INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Catherine Connolly has criticised the framing of questions directed at her by the media throughout the course of her campaign. 

The Galway West TD is, so far, the only candidate who has formally been nominated to contest the upcoming election. 

Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week this afternoon, Connolly fielded questions on her nomination of journalist turned right-wing activist Gemma O’Doherty for the 2018 presidential election, her visit to Syria under the Assad regime, her relationship with politicians Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, as well as whether she would call for sanctions on Russia as it continues its war on Ukraine. 

She was also asked about her confidence in the Labour Party’s backing of her to run for election given TD Alan Kelly’s criticism of her on the airwaves during the week, in which he told Tipp FM that he would not be supporting Connolly due to her backing of O’Doherty and he felt the TD did not respect the party. 

These questions have haunted Connolly’s campaign from the very beginning. 

In the opening of the interview, asked about Kelly’s comments during the week, Connolly replied: “Perhaps I might start by telling listeners that I’m incredibly proud to be the only candidate standing so far. I showed courage in declaring my candidacy very early for the very purpose of allowing people to scrutinise me.

“I sit on a public accounts committee, and I absolutely value scrutiny, albeit in a respectful, dignified way, and I have been canvassing now for over five weeks all over the country.”

Asked about the decision to nominate Gemma O’Doherty, Connolly said that question was “being framed in a way from Alan Kelly that I didn’t support President Higgins. That’s not accurate.”

On her visit to Syria under the Assad regime alongside TDs Clare Daly, Mick Wallace, and Maureen O’Sullivan, Connolly reiterated that she had been there on a fact-finding mission. The group had been shown around Aleppo by a supporter of Assad: the chair of the city’s chamber of commerce Fares Al-Shehabi, who was under EU sanctions. 

Connolly said that this was a mistake.

“We went there on a fact finding mission. I had absolutely no respect for that man after listening to him for the duration that I listened to him. He was the head of the Chamber of Commerce. There was community activists with us, and that man was put under serious pressure in relation to questions. Were we happy with the answers? Absolutely not.

“I know that it was an absolute, brutal dictatorship in Syria, which I abhor and abhorred. Now we have to remember that various members of Irish government, and particularly Micheál Martin, actually met with Assad. I’ve never done anything like that. I went for a specific purpose.”

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Connolly grew frustrated during her interview today as she was questioned about her association with Daly and Wallace, and comments made in a column by Irish Times’ journalist Justine McCarthy that she must “unhitch her wagon” from the two – or they “could end up on the Council of State advising Uachtarán na hÉireann as her constitutional nominees”.

Would she do that? 

“Certainly not, certainly not. You know, the questions I’m being asked are really interesting for your listeners, because when I declared my candidacy outside the Dáil, one respected journalist from a certain paper asked me, were my friends going to come out of Buswells to support me? The friends being Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, in case I didn’t understand. I was repeatedly asked that question.

“One wasn’t in the country and one wasn’t near the Dáil. I have no idea, and I’m simply saying that as an example of the type of questions I’m getting and the type of framing – I’m well able to answer them. But the point being, it’s a framing of a dialogue, and there are much more important issues to be spoken about in a presidential campaign.”

Connolly said that she supports sanctions on Russia, but raised concerns that the government has not sanctioned Israel.

“It goes to the credibility of our government. It goes to the credibility of our role as a neutral country, whether we apply sanctions fairly, whether they’re targeted, whether they’re effective,” she said.