Tomorrow morning from 7.00 am to 10.00 pm, we as a nation , get the opportunity to elect our President of Ireland. It boils down to effectively a two horse race with Catherine Connolly well ahead in the polls. However, as we all know, the only vote that will count is what we put on the ballot papers.
Heather Humphreys has stepped into the hot seat vacated by the former EU Commissioner, Mairead McGuinness who looked to be the favourite to fill the position. Despite all the support from the coalition government and business leaders according to national reports,” the middle ground or safe pair of hands” to represent the country on an international and national basis has not been taken on board based on the national polls.
Catherine Connolly has handled herself well; she seems to come across better on the various platforms, whether on radio, Tv and social media. The attempts to discredit her because of her work as a barrister, who worked for the banks, to take families out of their homes has also backfired. She claims her life experience in her work as a barrister, psychologist and politician, and also the former Leas-Cheann Comhairle all stand to her to be the next Uachtarán na hÉireann.
What you take from that presidential election is up to your own interpretation. We now have in situ, a back to back coalition arrangements in government that will run the full term of office, endorsing Humphreys. You have the left wing parties including Sinn Fein who called ”a game changer” by not selecting one of their own members but instead choosing to back the Galway barrister.
Micheál Martin’s chosen one, Gaa supremo Jim Gavin, proved a disastrous ploy. He is still on the ballot papers tomorrow and he will get votes but will be of no significance in the scheme of things. Martin would not support his former boss and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahearn, or fellow Cork native Billy Kelleher who stood up and looked for the nomination from his party members.
Several other candidates tried and failed to get on the ballot papers. The two who came closest, Mary Steen and Gareth Sheridan, will have learnt the tough and some may say unfair system to get a nomination. The one question we can ask, to all who control the system.
Has democracy being served in this election? We have a simple choice tomorrow: Connolly or Humphries, a fifty- fifty race , A or B, The choice of two and it is called Democracy. You decide.
Above pic; Last week Catherine Connelly Catherine Connelly and Johnny Guirke (Sinn Féin TD) pictured outside Navan Town Centre during her national canvass. Photo: David Mullen/www.cyberimages.net
