Presidential Election 2025

You think I'm an FFGer?

Thats not only offensive but also comical.

I'd love you to find anything remotely positive I've ever said about them? Utterly bizarre accusation.

I wouldn't vote on a single issue. Whoever we elect will be there for 7 years.

Mary Robinson did represent change, but Connolly would represent continuity from the current president, except maybe saying things that more people will disagree with than disagreed with him. Mary Robinson always stayed within the limits of the office, and didn't go out on a limb with controversial statements when president. In my personal opinion, Higgins was more outspoken on issues that properly belong to the Dail and the Cabinet, not the President. I agreed with him on housing and Gaza, but felt that at least he was not attacking the United States and European countries.

If we elect Connolly, it could be bad for relations with the countries she is criticising, which this time includes Germany, whose rearmament she has compared to 1930s German rearmament.

The current president of the United States is extremely thin skinnerd, and an Irish President going around calling the US as "imperial power" will go down very badly. But at the moment, we are part of the EU and that gives us some protection on trade disputes. So to burn bridges with EU partners like Germany aswell is sheer foolishness. I won't vote for her. I considered it for a long time because of Gaza. But all the parties are more or less on the same page on Gaza.

Also, Labour may be damaged by supporting a candidate further to the Left than they are.

How uninspiring are these 3 candidates?

Dont think ill bother voting on this one.

It remains a wretched publication, stridently pro-Netanyahu and keen to big up any bad news story from Ireland. Still no mea culpa for its role in bringing Brexit about either.

CC’s comment about German rearmament was outrageous. She certainly couldn’t be doing that up in the Park.

I largely agree, but you will note that I mentioned Poland at the end after the Baltics where the problem really is. Russia is not the military force that it thinks it is, they have been trying to capture Pokrovsk for over a year and recently surged forward only for the Ukrainians to cut them off. However, Putin launched the invasion into Ukraine without enough forces, it does not seem to be beyond the bounds of possibility that he would do something else that was ultimately unwise, like seizing Narva. Given assistance to Ukraine is the best way to keep him busy, but there also needs to be deterrence for further adventures.

I think with Higgins was first elected in 2011, it was in a context where Labour had won 38 seats. When he was re-elected, it was just after the General Election where Labour fell to 6-7 seats. So theres no doubt it was a personal vote. Also the shenanigans around Tweetgate were a big factor in 2011, without which I think that election could have gone a different way. Gallagher eventually won his civil action on that years later.

A lesson from Tweetgate is to verify the source of a tweet. I hope RTE has learned from this. Even if you didnt support Gallagher, what happened raised disturbing questions about this happening to someone on either side in future.

The fact that SF is not running its own candidate seems defeatist and a sign of low morale after a disappointing election for them. They did slightly increase their number of seats, but that was because of transfers and their first preference percentage share of the vote fell.

So your logic is:

Many FFGers think Connolly is clueless

pjohnson quotes a couple of examples of why he thinks Connolly is clueless

therefore pjohnson is a FFGer

Interesting

(Most Man City fans think Amorim is useless.

Roy Keane thinks Amorim is useless.

Therefore Roy Keane is a Man City fan)

Dont forget a McGregor fan aswell.

Its exactly what you said. Its there for everyone to see.

Unlike your slander of me supporting FFG and McGregor.