Presidential Election 2025

I don't understand what the population has to do with it?

Anyone measuring her victory in comparison to other years is going to do so using percentages not total votes received (to account for electorate and turnout size variation).

On that basis her 63.4% first preference percentage far exceeds any other candidates in the history of contested elections.

The point about the number of candidates is semi-relevant. Yes the most recent 3 contests all had more candidates than this one but the first 5 competitive elections all had only 2 or 3 candidates so this year's was actually more of the norm on that front.

It really doesn't matter what Murphy said. He's pro Brexit. He's pro sanctions on Israel, anti sanctions on Putin. Won't support arming Ukraine but has no defence policy for Ireland ....it has very little in common with the other soft left parties. Combined anyway they only have a third of the electorate, even with a poor and lazy government. Not a chance they'll provide a coherent opposition never mind alternative Government.

Over the next 4 years there will, most likely, be enough good budgets for workers and businesses to stave off the kind of insane give aways a pbf and SF left-facing government might usher in.

Assuming the current plonkers realise the mistake of the last budget.... Which, in fairness, is not a given.

When someone on here makes a claim that something was said when it wasn't, then it absolutely does matter.

I love the way you have taken exception to what I have said, and you don't seem to care when a poster is just outright lying.

Bizarre behaviour.

RTÉ political correspondents reporting that 10 of the 12 signatures necessary in FF to trigger a motion of no confidence in Micheál Martin, have been secured.

Could an unforced error bring his political career to a failing end, when he was just beginning his valedictory lap?

Possible stay of execution?

Maybe the rebels will settle for a public commitment to quit as FF leader when he hands over as taoiseach, which he almost certainly intended to do anyway…

In 2011 the rebels waited too long to challenge Brian Cowen. They ended up with Martin as leader, but Cowen still as Taoiseach. Such arrangements seldom work electorally, as last years election showed in the US

I don't think so somehow.

I think myself that Martin will face a challenge, but probably win it. But to do so, he'll have to make a whole lot of commitments to reform decision making within the party and particularly within the PP.

No leader with half a brain will commit to some future date to step down, because psychologically for everyone else, you're gone already.

Brown trousers time for Martin and his gang. Will they do to him what he did to Brian Cowen and leave him as Taoiseach while stripping him of the leadership?

Leadership challenges never succeed in FF, but they can sap morale and eventually the leader resigns. Other times theres the Cowen/Biden approach of staying on as Taoiseach until the election is over. With Haughey it took a few heaves. Actually not that long before he resigned there was a motion of no confidence which failed, but then the phone tapping revelations from ex Defence Minister Sean Doherty led to his resignation. Haughey had Doherty take the blame for the phone tapping of the previous 10 years but he went public on Nighthawks in 1992 that Haughey knew all about the phone tapping of Sunday Independent journalists Geraldine Kennedy and Bruce Arnold. Haughey had been trying to find out who was leaking.

I think laws like the Electoral Act 2012 make it unlikely that the era of the Galway Tent will return. These were introduced by FG-Labour. The largest individual donation cant be over €2,500.

I do have some concerns though about reports of SF routing donations , probably raised in the US, through Northern Ireland. SF is the wealthiest party on the State, and I think the voters should know the sources of this money, and what if anything SF has promised to the American businessmen.

If donations are registered in NI, then they should not be used in southern elections.

Memories are long in FF and they will deal with him in their own way. It would humiliate Martin.

I have a feeling that CC might have edged out McGuinness had they gone head-to-head (assuming of course that SF didn't run a candidate). Connolly would have gained momentum and done well in the TV debates no matter what. It would have been far closer than with HH of course and would almost certainly have gone to a second count.

I`m not sure there was much enthusiasm within F F for this presidential election. High profile names were not falling over themselves looking for a nomination, and Billy Kelleher looked to be more interested in making a point rather than running.

I would not see any challenge to Martin during his remaining time as Taoiseach unless this review of Gavin getting the nomination throws up something significant, and even if it did any of the likely candidates to take over from him all endorsed Gavin.On any given day I could see 10 FF T.D.s signing a petition to replace Martin, and with them now waiting until after the review would suggest to me that they see it the same. That and there is no high profile name raising it`s head to contest.

Martin is safe until his term as Taoiseach is over. The only heave that will come is if after that he says he intends leading them into the next general election imo