LAST UPDATE | 6 Oct

ON A DAY which included a televised presidential debate and Jim Gavin’s surprise drop-out, Independent Áras hopeful Catherine Connolly carved some time out to try to impress the public with her football skills.

Connolly was canvassing in Dublin city yesterday following the RTÉ debate and held a photo shoot on O’Connell Street at 4pm.

Connolly, who has the backing of a coalition of left-leaning parties, was joined for the canvas by a number of party leaders, including Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, Labour’s Ivana Bacik and the Social Democrats’ Holly Cairns.

At Courtney Place Flats on Ballybough Road, 68-year-old Connolly wowed locals as she performed ‘keepie-uppies’ and played basketball with children.

A video shared by Sinn Féin of the keepie-uppies in question has (thus far) amassed over 85,000 likes and close to 750,000 views on TikTok.

🔥 Catherine showing us how it’s done today in Courtney Place pic.twitter.com/FjEgBmNG1C

— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) October 5, 2025

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, who had also joined Connolly during her canvassing on Sunday, told The Journal that he was “not surprised” that her impressive display was going viral.

“It’s incredible, but she does it all the time,” Gannon said. “She’s forever whipping out the keepie-uppies.”

Gannon, who has been canvassing for Connolly for several weeks, remarked that Connolly had also shown off her football skills on Sheriff Street just a few weeks ago.

He added that Connolly’s match against several children in Courtney Place was “very competitive”.

“I wouldn’t dare to get in there. I was there with councillor Daniel Ennis, who himself is an incredible footballer, but we’ve seen it before, so we just knew to stand back,” Gannon remarked.

After sharing the video yesterday, Sinn Féin clarified that it was “not AI”.

“We can confirm to all those asking, this is not AI – Catherine really is that cool,” the party said in a post on Instagram.

Green Party councillor Donna Cooney, who had also canvassed with Connolly on Sunday, similarly commended the Áras hopeful’s sporting talents.

“I’ve seen her football talents before, but I hadn’t seen her playing basketball – she just seems to be multi-talented,” Cooney said.

“She’s as good as the Irish women’s team, the men need to follow suit,” she added.

“Maybe if she wasn’t running for president she could take up the management of the men’s football team, we might be doing better!”

Fianna Fáil votes

Campaigning in Tallaght today, Connolly told reporters that she was “hopeful” that Fianna Fáil voters, left politically homeless following Jim Gavin’s surprise departure from the presidential race, would vote for her.

Recent presidential polling had suggested that the majority of transfers for Gavin would have gone to Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys - 60% of Gavin’s second preference votes went to Humphreys, compared to just 24% of his second preference votes going to Connolly.

With the Fianna Fail contender gone, it’s not yet known how the votes will split between Humphreys and Connolly.

Connolly told reporters in Tallaght that Fianna Fáil had a long history of working with independent politicians.

“I think there’s a proud history there and I think there’s a chance for Fianna Fáil to actually reconnect,” Connolly said.

“I’m offering them that choice, and I’m very hopeful that they will now give their votes to me.”

Asked if her strategy has changed with the presidential race now just between her and Humphreys, Connolly said she has had a specific strategy from day one.

“That was to stand up announce my candidacy, and I made that decision after much reflection.

“I made it without thinking about the cost or having parties behind me. I’m very much an independent candidate.”