A woman wearing a lovely blue scarf beetled through the doors of Navan Shopping Centre and into the waiting crowd. She saw the cameras and microphones. <\/p>\n
Josephine (82) didn\u2019t give her last name and she didn\u2019t mince her words.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happening? Who\u2019s coming?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cCatherine Connolly<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cTell her to get new clothes.\u201d <\/p>\n It\u2019s tough, being a candidate in a presidential election<\/a>. Everything is scrutinised.<\/p>\n Josephine is not impressed with Catherine Connolly. She doesn\u2019t think much of Heather Humphreys<\/a> either. <\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t look like presidents. They need to dress the part.\u201d <\/p>\n A knowledgeable bystander suggested this will not be an issue. <\/p>\n \u201cThey clean them up when they get in.\u201d <\/p>\n Josephine shot back: \u201cBut it\u2019s what\u2019s inside your heart that will come out then.\u201d <\/p>\n She used to work at elections, but \u201cnot from a party point of view\u201d. Having a vote is important to her. <\/p>\n But, turned off by the two choices on the ballot paper, she is seriously considering not voting at all. <\/p>\n \u201cBut then, I don\u2019t know what a no vote is really saying. It\u2019s not saying anything, I suppose, and my two uncles died to get freedom. They were in the IRA and one of them was shot and killed, on a Christmas Eve. He was only 21. That was in the War of Independence. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd they fought for freedom for us and a vote, and this is what we\u2019re presented with now.\u201d<\/p>\n As the crowd of supporters, many with local Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> TD Johnny Guirke<\/a>, waited for Catherine to arrive from an earlier engagement in Trim, Josephine continued her assessment. <\/p>\n \u201cTo be a president you should have some kind of panache, some kind of charisma. Neither of them have it.\u201d<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Josephine, we are where we are?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s a poor aul state if that\u2019s all they could get. If that\u2019s all they could find. She\u2019s a complete lefty, that Catherine Connolly. The other lady is grand until she opens her mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n Right, so.<\/p>\n On the presidential wardrobe front, Deputy Connolly did come in for some stick early in her campaign from some people who felt she was too casually dressed \u2013 given that she is running for such a high office, even though she\u2019s never been one for the tailored look. <\/p>\n However, seasoned election watchers have noticed that in the past week or so she is appearing on the trail in a variety of eye-catching jackets. <\/p>\n This, they conclude, is a sign of growing confidence in her camp. <\/p>\n The rest of the ensemble may be trademark black, but there was a very nice crimson jacket a few days ago and on Wednesday, in the Royal County, she stood out from the crowd in royal blue. <\/p>\n On Thursday, supporters were remarking approvingly that she is already beginning to look presidential. <\/p>\n There is certainly a sense of buoyancy about her campaign and campaigners. <\/p>\n In Navan, she was cheered on arrival by a group of women from Meath\u2019s Rathcairn and Baile Ghib gaeltachts. <\/p>\n \u201cIontach, iontach, iontach!\u201d one of them shouted. \u201cI love her. Iontach ar fad. Thar bar.\u201d <\/p>\n The candidate was escorted through the shopping centre by local TD Guirke and Tesco shop steward Lynn Boland Fennessy, who wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf. The group was trailed by a woman, shouting about dangerous vaccines, who was apparently live-streaming from her phone to the world.<\/p>\n Chris Hazzard, the Sinn F\u00e9in MP for South Down, joined the canvass. South Down is twinned with Meath. Who knew?<\/p>\n While the group didn\u2019t enter the supermarket, they were welcomed to the centre by manager Peter Dolan who brought Catherine to Whelan\u2019s Butchers shop, which opened for business the day before.<\/p>\n There was banter with butcher Liam Curtis beside the pork chops and large chickens, because that is the kind of thing that people who want to become the President of Ireland have to do to get elected.<\/p>\n Catherine scored a hat-trick on the presidential bingo card before her flying visit was finished. <\/p>\n A friendly butcher. A baby. And a dog.<\/p>\n She met Niamh N\u00ed Fh\u00e1inn\u00edn from Batterstown and her gorgeous seven-month-old daughter, Rois\u00edn. Niamh is a fan. <\/p>\n \u201cI just love everything that she stands for and I want her to be the next president for my daughter too.\u201d <\/p>\n Niamh said two of the \u201cbig things\u201d for her were Gaza<\/a> and the ongoing housing crisis<\/a>. \u201cI know she can\u2019t do anything politically about the houses, but she can talk about it.\u201d She also supported Catherine\u2019s stance on Gaza and the \u201ctriple-lock\u201d on Irish neutrality. <\/p>\n \u201cI really stand for peace and I want that peace for my daughter as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside the shopping centre, Allie Reilly, who is visually impaired, waited with her guide dog, Evie. She said she watched the debates and \u201ctotally agreed\u201d with what Connolly had to say. <\/p>\n There was one pertinent issue she wanted to bring up. While she faces many challenges trying to get on with her everyday life, Allie explained that the ballot papers currently used in Ireland are not suitable for visually impaired people. She doesn\u2019t read Braille and has to have a friend with her in the polling booth to help her vote.<\/p>\n