Main Points
- The final RTÉ Prime Time presidential election takes place at 9.35pm.
- Heather Humphreys has committed to engaging with Lucia O’Farrell.
- Fine Gael has continued to accuse Catherine Connolly of “hypocrisy” for appearing for banks in home repossession cases while working as a barrister, while being critical of the banks.
- Ms Connolly claimed Fine Gael was deploying these tactics because it was “absolutely terrified” of her campaign.
- Heather Humphreys has said her former Credit Union did pursue people through the courts for debt when she was manager, but she was never involved in repossession cases.
Best Reads
Órla Ryan – 2 minutes ago
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.”
Órla Ryan – 19 minutes ago
Leaders backing Connolly: Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou MacDonald, Social Democrats’ Holly Cairns, Labour’s Ivana Bacik, People Before Profit-Solidarity’s Paul Murphy and Ruth Coppinger, and the Green Party’s Roderic O’Gorman on stage at a concert for Catherine Connolly in Vicar Street, Dublin, on Monday night. Photograph: Dan Dennison/The Irish Times 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.”
Órla Ryan – 41 minutes ago
Former IFA presidents back Heather Humphreys
Heather Humphreys speaks with attendees at The National Ploughing Championships in Tullamore, Co Offaly, last month. Photograph: Dan Dennison/The Irish Times
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 ahead 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”.
Órla Ryan – 53 minutes ago
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 judgement, 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
The ‘Ceol for Connolly’ event featured acts such Christy Moore and The Mary Wallopers. Photograph: Dan Dennison/The Irish Times
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? 
Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys have answered 25 questions – how do your views match up? Illustration: Paul Scott
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
Independent Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly hosted a ‘Ceol for Connolly’ evening in Vicar Street, Dublin, on Monday. The event featured acts such Christy Moore and The Mary Wallopers. Photograph: Dan Dennison/The Irish Times
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
Irish presidential candidate Heather Humphreys canvasses in Gorey in Co Wexford, ahead of polling day on Friday. Photograph: Gráinne Ní Aodha/PA Wire
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.”