreys’ campaign in the first live TV debate in which she tried to stay above the fray and the political attacks on her opponent, Catherine Connolly, in the past few days.
Yes, the gloves are off. And we expect the second and final live debate tonight on RTÉ’s Prime Time to be a tense and bad-tempered affair.
Because of the way in which the hostilities between both camps have escalated, there is going to be extraordinary focus on that debate.
‘Heather Humphreys needs to be a better loser’
In his latest column, Fintan O’Toole argues that Fianna Fáil has made itself irrelevant to this election and Fine Gael isn’t far behind.
He writes that Fianna Fáil’s “best hope of salvaging a smidgen of respectability on Friday is for Jim Gavin to function as an empty cipher for the protest vote”.
“This is at least vaguely amusing: Fianna Fáil going into its centenary year as the middle finger for middle Ireland.
“But when it comes to embarrassing oneself, Fine Gael is giving its historic rival a run for its money. It has taken out its big black marker and scrawled all over Connolly’s image. But all it’s really managing to achieve is to make itself look juvenile.”
Heather Humphreys needs seismic shift
Last week’s Irish Times/Ipsos B & A poll showed that Catherine Connolly – at least at the time the poll sampling was done on Monday and Tuesday – had a huge 18-point lead among all voters, larger again if you count only those who will cast a valid vote.
Can Heather Humphreys overturn that by Friday? It would take an earthquake. Tonight’s Prime Time debate may be the last opportunity for Ms Humphreys to turn the tide, Pat Leahy writes.
High Court rejects challenge to Fine Gael’s direction to councillors in presidential race
A businessman who alleged Fine Gael’s direction to its councillors to block the nomination of independent presidential candidates was unconstitutional has failed in a High Court challenge.
Mr Justice Brian Cregan said on Monday that Niall Byrne’s application seeking to halt the presidential election was bound to fail and should be struck out, Fiachra Gallagher reports.
Co Kildare-based Mr Byrne, representing himself, had brought the action against the Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Ireland and the Attorney General.
Mr Byrne had argued Mr Harris’s direction to councillors not to support prospective independent candidates for the presidency was unconstitutional as it interfered with the democratic independence of local government protected under the Constitution.
What is your view of the presidential election campaign?
How has this presidential election been for you? Are you enjoying the debates, engaged with the candidates and clear in your mind on how you plan to vote?
Or are you among the 18 per cent of voters who remain undecided – according to The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll – or indeed the 5 per cent who plan to vote for Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin, who has ended his campaign but is still on the ballot paper.
We would like to hear your views on the election campaign so far; from the number of candidates in the field, to whether you feel these candidates represent you, and whether you feel the debates and other media information have allowed you to get to know these candidates?
With one eye on future presidential campaigns, what changes would you like to see to the process?
You can share your views using the form here.
Connolly addresses concert at Vicar Street
While Heather Humphreys received the endorsement of Daniel O’Donnell over the weekend, Catherine Connolly’s camp knitted together a line-up of Irish acts targeting a young audience on Monday night, Cian O’Connell reports.
Ms Connolly emerged to kick off proceedings, flanked by a slew of party leaders and backers who have committed to her cause – Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, the Social Democrats’ Holly Cairns, Paul Murphy of People Before Profit-Solidarity and Labour’s Ivana Bacik among them.
Emcee Kevin Twomey, of I’m Grand Mam podcast fame, joked that he and McDonald were sharing Baby Guinnesses backstage.
“This is a night to celebrate and it’s a night to realise the changes that we have made by coming together,” Connolly said. “I’m only a symbol of the movement. Ye matter.”
Christy Moore was among the many performers.
“What a woman, what a president she will make,” he said, raising his right fist.
He spoke of unlikely groups coming together, and the feeling of energy in the room. Appropriately, he included the Dominic Behan song Connolly Was There in his 20 minutes on stage.
Who should you vote for as president?
People will go to the polls on Friday to vote on who will become the 10th president of Ireland.
To help undecided voters with this important decision, the WhichCandidate voting aid application is now available.
This comparison tool enables voters to compare their own views with those of the two election candidates across a range of issues.
Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys have answered 25 questions – how do your views match up? Check here.
Connolly’s criticisms of banks
A review of Ms Connolly’s Dáil contributions as Independent TD for Galway West shows a speech critical of banks in 2017 during a debate on the tracker-mortgage scandal, Marie O’Halloran reports.
This centred around banks overcharging tens of thousands of customers after they denied them a tracker rate they were entitled to – 1 per cent above European Central Bank rate – or charged the wrong rate of interest, resulting in the loss of 315 homes and buy-to-let properties.
