Presidential Election 2025

Relatively lively Debate among two Poor Candidates

In a nut shell it was more of the same, minus Jim gavin, which made the debate sound far more flowing. Id say going into it, Humphreys had the most to gain. If Connolly had a task, it was to drown out some of the public fires which she ignited during the last few days. My take would be as follows:

Catherine Connolly.

Connolly won the debate again, as her ability to communicate is the better of the two candidates. She made progress on her positions regarding Irish Unity. To my surprise, she did actually manage to walk back her comments about whether or not she would hire a rapist to work in the Aras. Humphreys still managed to land a hit, regarding why this was ever in doubt, but Connolly dodged it for the most part. On foreign policy, CC remains nothing if not consistent; In my opinion her positions remain radical and potentially damaging to Irelands international reputation and partnerships. For those who support her, she maintained her positions regardless of what HH said.

Heather Humphreys

Humphreys did quite well, but remained the weaker of the two in terms of communication. She suffered more than a few slip ups, but managed to make more sense on the topic of Irish Unity. While taking another blow on the Irish Language, she attacked CC’s positions on Foreign Policy. HH demonstrated a more firm understanding of International Relations than her opponent, but ones reaction to this, will depend on ones position on FP prior to the debate. I do not believe she managed to ‘change minds’ on these topics, but she maintained a more nuanced opinion on it.

OVERALL

Again, I have to give the debate to Connolly. It was more of the same, but communicated well. I doubt it appeals to moderate voters, but her eloquent delivery was noteworthy; again, thanks to this, we know her positions, love them or loath them

Humphreys comes second (of two!), but she is becoming more vocal, and made an impact on the debate. She had numerous small slip ups, but did manage to sound quite presidential on the topic of Irish Unity. She remains the least divisive candidate of the two, and on International Relations in particular, she was the more convincing IMHO

Yea, look we may be past the point of altering the dials. The election has been quite shambolic at times, and the FF situation only added insult to injury.

Il be interested to see another poll, and im curious as to whether one is in the field at present. We just have to see where the undecideds are heading, and whether the Gavin vote will shift since he withdrew. I know we had a Gavin Second Pref poll, prior to his withdrawal, but id like to see a Humphreys V Connolly Poll now. Really just to see where we stand

I didn't mean to imply that rape was borne out of sexual attraction. They're both kind of similarly-motivated, I would have thought, so the same rules apply. You'd have to be very certain that someone was rehabilitated. And I can't see any way that would be possible.

And whether you like Eirigi or not, they're not an illegal organisation. As legitimate as Fine Gael.

Just recently in the Irish Times, I haven't time to look up her repeating this in the Dáil.

“The Defence Forces remain underfunded, under-resourced, and its members underpaid, who are left to serve and live in settings that are far below the standard they deserve. That is unacceptable, and it is long past time for change.”

It wasn't Catherine Connolly who left our Defence Forces in that state but the governments her competitor was a member of for a long time.

Well, you have to make your own judgement call on that one.

I support rehabilitation, I come from a border town where quite a few have rehabilitated themselves very well into normal life.

You either believe in or you don't I suppose. Judgement calls are always required in rehab.

Nowhere did I get that impression from the facts at issue, that there was “no proof”. It is clear Connolly circumvented LH security rules.

From what Connolly said she seemed more concerned with herself or someone else meeting to swipe Ni Shionnain in each day on day pass. Rather than a breech of the above rules. The normal process of vetting takes a few weeks. Yet Ni Shionnain was within the process for 6 months and under Gardai covert surveillance.

Connolly said that re the day pass herself from her own mouth - it was used to get ni Shionnain in.

under Gardai covert surveillance.

Where is the proof of that?

It is ok saying stuff but the people saying it have skin in the game. So they need to produce proof of what they are saying.

Well said Ivana, A fairly horrible intervention from MacNeill