News Editor Beth Clifford offers a rundown of the candidates featuring on this year’s ballot.
Two candidates are officially in the running for the 2025 Irish presidential election, with polling day set to take place on 24 October, while the 14 year term of current President Michael D. Higgins comes to a close.
Independent TD Catherine Connolly and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys are the candidates for the 2025 Irish presidential election. Although Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin has formally withdrawn from the race, he will still appear on the ballot paper due to official procedures. This is the lowest number of candidates to be featured on a presidential election ballot since Mary Robinson became Ireland’s first woman president in 1990.
Catherine Connolly, an Independent TD for Galway West and former Leas Ceann Comhairle, was the first candidate in the running to be nominated for presidency. She has received backing and support from a collective of left-wing parties in Ireland, namely, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, the Labour Party, and the Green Party.
Heather Humphreys of Fine Gael, a retired minister and TD for Cavan-Monaghan, was the second candidate to be nominated in the election. Initially, Fine Gael’s sights were set on Mairead McGuinness, former European Commissioner, as the party’s presidential nominee. However, due to health concerns, McGuinness had to pull out of the race in August and Humphreys stepped up.
With that in mind, here is a rundown of what each nominee has to say about some of the key matters in our current socio-political climate.
Gaeilge
Catherine Connolly: A fluent Gaeilgeoir, Connolly has been an avid promoter of the Irish language and is currently a deputy on the ‘Committee on the Irish Language, Gaeltacht and the Irish-speaking Community’ within the Oireachtas. She has communicated plans to increasingly promote Irish if she is elected. She has also gone on to highlight the particular issue of Gaeltacht areas being neglected and under-resourced.
Heather Humphreys: Humphreys has vowed to re-learn Irish and revisit the Gaeltacht if elected. While Minister for Enterprise and Business in 2017, Humphreys took an Irish language course in Donegal. However, during her time as Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, it was reported that Humphreys denied official meetings with Irish language organisations such as Conradh na Gaeilge. During her time as Minister she also declined to be interviewed by Raidió na Gaeltachta.
Palestine:
Catherine Connolly: Connolly claims full support of the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB) which covers goods and services, but has shown disapproval of the revised OTB proposed by the government which excludes services. She has also attended and spoken at pro-Palestine marches in previous months. Connolly has maintained that Palestinians should have the right to self-determination and the future of Palestine should be decided by its people.
Heather Humphreys: A supporter of the revised OTB, Humphreys thinks the government “stepped up to the plate” in recognising the state of Palestine. She has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and feels it is important to condemn what is happening in Gaza as wrong, naming it as a genocide and “man-made famine”.
Irish Neutrality:
Catherine Connolly: Having joined the Irish Neutrality League last April, Connolly has been an advocate for Irish neutrality and keeping the Triple Lock in place. She is critical of the expansion of the military industrial complex in Europe, and reinforces that Ireland should use its voice for peace.
Heather Humphreys: Humphreys upholds the government’s plan to change the Triple Lock and remove the requirement of UN involvement in sending Irish troops abroad. Although she says she supported Irish neutrality, she believes less involvement from foreign countries is important in Ireland making its own decisions.
Housing:
Catherine Connolly: During the Virgin Media presidential debate, Connolly asserted that housing is a “fundamental human right”. In the debate, Connolly criticised the government in failing to develop more public housing and said that the housing crisis is caused by neo-liberal economic policies.
Heather Humphreys: Humphreys highlights that people are putting their lives on hold due to their inability to afford or find housing. When asked about her time in government, she said that her party, Fine Gael, did not “achieve all that we should have achieved in housing”. She has also mentioned the prospect of 3D printing houses and politicians needing new solutions to tackle the crisis.