Your guide to Ireland’s Presidential Election - Fri. Oct 24
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT 23 October 2025
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Now delivered every Thursday. Published by The Portland Hibernian Society
Heather Humphrey (l) Catherine Connolly (r)
IRELAND CHOOSES NEW PRESIDENT TOMORROW
Ireland’s Tenth President will be a woman, which means Ireland's about to elect its third woman president. Fewer than 2 million of 3.5 million of those registered to vote are expected to go to the polls. A turnout of 55 to 60% is expected. There were three candidates for the high office that has little actual power, but the man in the race, Jim Gavin of the Fianna Fail Party, dropped out. Though his name remains on the ballot, it would take divine intervention for him to win. The polls open at seven a.m. (11 p.m. tonight 23 October in Portland).
WHO WOULD YOU VOTE FOR....IF YOU COULD?
HEATHER HUMPHREYS. She’s been working in government so long she said not long ago she’s had enough and would return to private life. Then she decided to run for President, declaring “The tank is full again.” She’s a long-time member of the Fine Gael Party, which leans right. Her husband’s a farmer. She once managed a credit union. Humphries is a Presbyterian from Co. Monaghan with ancestors who fought to keep Ulster part of the UK. When Taoiseach Enda Kenny appointed her Minister for the Gaeltacht (the part of Ireland where they still speak Irish) she promised to learn the language. She didn’t but has again promised she will learn to speak Irish ....if she’s elected President. If elected, she probably wouldn’t be as outspoken on international issues (Palestine rights) as President Michael B. Higgins, who has been in office since 2011.
CATHERINE CONNOLLY. She entered local politics in Galway in 1999 and has been running ever since. County Counsellor, Mayor, TD (member of Ireland’s parliament). Has a law degree and Masters in Clinical Psychology. One of 14 kids. Her father built boats. An Independent, she aligns with Sinn Fein, Labour, Social Democrats and Greens. Irish language advocate. She announced her candidacy on the All Gaelic All the Time RTE radio station. She's been criticized for two apparent lapses. 1. She went to Syria in 2018 and met with reps of Assad the Dictator. Said the trip was a mistake. 2. She hired a woman for her staff who’d been convicted of transporting arms for a group trying to undermine the NI peace process. She said the hiring had been approved by the Gardai and she believes in rehabilitation. Isn’t expected to dial back her outspokenness (Free Palestine) if elected to Aras. (The White House of Ireland)
BREAKING – DEEPFAKE FALSE REPORT
Connolly did not just withdraw from the race, despite this “It is with great regret that I announce the withdrawal of my candidacy and the ending of my campaign,” a deepfake version of (Catherine) Connolly can be heard saying, in a video that circulated on social media platforms and was saved by Irish national broadcaster RTÉ.”
WHERE THINGS STAND ON ELECTION EVE
Here’s a grab bag of stories running this morning in the Irish Times. Some you can read for free. Others hide behind the paywall. In the UK the Independent reports from the right, “Speaking at a rally in Monaghan, left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly denied assuming she would win the election, stating she was taking “nothing for granted”. Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys is spending the day canvassing in counties Cork and Clare. She has insisted she can win the race for the presidency and made a plea for Fianna Fail supporters to “lend me their vote” as the centre-ground candidate.”
I’M AN IRISH CITIZEN LIVING IN THE U.S. WHY CAN’T I VOTE?
There has been talk of allowing Irish citizens who don’t live in the Republic to vote in the presidential elections. But it’s just talk. While the number of Americans with Irish citizenship who would vote if they could is significant, the number of Irish citizens living in Northern Ireland who can’t vote is HUGE; at least as many as a quarter million. Sinn Fein would benefit most from the votes of Irish living in the North and could probably win the Presidency. Which might be why Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are in no hurry to let the exiled children of Erin have a say. Thought – How about if Irish citizens living abroad were allowed to vote BUT ONLY IN PERSON. Road trip to Ireland. Here’s a good explainer from the BBC.
WEREN’T CONOR MC GREGOR, MICHAEL FLATLEY AND BOB GELDOF RUNNING?
Yes. Yes. No. Ireland’s constitution makes it difficult to run for President. Otherwise, there would be a lot more than two viable candidates. Talk of the infamous Irish fighter Conor McGregor running for President began last spring with a splashy appearance in the Oval Office. Tucker Carlson interviewed him. Elon Musk supported him. But I can’t name one elected official who endorsed his candidacy. Nonstarter. Michael Flatley flirted with the idea of running even though he was born in Chicago. He couldn’t vote for President but as an Irish citizen he could run. He chose not to. Then there’s Geldof, founder of the Boomtown Rats and the mind behind Live Aid. He told the Irish Times had he run “he would have ‘walked it’ and been ‘really good’ in the position.”
REPLACING MICHAEL D. HIGGINS
Like Catherine Connolly, Ireland’s President for the last 14 years comes from Galway in the West of Ireland. Tour buses slow down to point out his home. He first ran in 2011 as the Labour Party candidate. He beat six other candidates. Seven years later he got more votes than any other presidential candidate in Ireland ever. If he’s got a political match in American politics, it would be Senator Bernie Sanders. In 2015 President Higgins came to the Pacific Northwest. As one of a couple hundred gathered to hear him speak, I got close enough to take this photo.