“The banks did this because they got away with it and they knew the tracker mortgages were good for their customers but not good for the profits of the banks, so they decided they would change that,” Ms Connolly said at the time.
“What the banks have done is wrong, in my opinion, criminally wrong and there should be a serious Garda investigation into it.”
Connolly says Fine Gael is ‘absolutely terrified’ of her campaign
Fine Gael intensified its attacks on Catherine Connolly on Monday as both candidates in the presidential election prepare for the final television debate of the campaign on RTÉ on Tuesday night, Pat Leahy, Ellen Coyne and Jack Horgan-Jones reports.
Despite a backlash from several quarters, including pointed remarks from Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, Fine Gael continued to accuse Ms Connolly of “hypocrisy” for appearing for banks in home repossession cases while being critical of the banks and campaigning for an end to evictions.
Ms Connolly hit back at Fine Gael, and claimed the party was deploying these tactics because it was “absolutely terrified” of her campaign.
“I think they’re absolutely terrified, and that they would resort to such tactics just reflects on their terror and their fear of the change in Ireland. And they are utterly out of touch,” Ms Connolly said.
She called on Ms Humphreys to withdraw comments that the Fine Gael candidate had made over the weekend, when Ms Humphreys implied that Ms Connolly had made money out of people’s misfortune. Ms Connolly said home repossessions after the financial crash were the consequence of government policies.
“I saw packed courts, I saw the consequences of government policies, saving the banks. I saw people being evicted from their houses, directly consequent on government policy. I saw county registrars bent over backwards not to put people out of their houses, and finding every possible way to avoid that,” she said.
In an interview with her local radio station Shannonside Northern Sound, Heather Humphreys said: “I am not attacking Catherine’s work as a barrister, I am highlighting her hypocrisy as a politician.
“She criticised the same banks that she repossessed homes for. I’m pointing out the hypocrisy of working for the banks in the courts to repossess houses and saying something different in the council chamber in Galway or in the Dáil chamber.”
Humphreys commits to engaging with Lucia O’Farrell
During the same interview, Ms Humphreys became emotional when asked about criticism from Lucia O’Farrell of the Fine Gael’s candidate failure to support the family’s campaign.
Last month, The Irish Times revealed that Ms O’Farrell was “terribly disappointed” that, as a TD and minister, Humphreys did not support the family’s campaign for a public inquiry into the 2011 death of her son Shane in a hit-and-run by a man who was out on bail at the time.
“What can I say only that I’m sorry, I really am sorry. And I wish, I wish that I could say something that would bring her son back. And I’m sorry for the entire family and all that they’ve had to go through. And I’m glad they got their state apology,” Ms Humphreys said.
“I’m sorry that they feel that I haven’t done enough. I genuinely am.”
Presenter Collette Fitzpatrick commented that Ms Humphreys appeared to be emotional. Ms Humphreys said “Well, I feel sorry for her, because, believe you me, we all have children, and that could have been any of us.”
“The person that killed her son shouldn’t have been on the road that day.”
Asked how she would feel if the Connolly campaign released a similar video about her, Ms Humphreys said that she had suffered “sectarian abuse” throughout the campaign.
“The amount of abuse that my family have received during this campaign on social media, and it’s coming from the far left ... the amount of abuse that they have received, I’ve never seen the like of it before,” Ms Humphreys said.
“The amount of sectarian abuse that has been out there in terms of my religion and my traditions and where I come from.”
Ms Humphreys said she has not spoken to Ms O’Farrell during the presidential campaign, but committed to engaging with her in the future.
Humphreys confirms Cootehill Credit Union pursued people through courts for debt
Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys has said that her former Credit Union did pursue people through the courts for debt when she was the manager, but that she was never involved in repossession cases.
Speaking on The Big Interview on Virgin Media on Monday night, Ms Humphreys confirmed that Cootehill Credit Union had been forced to pursue people through the courts for debt, Ellen Coyne reports.
Asked about whether she had pursued people for bad debt, Ms Humphreys said that when you work in a Credit Union you “try to work with people” who can’t pay back their loans.
“When you have exhausted all of those channels, there is a duty to collect the debt that is owed to the credit union. And yes, every credit union did the same thing,” Ms Humphreys said.
“There were people that had to go to court, but I didn’t evict anybody out of their houses.”
Ms Humphreys said that there were no repossession cases, but confirmed that she did have to pursue people through the courts.
“You have to pay your debts. Otherwise, there would be no Credit Unions.”
