{"id":87577,"date":"2025-09-26T22:16:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/87577\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T22:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:16:15","slug":"gavin-and-humphreys-head-for-kerry-connolly-highlights-her-suil-eile-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/87577\/","title":{"rendered":"Gavin and Humphreys head for Kerry, Connolly highlights her \u2018s\u00fail eile\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking the reins of a traditional jaunting car and whip in hand, presidential hopeful Heather Humphreys<\/a> said she was relishing the demands of the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love meeting people. I love every day of meeting people,\u201d she said at the jarvey stand in Killarney.<\/p>\n

Fine Gael<\/a> party stalwarts turned out. The party lost its seat in the last general election and failed to gain a seat in the local elections in Co Kerry<\/a> tourist town, once a party stronghold. <\/p>\n

Fine Gael senator Mike Kennelly and his daughter Councillor Aoife Kennelly, along with former TD Brendan Griffin and former Kenmare councillor Patrick Connor-Scarteen sported \u201cI\u2019m backing Heather\u201d badges.<\/p>\n

Also there was hotelier and TV personality John Brennan<\/a> of Kenmare.<\/p>\n

Presented with a bunch of Kerry mountain heather by 16-month-old Blaithin Connor-Scarteen, Ms Humphreys took to the jaunting car.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Radio Kerry earlier, she set out her stall. Hers would be strong community focus. <\/p>\n

As president she believed she could be a unifying voice in a divisive world and would follow in the steps of Mary McAleese<\/a>, \u201ca proud Ulster woman\u201d like herself. She also urged people to joining their tidy towns association as a great way of integrating people as she met the local organisation. <\/p>\n

To respect and protect the Constitution is the first duty of a president and the job of the president was to protect the Constitution, she said. \u201cBut that does not stop me from speaking out from where I see injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that, she would take a leaf out of Michael D Higgins\u2019s<\/a> book and speak out where she saw the need.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s role was an important one, including on trade missions and as a forum for listening. She wanted to establish a council of youth that would exist alongside the Council of State, she told Radio Kerry.<\/p>\n

She was asked her view on Catherine Connolly\u2019s<\/a> comment that Germany\u2019s rearmament had \u201csome parallels\u201d with the 1930s. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t agree with that,\u201d Ms Humphreys said, adding this was a different world to the 1930s. \u201cEurope has to defend itself,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

There had been peace for 50 years and Russia\u2019s president Vladimir Putin could stop the war. <\/p>\n

On Irish unity, Ms Humphreys said she wanted a united Ireland based on the Belfast Agreement<\/a> and would \u201cwork day and night\u201d to make that happen. <\/p>\n

Also in The Kingdom was Jim Gavin<\/a>. He may have crossed swords with the county numerous times as a player and as a manager, but it was all smiles on Friday. <\/p>\n

Some of the Kerry greats of football such as Mikey Sheehy, Ogie Moran, Darragh \u00d3 S\u00e9 and Marc \u00d3 S\u00e9 turned up to welcome him to the Tralee Bay Wetlands Eco and Activity Park.<\/p>\n

\"JimJim Gavin poses with Kerry supporter Tim Corkery and Dublin fan Deirdre Lynch while campaigning in Tralee, Co Kerry. Photograph: Domnick Walsh <\/p>\n

Also present was the Sam Maguire with whom Mr Gavin once had an enduring and seemingly neverending relationship as he guided the Dubs to six All-Ireland wins.<\/p>\n

But the boot was on the other foot in Tralee on Friday, and Mr Gavin was quick to pay tribute to the current Kerry side and their manager, Jack O\u2019Connor, after the Iveragh man steered the Kingdom to a comprehensive victory over Donegal this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to congratulate Kerry on your success \u2013 to be national league, provincial champions and All-Ireland champions [is] a phenomenal, phenomenal year and I was lucky as well like Jack, he\u2019s got great players, and you\u2019ve got a fantastic coach and manager in Jack, and I do wish you the very best,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Gavin proved himself assured when it came to fielding questions from the media about a variety of subjects including the abuse of women in the Defence Forces and derogatory claims<\/a> that posted about him on social media including X.<\/p>\n

About the latter, he said: \u201dThat was a very upsetting event, you know, for the family, for my wife, for my children, indeed, for my friends, and you know I need to stand up for them and for my friends, but you know it is a wider societal problem, online abuse, lies, misinformation, you know, can\u2019t be tolerated,\u201c he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the legalities, you know, we sent legal letters to the [social media] companies, and TikTok and Meta have taken it down. I\u2019m interested to see what the other companies will do, and I have also engaged with Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n<\/a>, which is the Media Commission. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been given new powers in recent times to deal with lies, misinformation and abuse on social media so I expect action will be taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he would wait to see what happens with the remaining social media companies before taking any further legal action.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not about me, it\u2019s about the wider societal impact and, you know, this has in some ways been normalised I think and we need to call it what it is. This can\u2019t happen. And we need to, you know, from the Media Commission perspective, they need to take a more active role.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JimJim Gavin at the Wetlands Lakeside Cafe in Tralee as Billy Horgan takes his picture. Photograph: Domnick Walsh <\/p>\n

Ms Connolly was at the other end of the country in Donegal.<\/p>\n

She started her visit in Donegal<\/a> town where she received a warm welcome, taking time to chat to people on the street and enjoyed a weaving demonstration.<\/p>\n

She was joined by former independent TD and fellow neutrality campaigner Thomas Pringle and independent councillor Jimmy Brogan. There was also a great show of support from Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s<\/a> representatives in Donegal, with TDs Pearse Doherty and Padraig Mac Lochlainn joining councillors Noel Jordan and Jack Murray. <\/p>\n

With three candidates in the race for the \u00c1ras, Ms Connolly believes her early start is standing her well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI began campaigning in July and I have made myself available to meet people and answer questions at every opportunity,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Ms Connolly outlined the main themes of her campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see us using our neutrality in the most positive way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I want to be a voice that articulates the threat posed by climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities are vital, and I want to be a voice for communities here in Donegal and all across Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish language is very important to me too. I had school Irish and I went back and learned it again. My aim is to empower and inspire others to do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives you a s\u00fail eile, a different perspective on the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Connolly continued with her Donegal visit, stopping off in Killybegs, Ardara and Dungloe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taking the reins of a traditional jaunting car and whip in hand, presidential hopeful Heather Humphreys said she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,1921,6368,18,13,14,4771,553,6,555,19,17,19487,957,11,12,15,16,1874,5,59,47,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-87577","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-donegal","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-featured-news","14":"tag-featurednews","15":"tag-fianna-fail","16":"tag-fine-gael","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-heather-humphreys","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-jim-gavin","22":"tag-kerry","23":"tag-latest-news","24":"tag-latestnews","25":"tag-main-news","26":"tag-mainnews","27":"tag-michael-d-higgins","28":"tag-news","29":"tag-presidential-election","30":"tag-sinn-fein","31":"tag-top-stories","32":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87577","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=87577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}