Obligatory patriotic bragging aside, here's the basics. The President of Ireland(Uachtarán na hÉireann) is not the head of government or chief of the executive, or any kind of powerful political position. It's largely a ceremonial role, and the President's powers are mostly exercised only on the advice of the government. The President cannot refuse to sign a bill, but can refer a bill to the people, to pass it or not by referendum, or refer it to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. In the event that the Taoiseach(PM) loses the support of the majority of the Dáil they can request that the President dissolve it, a request that the President can refuse, preventing a general election and forcing the Taoiseach to resign. The President is the head of state and Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces. The Presidential term is seven years, and a person can serve two terms.
The President is elected by the same "proportional representation by single transferable vote" method our other elections use, but when there's only one winner that's just instant-runoff voting. To get on the ballot one must be nominated either by a number of city or county councils or by members of parliament, and the sitting president may nominate themselves. The election will be on the 26th of October. There's a campaign spending limit of €750,000, of which €200,000 may be reimbursed for candidates earning over 12.5% of the vote.
The candidates are:
Michael D. Higgins - President of Ireland, Independent, Self-nominated
Michael D., affectionately known as Miggledy to some, is a statesman, poet, and possibly a hobbit. He served in both houses of the Irish parliament as a member of the Labour Party. He has presided over the historic legalisation by referendum of both same-sex marriage and abortion. He paid the first ever state visit by a President of Ireland to the United Kingdom. While in the Dáil he scrapped censorship laws and created an Irish language TV channel, and opposed the ban on abortion. During the 2011 campaign he helped rival candidate David Norris get on the ballot in the interests of democracy. He speaks Irish and Spanish. He has two very good doggos. The latest polls show him with a commanding lead of 67%, and if I'm not back here in a month telling you that he's been re-elected then I will be in a state of massive shock.
The Dragons - Dragon's Den is a reality TV format in which venture capitalists have ordinary people sell their dreams for the chance to further enrich the already wealthy "dragons". It sets out clearly for the public that if they wish to pursue success in capitalism they will first have to persuade ancient fire-breathing lizards to part with a small fraction of their hoarded gold in exchange for promises of many times more gold in return. Known as "Shark Tank" in the US.
Seán Gallagher - Businessman, Independent, Council nominations
Gallagher, in addition to being a dragon and businessman, was a candidate for the Presidency in 2011 and came in second, with 630,000 votes in the final count to Michael D.'s 1,007,000. While ostensibly independent, Gallagher has close ties with Fianna Fáil, which has not been to his benefit when his business dealings and appointments to State Boards came under scrutiny. Jobs for the boys and that. He shot himself in the foot during a television debate when he struggled to deny claims that he had received a cheque from a convicted criminal and fuel smuggler following a Fianna Fáil fundraiser, with his comments about having no recollection about receiving any envelopes coming off very badly. He did successfully make a complaint to the Broadcasting Authority about unfair treatment regarding having accusations put to him from an anonymous and unverified tweet. Gallagher is apparently a 1st dan black belt in judo and karate.
Gavin Duffy - Businessman, Independent, Council nominations
Dragon the second, Duffy has been a businessman and entrepreneur since becoming a shareholder of a small radio station when he was 18. He's worked as an advisor to both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. A supporter of hunting, Duffy has previously been chairperson of the Hunting Association of Ireland and has held events supporting hunting in opposition to animal rights activists.
Peter Casey - Businessman, Independent, Council nominations
Dragon the third, Casey...em...does business? He's previously expressed some political ambitions but has never held office. His wife and children live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Gallagher, in addition to being a dragon and businessman, was a candidate for the Presidency in 2011 and came in second, with 630,000 votes in the final count to Michael D.'s 1,007,000. While ostensibly independent, Gallagher has close ties with Fianna Fáil, which has not been to his benefit when his business dealings and appointments to State Boards came under scrutiny. Jobs for the boys and that. He shot himself in the foot during a television debate when he struggled to deny claims that he had received a cheque from a convicted criminal and fuel smuggler following a Fianna Fáil fundraiser, with his comments about having no recollection about receiving any envelopes coming off very badly. He did successfully make a complaint to the Broadcasting Authority about unfair treatment regarding having accusations put to him from an anonymous and unverified tweet. Gallagher is apparently a 1st dan black belt in judo and karate.
Gavin Duffy - Businessman, Independent, Council nominations
Dragon the second, Duffy has been a businessman and entrepreneur since becoming a shareholder of a small radio station when he was 18. He's worked as an advisor to both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. A supporter of hunting, Duffy has previously been chairperson of the Hunting Association of Ireland and has held events supporting hunting in opposition to animal rights activists.
Peter Casey - Businessman, Independent, Council nominations
Dragon the third, Casey...em...does business? He's previously expressed some political ambitions but has never held office. His wife and children live in Atlanta, Georgia.
Joan Freeman - Senator, Independent, Council nominations
Freeman, a psychologist and mental health activist, founded Pieta House in 2006, a suicide prevention charity which provides free therapeutic services to thousands of people across Ireland. She has additionally worked to develop Solace House, a similar charity based in New York City. She was nominated to Seanad Éireann in 2016 by Enda Kenny and chairs the Committee on the Future of Mental Healthcare. A practising Catholic, Freeman voted against legalising abortion, but has stated that she would sign legislation resulting from the Yes vote into law if elected. Which, as I've noted above, she doesn't really have any choice about. Freeman stated in a speech that she believes that God miraculously healed her eczema when she visited Knock Shrine as a teenager.
Liadh Ní Riada - MEP for Ireland South, Sinn Féin - GUE/NGL, nominated by Sinn Féin TDs and Senators
Ní Riada, a native Irish speaker, worked as a producer for our Irish language channel, TG4, and served as Sinn Féin's national Irish language officer. In Brussels she sits on the committees for Culture and Education, for Fisheries, and for Budgets. Ní Riada believes that this will be the last Presidential election held in only the 26 counties, believing that the island of Ireland will be unified before the next election in 2025, and there's a strong possibility that her candidacy is meant to serve as a platform for Sinn Féin to advocate for the North to join the Republic following Brexit. Ní Riada has suffered no small share of tragedy in her personal life, losing her father(famed composer of traditional Irish music Seán Ó Riada) at the age of 4, her mother at the age of 10, and her first husband a mere 10 months after they married.
Personally I intend to vote for Michael D. and cannot imagine anything happening in the next month to change my mind. In a time when other heads of state have been bringing ever increasing shame to their nations, Michael D. has been a representative that Ireland can be proud of. I don't think I'm even going to give a preference to any of the other candidates. Certainly I cannot imagine what use we would have for a businessman as our ceremonial head of state.
I was actually pretty surprised not to see Dana coming forward, maybe she's finally realised nobody wants her.
