Presidential Election 2025

Many Californians and New Yorkers are opposed to democratic systems in the US, politicians in other states and to their current president. Does that make them anti-USA?

Connolly is much the same, while she criticises the EU I don't firmly believe she would support leaving it. There's also the question to ask, is she wrong in much of what she says about the EU?

I'll be giving the OP the benefit of the doubt until s/he provides the evidence or can't

Well yes. Connolly must have an extremely short memory. Where were Ireland pre EU? Look at the benefits practically and politically Ireland have gotten from the EU.

Connolly has never had any practical real input to the EU. Her commentary towards the EU has always been negative it seems. Connolly criticising the EU is to me like the “hurler in the ditch” based on ideology rather than real world common sense.

Jaysus ...Matt Cooper just said that they can't get a day or time for HH to join him on the last word even though they were told she would..

Not a good look in the final days of the campaign..

If you mean the Schuman 'Declaration', it is considered the initial proposal toward the creation of the Coal and Steal Pact. Made in 1950, id consider this a bit dated, but we could still put it in the Positive column. With the caveat that, during the Brexit campaign, notable brexiteers frequently stated support for the old pact, while believing that the EU had 'gone too far'.

I cannot find any reference to Connolly stating her support for Schuman, so if you have a link id appreciate it. Supporting sanctions against Russia is good, but to me is a low bar when it comes to Ukraine/Russia. Id have to contrast it with her arguments against 'EU Militarization' and German Re-Armament; European support for Ukraine is one of Kyiv's only lifelines, and CC, along with Daly, Wallace et al, have been opposed to it from the outset.

I still cannot find a significant moment in Connolly's public life, where she displayed a thoroughly Pro European Union stance on anyhing. And i have searched quite a bit.

This is the most over the top post I'd read on here in a long time.

Myself and the European Union!

Thanks for your response. Firstly I wouldn’t actually call myself a ‘Soft Lefty’ or Centre Left. I think the big problem between us, is that you are framing me this way based on our disagreement over Connolly’s candidacy. Granted you aren’t alone in doing this, and I sense a kind of Tribalism building up within the Connolly Base. CC supporters seem to think that they are, broadly speaking, ‘THE LEFT’, and therefore anyone outside this bloc, is the opposition. This is not only an error, but it’s actually damaging to the goal of Left Wing politics in Ireland and in Europe.

On societal issues, you and I probably agree on many things. I wish to see a left wing coalition in power in Ireland, and in Brussels. I want to see the housing crisis solved, with Government involvement, as opposed to FFG offering ‘tax breaks’ to incentivise private property developers. I believe in the welfare state, and a solid discussion could be had on the pros and cons of Universal Basic Income. Healthcare, and education need to be subsidized, and we need to apply more government regulation to transport and industry. I could go on, but broadly speaking most would consider my positioning to be SOLID left. And some on the right could point to me as someone bordering on full socialist, or even Marxist.

If you want to frame one single aspect of my political position as being ‘Soft Left’ its foreign policy. And this is where we end up at loggerheads. I’m very pro-European Union, but I see the need for compromise at the level of the European Parliament. In as chaotic a world as we live in, I see alliance building as crucial. Be it Economic alliance, or Military pacts, we must be involved, and remain as flexible as possible. From studying International Relations, i can see clearly that, beyond the borders of any country, the international system is Anarchical. Large states do as they wish, smaller states must band together in order to even the odds. And we can only do that through co-operation, and a willingness to compromise.

I don’t believe it is possible for me to convince you on this topic, but unless Connolly is willing to step up to the plate, and state clearly, her position on the European Union; then we are forced to infer it based on her past positions, and voting/campaigning history. You are inferring a more positive position toward Brussels, but in all honesty, the evidence points in the opposite direction. In terms of a ‘smear’ – if FFG come out this week and point to Connolly as being adjacent to Nigel Farage, or Orban, or UKIP– I will absolutely state clearly that ‘THIS IS SMEAR’ – I promise you that, and to be honest, I am half expecting them to do this. However with the information that we now possess, I can confidently state that, in my opinion; Connolly is at best a Soft Leftwing Eurosceptic – at worst, a Bennite Hard Left Anti-European Union politician.

The only person who can clarify the matter, is Catherine Connolly herself, and the fact is, I think she is comfortable remaining ambiguous on this topic. On the matter of UvdL we already sparred on whether she ‘supports genocide’ – i made my case, as did you. Im confident in my position, as it seems are you. If anyone else wishes to go back down this rabbit hole, they can read the relevant posts that we both penned. Happy to link to them BTW.

