{"id":75409,"date":"2025-09-20T14:32:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:32:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/75409\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:32:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T14:32:07","slug":"sinn-fein-backs-catherine-connolly-in-presidential-election-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/75409\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in backs Catherine Connolly in presidential election \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> will support Independent candidate Catherine Connolly<\/a> in the presidential election<\/a>, party leader Mary Lou McDonald<\/a> has announced. <\/p>\n

At a meeting in Dublin on Saturday, the party\u2019s ruling ardchomhairle backed a proposal by Ms McDonald to not run a Sinn F\u00e9in candidate but instead to endorse Ms Connolly.<\/p>\n

The move comes after months of uncertainty about Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s intentions, which at one point saw Ms McDonald under internal pressure to run in the election herself.<\/p>\n

However, the party will now back the Galway West TD, who also has the support of Labour<\/a>, the Social Democrats<\/a>, People Before Profit<\/a> and the Green Party<\/a>, in the hopes of creating a united left-wing force that can win the presidency next month.<\/p>\n

\"MaryMary Lou McDonald with colleagues Michelle O’Neill and Pearse Doherty as she announces that Sinn F\u00e9in will be supporting presidential candidate Catherine Connolly. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters, Ms McDonald said the decision was in part about getting Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael out of government by building a left-wing alternative.<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald said Irish unification would be a central part of the campaign and that referendums on Irish unity would likely happen when the next president was in office. <\/p>\n

She acknowledged that Ms Connolly has not previously been vocal on the subject of unity but said she was satisfied the issue would be \u201cat the heart of the Connolly campaign and indeed a Connolly presidency\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said Ms Connolly would be \u201ca champion for Irish unity\u201d, \u201ca voice for the marginalised\u201d and a supporter of Irish neutrality.<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald said recent presidents had been elected \u201cfrom outside the political establishment\u201d and Ms Connolly would follow in that tradition.<\/p>\n

She said it was a \u201cunique moment\u201d to have the Opposition \u201crally behind a strong, compassionate, able candidate in Catherine Connolly and, yes, to take on the political establishment, to say very clearly to people that Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael who have failed so spectacularly in government should not be rewarded with the \u00c1ras\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald had earlier this week promised that Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s decision would be a \u201cgame-changer\u201d. She insisted on Saturday the party\u2019s backing of Ms Connolly gives her campaign a significant boost. <\/p>\n

\"CatherineCatherine Connolly said she welcomed Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s announcement and thanked Ms McDonald for her leadership. Photograph: Sam Boal\/Collins Photos <\/p>\n

Early polls have shown Ms Connolly doing reasonably well, trailing the front-runners, though not by significant margins. Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s support is likely to push her into the lead, though polls taken before the campaign really gets going, have in the past proved poor indicators of the eventual outcome.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Ms Connolly said she welcomed Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s announcement and thanked Ms McDonald for her leadership. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the coalition of left, centre-left parties and Independents backing my run for president is a welcome change for Irish politics,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, if I am to be successful I will be a president for all Irish people, of all political persuasions or none. See you on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald repeatedly explained the Sinn F\u00e9in move as a first step to establishing a wider coalition for government. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0This presidential election is unlikely to be dull \u2013 but remember how crazy 2011\u2019s contest was?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grasping an enormous opportunity on behalf of those who vote for us [and those] who do not, and it is the opportunity to demonstrate a clear alternative beyond the hegemony of Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il and Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee and Tweedledee and Tweedledum, which has been the enduring dirge of the Irish political establishment for a century,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe think the powerful thing we can do as leaders of the Opposition is to combine with others behind a strong candidacy to demonstrate that we can work together to place a very clear alternative and a very clear challenge to Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il.\u201d <\/p>\n

She said Sinn F\u00e9in would be giving financial aid to the Connolly campaign, though nothing had yet been decided. Asked about some controversies \u2013 including her support for Gemma O\u2019Doherty in 2018 and a trip to Syria \u2013 Ms McDonald said these were issues that should be pursued with Ms Connolly.<\/p>\n

To date, only two other candidates have the required support to contest the election to succeed President Michael D Higgins, with Fine Gael<\/a> nominating former minister Heather Humphreys<\/a> and Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> selecting former Dublin GAA coach Jim Gavin<\/a>. <\/p>\n

A number of prospective Independent candidates, including businessman Gareth Sheridan<\/a>, conservative campaigner Maria Steen<\/a> and former lord mayor of Cork Kieran McCarthy, are seeking the support of local authorities and Oireachtas members to secure a place on the ballot paper before nominations close on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The election takes place on October 24th. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Heather Humphreys profile: Popular Fine Gael matriarch is no stranger to controversy but has broad appealOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Don\u2019t underestimate this guy\u2019: Who is Gareth Sheridan, the pharma millionaire running for president?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Jim Gavin profile: Would \u2018no bullsh*t\u2019 former Dublin manager make a good president?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in will support Independent candidate Catherine Connolly in the presidential election, party leader Mary Lou McDonald has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,1921,52,18,13,14,4771,553,25,18577,6,555,19,17,19487,9171,11,12,15,16,30253,16594,5,21030,59,47,18578,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-75409","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-catherine-connolly","11":"tag-dublin","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-fianna-fail","16":"tag-fine-gael","17":"tag-gareth-sheridan","18":"tag-green-party","19":"tag-headlines","20":"tag-heather-humphreys","21":"tag-ie","22":"tag-ireland","23":"tag-jim-gavin","24":"tag-labour-party","25":"tag-latest-news","26":"tag-latestnews","27":"tag-main-news","28":"tag-mainnews","29":"tag-maria-steen","30":"tag-mary-lou-mcdonald","31":"tag-news","32":"tag-people-before-profit-alliance","33":"tag-presidential-election","34":"tag-sinn-fein","35":"tag-social-democrats","36":"tag-top-stories","37":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75409","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=75409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}