Laois Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley is throwing his weight behind Galway TD Catherine Connolly to run for president and be an agreed left-wing candidate.
Ms Connolly is a former leas Ceann Comhairle, the first woman to hold the position, and is chairperson of the Oireachtas Committee on the Irish language, the Gaeltacht and the islands.
A former member of the Labour Party but an Independent TD since 2016, she was first elected to Galway Corporation in 1999 and is a barrister by profession and also worked as a clinical psychologist.
With Michael D Higgins’ second seven-year term coming to an end, a presidential election will take place in Ireland in October or November.
So far, there are no confirmed candidates but Stanley – who is a colleague of Connolly’s in the Dáil’s Independents and Smaller Parties technical grouping – says that left-leaning supporters can only be won “if we have a single agreed candidate”.
“The only hope there is of electing a progress left candidate to the Aras, is if all opposition parties and Independents put their own narrow interests to aside and back a unitary candidate,” he said in a statement this week.
“Left and opposition TDs must unite to ensure a progressive candidate is elected in the upcoming presidential election.
“Failure to do so will allow the establishment parties to not just control the Dail and Seanad but also the third element of our Oireachtas the presidency.
“Therefore, all opposition parties and those of the left need to agree and be united for single a candidate at this point. I see the best person to be that candidate as Catherine Connolly TD.
“Catherine has credibility, the ability for the job, and the track record. She is a qualified barrister, a fluent Irish speaker, former Leas Ceann Comhairle in the 33rd Dail, has an excellent a track record of campaigning for the rights of the ordinary working people, and has a progressive position on the North of Ireland.
“I believe these attributes qualify her as an ideal candidate. I would urge all opposition and left parties and Independents to support Deputy Connolly for president and put their weight behind this campaign.”
To qualify to get on the ballot paper, a candidate needs to be nominated by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas (TDs or Senators) or the support of four county councils.
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