Mayo councillor wants council to nominate Presidential candidate

A Mayo councillor has written to all her colleagues on Mayo County Council asking that they all join together to nominate a candidate to run in the upcoming Presidential Election.

The race to succeed Michael D Higgins as President of Ireland is expected to heat up in the coming weeks with just two candidates – former Fine Gael MEP Mairéad McGuinness and Galway West TD Catherine Connolly – throwing their hat into the race.

To be nominated as a presidential candidate, a candidate must be nominated by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas or be nominated by at least four local authorities.

In the run-up to the last Presidential Election in 2018, an Independent candidate was nominated by members of Mayo County Council and current Mayo councillor Deirdre Lawless is calling on her colleagues to once again nominate a candidate.

“The Presidential Election is fast approaching. Currently it looks like there are only two candidates in the race, Catherine Connolly and Mairéad McGuinness. Both are able candidates; however, if the election campaign consists of just these two candidates, it will make for a very one-dimensional campaign.

“Thirty to 40 percent of the population will find that their issues, concerns and values are not part of the presidential election campaign or represented in the Áras,” said the Knock-based Aontú councillor.

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President Higgins term as President expires on November 11 and under the constitution the Presidential Election must take place 60 days prior to this. As a result it is anticipated that the election will take place some time in October.

Both Mairéad McGuinness and Deputy Connolly have received the sufficient support of Oireachtas members to be officially declared a candidate and both Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil have yet to decide if they will run a candidate.

It is unlikely that any candidate from a smaller political party or Independent will have the sufficient support of 20 Oireachtas members so they will have to turn to local authorities for support.

Cllr Lawless called on her colleagues to create a 'a nominating caucus' to allow potential candidates to pitch for a nomination.

“As councillors, we are afforded the responsibility to nominate a candidate for consideration. This is an important opportunity that merits our thoughtful participation. We have the ability to recommend a person to take the office of President of our country for the forthcoming seven-year term.

“Currently a number of good people are engaging with smaller parties and independents. My worry is that this approach, which with respect is haphazard with no direction, will see no movement on this front. I suggest that councillors join together to create a nominating caucus on this council.

“Similar initiatives are being taken in other councils. We should allow credible people to make a pitch to us in terms of candidacy and then we vote by PR STV (Single Transfer Vote) who is the best candidate to run for president. We should then as a group nominate the winner of that process. It should be a fully voluntary process.

“I am really excited at the prospect of my colleagues potentially supporting me on this and I look forward to advancing it without delay as time is of the essence,” she said.