Presidential Election 2025

Yea look i totally agree with you, and i have considered it. Its painful, because i have always voted, in every election since i turned 18. Im engaged with politics and current affairs, and i want my voice to be heard and counted.

While i view spoiling my vote as legitimate - i know beyond doubt, that Declan Ganley, John McGuirk, et al - will claim that every spoiled vote is backing their stance on this election, and is FOR Maria Steen. I could be viewed as petty for saying this, but i dont want to be counted among the above group. Even though i would be one of many, and I couldnt be identified - The fact is, I WOULD KNOW, that my vote was being 'claimed' by this group- and i would find that sickening.

You should be as critical of the tactics as much as possible. I don't think anybody would call them illegitimate

However the process is the very same one that gave us numerous candidates in the last number of elections and wasn't an issue for most people until this year.

If you are not happy about FG blocking candidates at council level then don't vote for FG councillors in 2029 such that they can't block candidates for the 2032 presidential race. If you specifically want somebody like Maria Steen or Bob Geldof to be in the race then vote for a politician or a party that will support that idea. It should be pointed out, however that that leaves you with parties like Independent Ireland and Aontú as well as TDs like the Healy-Rae's

RTE seemed to be on its best behaviour with the debate. Even so, it couldn't dent Connolly. A big thing was made about giving the candidates equal speaking time. The problem was that there was nothing new and the subjects of the questions had been all been previously covered.

In the 2011 Frontline farce, RTE used a fake tweet to destroy a candidate. The fake tweet could have been verified as the SF campaign team were in the studio. The "friends of the Pat Kenny show" as they were later referred to in the enquiry documents failed with its first effort to get Gallagher. The fake tweet was its second chance to destroy a candidate. It didn't happen this time. The production staff involved with the fake tweet did not have their contracts renewed or left RTE before the end of their contract.

Connolly was a very different candidate to Gallagher. Debates were not a strong point for Humphreys. The continual stream of "eh"s made her look very unpresidential while Connolly was able to speak coherently. The bookies always watch these debates and do their own opinion polling. With the GEs, the bookies will sometimes publish the polls. It would have taken a major mistake by Connolly to lose in the Primetime debate.

As a proxy for public sentiment, the betting odds are probably the best outside of opinion polls. They can be influenced with bets on candidates. The bookies tend to be much sharper at differentiating winners and losers than political parties.

Will be interesting to see if Seoige will stand again. Or have FF had enough of celebratory candidates?

Was anything in that video actually a lie though?

The interesting thing with the Business Posts' analysis of the last RedC poll was that it left out the 35-54 year old demographic from the graphic for the candidate support across the age demographics. It may have been a simple mistake. That demographic could be cruicial because it will have people who saw the impact on their famileis of the property bubble bursting and also are affected by the Housing crisis. Even though some of them may float FFG, this is an opportunity for payback and they may well decide to vote for Connolly even though they may not agree with her politics.

Pollsters are not perfect. In some respects, polcorrs and party supporters use opinion polls as predictions. They are not. They are snapshots of public opinion at a specific time. This RedC poll is closest to the election but it was largely carried out before the Primetime debate. The debate might have been unlikely to change the votes of those already decided. It may have influenced some of the Undecideds/DKs and this is why Connolly gained support. The previous RedC poll was not reliable as a single poll as it was actually two polls in one (a Connolly/Humphreys/Gavin poll and a Connolly/Humphreys poll after Gavin dropped out). If the 18-34 and 35-54 demographics turn out in strength, this could be a 2020 GE style result with Connolly doing better than expected.

I do get the reference - lol.

I view it like this. If we had a left wing coalition, lets assume SF, Lab, and the SocDems, but backed by some Connolly/Daly gene-pool independents. They could get through half of their term, and then something could happen internationally, which would force the government to backpedal slightly. They may have to roll back an initiative on healthcare for example.

Obviously FF and FG, in this case sitting together on opposition benches, would scream bloody murder, as is the nature of politics. But the bahavior of the Indos could bring down the government, if it was based on a slim majority. I could see this happening, as im sure you could. They pull support, or abstain in a confidence motion, and trigger an election. Which would no doubt result in a change of government.

I can see the Independents stepping out, after the election, and claiming 'they stood for principle', and 'couldnt in all conscience' vote with their coalition partners.

But the net result of their behavior will be a return to power for FFG. Who actually benefits in this situation? The price of their 'principles' in this case would be a return to Right Wing government, at the exact moment when it will do the most harm.

Its for this reason that I remain skeptical of radical independent Left wing candidates. Especially Daly/Wallace/Boyd-Barrett types

I don't think I have ever had a n election candidate that i could say matched my views one hundred percent. You will never agree with everything any candidate will say or values they hold. All you can do is make the choice between A, B, C etc. In this election, ignoring Gavin, we have a choice between a broadly left or a broadly right candidate. Not voting, or spoiling your vote( in amounts to the same thing) is really saying "let others decide, I don't want my views to have any weight. "

I know who I will vote for. Not because i think they are the very best a candidate could be, but rather, because they are much closer to who i want to see as president than the other candidate. In my opinion, as a voter, that is really all you can do.

Just saw this post, and again. I dont see much chance of agreement. Compared to the right wing in the US, perhaps ours is milder. And perhaps the gap on the right in this country, is that we dont have a Farage adjacent 'Reform party' - or a hard Christian Right? Or perhaps an amalgamation of these two blocs?

If this 'gap' is what you are referring to - then i suppose Ireland is 'lacking' on the right wing of politics.

But we do have a right wing! We just had a budget that mentioned sheep herds, more times than it mentioned homelessness or the housing crisis. Their answer to the increased cost of energy is to say they are 'aware of it', and decided to do nothing at this time. And where is the much discussed Slaintecare? irelands answer to the NHS, so it was framed. I havent heard it mentioned for quite a while.

Ireland has a right wing, and its in power. If you want something 'more right wing', then we have a lot less in common than has been previously apparent - no offense intended at all, just giving you my opinion.