{"id":73565,"date":"2025-09-19T14:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/73565\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T14:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T14:53:08","slug":"michael-healy-rae-to-nominate-maria-steen-to-enter-presidential-election-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/73565\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Healy-Rae to nominate Maria Steen to enter presidential election \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae<\/a> has said he will nominate conservative campaigner Maria Steen<\/a> to enter the presidential election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Kerry Independent TD said he was still \u201c100 per cent backing\u201d Fine Gael\u2019s candidate Heather Humphreys<\/a> but he was signing Ms Steen\u2019s nomination papers to ensure there was a \u201cfair and full choice\u201d for voters. <\/p>\n

Aont\u00fa leader Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn, who has been seeking to build support among Oireachtas members to facilitate her entry into the race, said on Friday he was \u201cconfident\u201d 12 TDs and Senators have committed to nominating her.<\/p>\n

Aspiring candidates, however, will need the support of 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities to get on the ballot paper for next month\u2019s election. Ms Steen has been pursuing both routes to a nomination.<\/p>\n

She has so far not secured the backing of any councils but Leitrim County Council is set to vote on whether or not to nominate her on Monday.<\/p>\n

Independent candidate Gareth Sheridan, who has already secured the backing of two local authorities, is due to make a presentation to Carlow County Council on Friday evening in a bid to secure their nomination.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, Mr Healy-Rae noted that \u201ddemocracy is best served when candidates who are serious and committed are not denied their place on the ballot.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Presidential election: Maria Steen fails to persuade DCC to back her with \u2018unifying president\u2019 pitchOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Mr Healy-Rae added: \u201cToday, I have decided to sign the nomination papers for Maria Steen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the same spirit of fairness and respect for the democratic process, I will be giving her the opportunity to contest the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI want to be absolutely clear, my support in this election is firmly with Heather Humphreys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Signing a nomination paper did not amount to electoral support, he explained, but was about giving voters a choice. <\/p>\n

A series of Oireachtas members last week gave commitments to back Ms Steen after a meeting where they heard from four presidential hopefuls.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Politicians at the Ploughing: It must be time for the return of the Inside Politics digestOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Healy-Rae said he wanted a ‘fair and full choice’ for voters in the presidential election. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw\/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n

Mr T\u00f3ib\u00edn named eight of them as himself; party colleagues deputy Paul Lawless and Senator Sarah O\u2019Reilly; Independent TDs Mattie McGrath and Carol Nolan; and Senators Joe Conway, R\u00f3n\u00e1n Mullen and Sharon Keogan.<\/p>\n

Dublin Mid-West Independent TD Paul Gogarty also later confirmed he attended the meeting and he told the candidates there including Ms Steen that if they were in a position where they \u201cneed a vote or two\u201d to reach 20 Oireachtas members, he would add his nomination.<\/p>\n

On Friday Mr T\u00f3ib\u00edn said he is \u201cconfident\u201d that there are now 12 Oireachtas members who have signed or are willing to sign nomination papers for Ms Steen.<\/p>\n

He said he is hoping that two more will \u201ccome over the line this weekend\u201d which would bring the number to 14.<\/p>\n

\"FiannaFianna Fail presidential candidate Jim Gavin (left) and the deputy leader of the party Jack Chambers on the steps outside the Customs House, Dublin, as Mr Gavin submits his nomination papers for the presidential race. Photograph: Cillian Sherlock\/PA <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s ardcomhairle will meet on Saturday with an announcement expected on the party\u2019s approach to the presidential election. <\/p>\n

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald has said its decision will be a \u201cgame changer\u201d and would alter the nature of the election campaign. <\/p>\n

As a result of her comment that the chosen person has \u201cplenty of Irish\u201d, speculation has narrowed to fluent Irish speakers such as the party\u2019s own TD Pearse Doherty, or the Independent Catherine Connolly. <\/p>\n

Comments on Friday from Sinn F\u00e9in MEP and ardchomhairle member Kathleen Funchion lavishing praise on Ms Connolly will fuel that speculation. <\/p>\n

Ms Funchion told KCLR radio: \u201cI have said before publicly I think we should support Catherine\u201d adding: \u201cI really love the united opposition, particularly the left Opposition in the D\u00e1il.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said Ms Connolly \u201ccan listen to people that she doesn\u2019t agree with\u201d continuing: \u201cBecause she will in her role as president ultimately probably have to meet with maybe other State leaders that she might feel a bit uncomfortable with. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019ll be well able to do that\u2026I also love that she\u2019s a Gaeilgeoir. I really do. I think that that is fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her praise, Ms Funchion repeated that the Sinn F\u00e9in decision would be made on Saturday. \u201cI should say that too before I lose the run of myself here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Fianna F\u00e1il candidate Jim Gavin has said his focus remained on his own campaign as he submitted his presidential nomination papers.<\/p>\n

Mr Gavin was accompanied by Fianna F\u00e1il deputy leader Jack Chambers as he submitted the paperwork at the Customs House in Dublin on Friday, having secured the backing of the party.<\/p>\n

Asked if he was concerned about Sinn F\u00e9in weighing into the contest, Mr Gavin said his focus was on Fianna Fail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae has said he will nominate conservative campaigner Maria Steen to enter the presidential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,18,13,14,553,6,555,19,17,11,12,15,16,30253,5283,5,59,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-73565","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-fine-gael","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-heather-humphreys","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-latest-news","19":"tag-latestnews","20":"tag-main-news","21":"tag-mainnews","22":"tag-maria-steen","23":"tag-michael-healy-rae","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-presidential-election","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\/73565","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=73565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}