Presidential Election.

Is Jim Gavin not Catholic? Catherine Connolly was raised Catholic and now is not religious.

The first president of Ireland was Protestant. Mary Robinson was from a family who had mixed religious backgrounds and was married to an Anglican.

Presume you've heard of Erskine Childers too? Another former president who was Protestant.

I think your rationale for spoiling your vote is way off.

I don't care what perception is there. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have their own candidates in the race. Why should any of them break ranks unless they wanted to disassociate themselves from their respective parties altogether?

I believe Maria Steen's views for the most part are abhorrant and she wants to put herself in a job as head of state while she advocates for women to be at home. It's the worst kind of hypocrisy HOWEVER I believe she, while coming nowhere close to winning, would have made it a more interesting race.

Having said all of that, she had to convince Independents and right-leaning parties to back her and she left it far, far too late to do anything about it.

That is her fault and it is the fault of those independents for their inability to mobilise and get behind someone.

For anyone to say this is Fianna Fail and Fine Gael's fault are so far out of touch with reality and it's only being said because a loud social media few didn't get what they want.

So why is this Fianna Fail and Fine Gael's fault?

It's a good job we have a very excellent candidate in Catherine Connolly as an alternative to those two dopes.

Yes, because they were independents and they were free to do as they wished.

When a party runs a candidate, it makes utterly no sense for members of that party to allow someone else to run.

If a candidate is looking for members of said party to defect, then they're deluded and have reached desparation levels.

Also, let's not shy away from the possibility that the Steen camp did it so they could then point the finger later on.

What would be the issue with 'allowing someone else to run'? It almost suggests a huge insecurity and lack of faith in their own candidate.

Would reasonable Catholics have any interest in voting for her anyway? The mass going practiceing Catholics I know have zero time for the Youth Defence crowd, after their behavior during the marriage equality and Repeal refs.

I'm not sure if the election needed a more conservative candidate. But I don't think it needed someone who's probably more conservative than most Irish conservatives. And is basically known for being a prominent member of a evangelical Catholic lobby group, with some shady financial backing.

Fook me, what a choice we have - A woman that the rest of the english speaking world will struggle to understand (without an interpreter), Crazy cat lady…

…and someone that has the charisma of a medium sized turnip

Once again, I'm embarrassed to be Irish

The only upside to all of this is, that Brian Wright (the Hannibal Lecter of the animal kingdom) won't be able to torture his animals for an hour or so as he heads down to the polling station to vote for Heather

A former Department of Agriculture official said he believes an intervention by Heather Humphreys, Fine Gael’s presidential candidate, prompted the collapse of a criminal investigation into a farmer repeatedly accused of animal cruelty.

Shocking stuff

https://archive.ph/PN3Mo