{"id":50975,"date":"2025-09-08T14:51:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/50975\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T14:51:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T14:51:07","slug":"county-councils-most-likely-to-nominate-an-independent-candidate-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/50975\/","title":{"rendered":"County councils most likely to nominate an Independent candidate \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local authorities are one route to secure a nomination to run for President<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To get your name on the ballot, candidates must be nominated by four county councils or secure the backing of 20 members of the Oireachtas<\/a>. Nominations close on September 24th with the election taking place on October 24th.<\/p>\n

At least 20 councils are holding special meetings this month to hear from candidates hoping to take a run at the \u00c1ras, starting with Kerry County Council today.<\/p>\n

In the last presidential election in 2018, Independents Peter Casey, Sean Gallagher, Joan Freeman and Gavin Duffy were nominated to run through county councils.<\/p>\n

Below are the most likely councils to nominate an Independent.<\/p>\n

Kerry<\/p>\n

The first council to hear from presidential hopefuls, today, may be one of the most eagerly courted, as the proportion of Independents sitting on Kerry County Council means it could create a path for an \u00c1ras hopeful. Independents took 12 of 33 seats on council in last year\u2019s local elections, an increase of two.<\/p>\n

Members of the Healy-Rae family hold three separate council seats in the area \u2013 which could mean an audience for Independents claiming to represent rural issues or other major topics in the county. <\/p>\n

The majority of the seven council seats for Killarney are dominated by Independents, and the issue of local hotels taking international-protection contracts has been a major issue in the leading tourist town. A number of sitting councillors have complained about the issue since 2023. <\/p>\n

There is also the potential for disillusionment from Fine Gael councillors who feel that local hero Se\u00e1n Kelly was unjustly treated by party headquarters. <\/p>\n

Waterford<\/p>\n

Waterford is a more complex council. It may have been identified as a possible path for candidates, as one quarter of the councillors sitting on Waterford council are Independents. But despite the fact Independents occupy eight of 32 seats on the local authority for the city and county, five of those Independents are in a loose pact with Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. <\/p>\n

Independent councillor David Daniels said that he is in a group of three \u201cIndependent Independents\u201d, with Donal Barry and Joe O\u2019Riordan so he expressed doubt that the three of them on their own would be able to facilitate a candidate. Waterford is due to hold a meeting with prospective candidates on Friday, September 19th, but some councillors in the main parties have privately asked if the meeting should even go ahead, with all three main parties having little interest in facilitating any candidates beyond their own.<\/p>\n

Tipperary <\/b><\/p>\n

At least 13 people have contacted Tipperary County Council seeking its support to get on the ballot paper. Independents have enjoyed significant electoral success in the Premier County with Independent John O\u2019Heney topping the poll in last year\u2019s local elections.<\/p>\n

Independents now make up a respectable 15 out of 40 seats on the local authority. It seems that businessman and hopeful candidate Gareth Sheridan already enjoys an advantage with the council, with two Independents, Liam Browne and Seamie Morris, already indicating their support for him as a candidate. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, we\u2019ve seen the same faces in the running, so it\u2019s time for new ones to step up,\u201d Independent councillor Browne wrote on social media, congratulating Sheridan for having the \u201cguts\u201d to run. \u201cThe more, the merrier! Imagine a race with a wide variety of candidates \u2013 someone like Nick Delehanty, someone from Fianna F\u00e1il, and someone from Sinn F\u00e9in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laois<\/p>\n

In 2018, Laois was the only local authority to back the controversial Gemma O\u2019Doherty. Only four councillors supported her, while the rest abstained. The number of Independents sitting on the council has grown from three of 19 seats in 2014 to five in 2024. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael share 11 seats between them. More than 14 candidates have contacted Laois county council already, with the local authority due to hold its special meeting for candidates on September 15th. <\/p>\n

Leitrim<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s least populous county has 18 councillors and, on paper, one of the easiest paths to the presidency. Fine Gael has only three seats on the council, compared to Fianna F\u00e1il, which has six. Sinn F\u00e9in has four councillors and there are five Independents. <\/p>\n

Even with Fine Gael councillors voting against, a candidate would win a nomination if the two other big parties abstained. If Sinn F\u00e9in also votes against, Fianna F\u00e1il councillors would have to support a candidate. That cannot be ruled out as a possibility. <\/p>\n

Sligo<\/p>\n

Like its neighbour, Fianna F\u00e1il has six councillors, ahead of Fine Gael (4) and Sinn F\u00e9in (2). There are four Independents. However, one of the Independents is Declan Bree who is a brother-in-law of Catherine Connolly. There is also a Labour councillor and a People Before Profit councillor, who also might vote against any nominee, to favour Connolly. A nomination probably depends on Fianna F\u00e1il supporting one of the candidates who comes before it. <\/p>\n

Donegal<\/p>\n

The council did not support a candidate in 2018 and a lot will depend on whether or not Sinn F\u00e9in councillors will be directed to vote against endorsing any candidate. It has ten councillors, Fianna F\u00e1il has also ten. Fine Gael has only four and there are nine Independents. If Sinn F\u00e9in blocks, it\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n

Roscommon <\/p>\n

Another council with a lot of Independents and one that has endorsed candidates in the last two presidential elections. The composition of this 18-seat chamber lends itself to a nomination. It\u2019s another council where Fianna F\u00e1il came out tops, winning five seats in 2024. Fine Gael has four seats and Sinn F\u00e9in has one. There are seven Independents and one Independent Ireland councillor. There are a potential 13 votes for a nomination even with Fine Gael and Sinn F\u00e9in blocking. One of the likeliest routes. <\/p>\n

Fingal<\/p>\n

The council has backed candidates in the past two elections but it might be more difficult this time. Fianna F\u00e1il is down from 2019 with seven seats in 2024, the same as the Labour Party. Fine Gael has six while Sinn F\u00e9in has four. There are a further four left-wing seats. If Connolly supporters adopt a blocking strategy alongside Fine Gael and Sinn F\u00e9in, any path will be nigh impossible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Local authorities are one route to secure a nomination to run for President. To get your name on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,4771,553,6,19,17,9171,11,12,15,16,5,59,47,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-50975","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-featured-news","12":"tag-featurednews","13":"tag-fianna-fail","14":"tag-fine-gael","15":"tag-headlines","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-labour-party","19":"tag-latest-news","20":"tag-latestnews","21":"tag-main-news","22":"tag-mainnews","23":"tag-news","24":"tag-presidential-election","25":"tag-sinn-fein","26":"tag-top-stories","27":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}