Eirigi Fiasco

On the matter of the Eirigi fiasco, I think we will fail to reach agreement here too. Unfortunately I cannot shake the feeling that appointing the lady, given her extremist background, mere months after being released from prison, was a mistake on Connolly’s part. I do think that certain political associations will invariably haunt a person, regardless of whether or not we view them as re-habilitated. I won’t re-prosecute the rapist/sex-offender fiasco either, because it wasn’t a valid analogy in the first place. But lets take someone properly associated with Fascism, and racism. They could be arrested for a crime, sentenced, and serve their time. Could they be truly rehabilitated, perhaps they could? We can certainly hope so, and many such examples exist of individuals being deprogrammed away from extremism.

Remaining with the example of a Racist or Fascist, let’s assume they serve their time, and emerge claiming to be rehabilitated. Let’s also assume that we more or less believe they are sincere on this claim. Would it be appropriate to appoint them to a government department, mere months after being released? No, I don’t think so, and I would sincerely question the legitimacy of someone who would claim otherwise. Why not wait a few years at the very least. If such an appointment were attempted by a politician, would we have to question their judgement? Yes, I think so, it would be appropriate to do so. Would this then indicate that we obviously don’t believe in second chances or rehabilitation???

I don’t think so, but clearly some do.

The Media and the Rest

Again I sense that we are not going to agree with the rest of the topics either.

You assume that the media’s historical tendency to “do a number” on candidates is natural and inevitable, rather than interrogating why certain narratives dominate political discourse while others are marginalised

Yes id say this is fair, but I could easily restate this by saying that, I accept the reality of Elections, and the role the media plays in them. Its something we could debate, but when I compare our media, to, for example, the media landscape as it exists in the US. With Fox and CNN being polarized opposites of one another, I must say I prefer the Irish Media landscape. In Ireland, stories emerge and are covered. Sometimes, as in 1990, it results in damaging FFG, while this time around it has gone after Connolly more; but this only due to the fact that, she is the story. She has stated her positions, which are atypical on many things, most notably on Foreign Policy. The media has a right to pursue this, and Connolly could always sit down, and spell out clearly how they have totally gotten it wrong; she is very moderate, pro European, doesnt think German is mirroring its fascist rearming of the 30s etc etc. She hasn’t done this, because to be frank, it would be dishonest to do so. I give her that, she is fairly straight up on many issues such as Germany, NATO, while being unhelpfully ambiguous on Europe despite being a ‘Proud European’.

In terms of my de-legitimizing her positions, I have not done so. Please do point to a post where I have attempted to delegitimize Connolly. What I have done is critique her positions, and pointed to factual inaccuracies, and invalid analogies. Whether its comparing Germany of today, to Nazi Germany Circa 1930, or pointing to her invalid statements on NATO being to blame for Russian Aggression. Im entitled to do this, as you are entitled to disagree, but I have asked repeatedly to receive a proper fact based debunk of my takes. I have yet to receive any, beyond being attacked as engaging in a so-called smear.

Soft and Hard Left Wing Euroscepticism are legitimate political positions to have, and i believe Connolly fits into one of these brackets, or perhaps both at times, depending on the specific topic. What bothers me, and what I have argued against, repeatedly; Is trying to disguise this obvious positioning. This is why you and I, tend to keep disagreeing, because from my point of view, you have bought into this reframing of Connollys true political ideology. This is why you end up viewing me as an opponent, rather than someone from your own camp, who simply disagrees. As far as I am concerned that is what Connolly has been doing from day one. She portrays herself as being an independent moderate lefty with deeply held beliefs which are universally left-wing in nature. In reality, her poisitioning is clearly more extreme, especially on foreign policy, but she tends to disguise her views as being ‘Anti War’, and ‘Anti European Military’. And anyone who disagrees must be the establishment, and certainly not Left Wing.

It’s a unique election, as are most Presidential elections in Ireland. We must seek someone who will do what is required of them, but not much more than that. We must also seek someone who reflects the values of Ireland, and who will strengthen our image and prestige around the world. I don’t think Connolly is suitable, but you do. It pains me to think I will vote against the left on this occasion, but I must vote for the candidate who I view as more appropriate for the role. Not that it will matter, because it is more or less over now. And Connolly will probably win, regardless of what I say or do

The last word gets 188,000 listeners according to the last jnlr. Today fm is the biggest commercial station in Ireland and she should go on their current affairs programme. To not do so just screams of running scared...

Thats what everyone said about Sinn Féin in recent years.

Remind me how many times they've been in government again?

Has she learned nothing from the US election and Kamala Harris? She should be grabbing every interview she is offered with both hands.

188,000 people that are going to vote for her in large majority anyway.

These last 3 days are valuable. Certainly not to be wasted preaching to the converted.

The problem is that Matt Cooper has been known to ask questions relevant to the candidate. The kind of questions HH might find difficult, especially after her antics last weekend