Independents ask Kerry councillors to nominate them as presidential candidates

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

A dog daycare owner, a former Cork mayor, and a Donegal construction professional are among those who have asked Kerry councillors to nominate them as presidential candidates.

14 people are expected to appear before Kerry County Council on Monday to give an account of themselves.

They were asked about various issues including whether they spoke Irish and on their knowledge of the president’s role.

In order to get onto the ballot paper in the presidential election, a person needs to be nominated by 20 TDs or Senators, or by four of the 31 councils in Ireland.

As the three largest political parties in the Dáil have the parliamentarians to nominate a candidate, independents are expected to take the council route to try to become official candidates.

At the first council meeting to hear from presidential candidate hopefuls, each person gave a five-minute address before taking part in a 10-minute question and answers session.

The first candidate to address the council was Cork businessman William P Allen.

“It is my lifelong ambition to look for the presidency of Ireland. I saw (former Irish president from 1976-1990) Patrick Hillery years ago and I said I’d like to be that man, so I’m here this morning.”

Kerry councillor Jackie Healy-Rae said that of the 14 candidates that were to address the council, just two had contacted him before Monday’s address.

“It makes me question how serious people are when you are seeking that top office, and you’re not on the phone, coming to meet councillors,” he said, adding that some candidates may want “a bit of a platform”.

Nick Delehanty, 35, who runs a doggy daycare business, said he saw the presidency as “access to influence and resources”.

“The presidency is the biggest influencer in the country at a political level and holds the biggest microphone in the country.”

He said that having a younger person in the role would be different than what has come before and said they should be looking “to youth for this role”.

“I don’t think 35 is a very young age for anything.”

Asked how he would approach visits to and from other heads of state, he said we should “never ever alienate the American president” and said Ireland should be focusing its “soft influence” on the US.

Businessman Gareth Sheridan, 35, said that appealing to the younger generation and to the Irish diaspora were central themes to his campaign.

He said he was “frustrated” by the decision of Fine Gael to whip its councillors against voting for independent candidates.

“I don’t think it has happened, certainly, in my lifetime,” he told Kerry County Council on Monday.

“I’m troubled in the sense that it will create a system where we were as a people will only be able to consider candidates going forward that would come from within the walls of Leinster House.

“I think it’s a sentiment that resonates with a lot of people.

“I think it’s a dangerous precedent to set, I think some people will agree, some people won’t agree, but that’s a healthy democracy at the end of the day.”

Other candidates who addressed the local authority were independent Charlotte Keenan; Limerick assistant principal Donncha MacGabhann; former Cork mayor Kieran McCarthy; and Donegal construction professional Keith McGrory, whose brother Ronan was injured in the Omagh bombing.

They also heard from Meath native Lorna McCormack, who said the presidency had to be “unifying” and to “connect with people on the ground”, and Cork agricultural adviser Walter Ryan-Purcell.

Mr Ryan-Purcell said he had contacted the Israeli government and offered to be a broker between Israel and Hamas, but after several emails it became clear they had “no interest in mediation”.

When Mr McGrory was asked how he would use the presidency to address the housing crisis, he said he would be both President of Ireland and the Government’s new housing tsar.

Asked by councillor Marie Moloney to name two of the seven people he would appoint to the council of state, Mr MacGabhann said: “I would have to say yourself, of course.”

Fianna Fáil councillor Tommy Cahill asked Mr McCarthy and Mr Sheridan about Conor McGregor’s efforts to try and run for president, adding that he believed it was “an insult” to the Irish people and the women of Ireland.

Mr McCarthy replied that there was a “large fear” that if McGregor got on the ballot, it would “increase” centre-right politics across Ireland.

“I don’t see Conor McGregor here today asking for your vote,” he said.

“I can tell you that there are fears in many local councils, including my own, across the country, whether to entertain such individuals, but democracy is democracy as well.”

Mr Sheridan said he did not believe that the country needed a “divisive” candidate.

“If you have a different opinion to somebody, you don’t have to automatically hate them. I think it’s healthy democracy to have different opinions, tease it out, and ultimately, the will of the people makes the decision.”