Maria Steen to meet with members of the Oireachtas this evening in hope to reach support of required 20 members
Conservative campaigner Maria Steen has said she remains “hopeful” that she will secure the backing of the required 20 members of the Oireachtas before nominations close at midday tomorrow.
She has not yet spoken to Independent Senator Michael McDowell, who she campaigned alongside against the family and care referendums, but is “hopeful that he will come on board”.
She added that there are a number of other members of the Oireachtas who she hopes to meet this evening before nominations close at midday tomorrow.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Six One News, the barrister and architect said she remains “hopeful” and “good progress” was made today.
She has received the backing of 17 members of the Oireachtas, and hopes to get to 20 “before the end of the evening”.
“Ideally, I would like to make sure everything is tied down tonight.”
On whether she left it “a little late” to enter the race, she said it was “not an easy decision” to come to.
“My husband and I have five children, and we were very conscious of the effect on our family,” said Ms Steen.
“In this election, the candidate can become the issue. And so I had to take into account the effect on my family, but I have the full backing of my husband and children.”
Asked what her pitch to the remaining candidates are, Ms Steen said she believes there is “a wave of the population who feels unrepresented”.
“We look around and we see problems with the housing, we see problems with the cost of living, we see problems with immigration. And all of these, though, are not problems that the President can solve, but I think they point to a crisis in values, because what you value, you prioritise.”
Ms Steen said the concept of family remains important for Irish people.
On whether her definition includes families with same-sex parents and single parents, she said it includes “all families”.
Asked whether it would be difficult to be an inclusive preisdent given her opposition to the same-sex marriage referendum, she said: “I’ve always done my best to work with anybody who’s to work with me.
“I’m very happy to sit down with people to talk. I think it’s really important that and particularly in our society, you know, things have become so polarised.”
She said it is important that those with different views can “sit down respectfully with one another, can have a chat, can shake hands and get on”.
“Our society needs that. We are seeing so much division in our society, and that’s not good. It’s not the kind of country that I want my children to be growing up in.”
Maeve McTaggart