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ON THE BACK of big poll boost for Independent TD Catherine Connolly today, which puts her way out in front of the other two contenders, a fire, albeit a small one, has been lit under all candidates in this presidential contest.
There has been criticism that this campaign has lacked energy from all, but the second television debate of this campaign on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics today saw them all in a more combative mode.
Again, for this debate, the candidates were seated, with no podiums in sight.
Jim Gavin certainly got the message about his overactive hand movements during the last debate on Virgin Media, with his hands firmly clasped at times today, unless he was whipping out cue cards from under his seat to read his direct quotes back to the other candidates.
Heather Humphreys, who was criticised for being a bit quiet last time around, was a lot more vocal, interrupting at times to get her point across.
Connolly, who many said won the last debate, again seemed to be relaxed in answering questions, and held up well when her two opponents rounded on her.
Fielding questions on international and domestic issues by presenter Áine Lawlor, this debate got into the controversies that has dogged each of their campaigns in the last week.
Connolly was robustly questioned about a woman she hired to work in Leinster House who was convicted of a gun crime.
The story was first reported in The Journal this week.
The presidential candidate sought to hire Ursula Ní Shionnáin as an administrative support when she was on the Oireachtas committee for the Irish language in 2018. At the time, she was a prominent member of the socialist republican group Éirigí.
Connolly was asked if she was misled about her membership of the group. She says Éirigí is a registered political party and were not the only group not to support the Good Friday Agreement. She said that the woman served her prison sentence, got early release, started her PhD in prison and came out.
She said she didn’t know anything about Garda surveillance being carried out, but said that “no rules were broken”.
With Connolly riding high in today’s Sunday Independent/ Ireland Thinks poll, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s candidates know that this controversy is Connolly’s weakness point right now.
Heather Humphreys and Jim Gavin, seated on both sides of Connolly, were on the attack.
Humphreys said that when politicians bring people into Leinster House, they must be Garda vetted. “There are rules around employing staff, they have to be Garda vetted,” said Humphreys.
While “everyone is entitled to a second chance”, Gavin said the issue for Connolly is the “bypassing” of the security process.
The polling, which puts her on top of the pile so far, was carried out after the story was broken by The Journal.
As of yet, the controversy has not done too much damage to her numbers, it would seem.
It wasn’t just Connolly that was under the spotlight, Gavin appeared on the back foot when questioned about a previous rental property of his.
He said he was “sorry” if he had failed to pay a former tenant €3,300.
He failed to close down the story or give further clarity on the monies allegedly owed, stating that 16 years ago was a very “stressful” and financially difficult time for him and his family.
One matter he did clarify is that he failed to register the tenancy with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). The “legislation was different at that time”, he said, stating that the “majority of people” who let out properties didn’t register back then.
One tetchy exchange came when Gavin was asked about the sexual harassment and abuse of women in the Defence Forces. He has said he never saw anything during his time in service.
Connolly interjected, stating that former Defence Force member and now senator Tom Clonan carried out a PHD on the abuse back in 2001, which was heavily publicised.
“I am not sure how he [Jim Gavin] couldn’t have known,” Connolly said of Gavin’s position that he didn’t know what was going on.
Gavin said the Women of Honour group has his full support and that he can only be accountable for his own actions.
“If I had known at any stage, I would have taken action,” he said, telling Connolly that she couldn’t tell him “what I did or did not see”.
Humphreys also had some explaining to do, and tripped up in her words in doing so.
She denied the assertions from former Transport Minister Shane Ross that Humphreys was not supportive of the drink-driving legislation he was trying to get through. She said she voted for the legislation on two occasions and didn’t oppose it at Cabinet.
However, in a back and forth on the matter, she ended up asserting:
I absolutely condone drink-driving.
Lawlor corrected her, stating she assumes she means the opposite.
The poll today was probably a wake up call for Gavin, who jumped in on a number of occasions to get into a back and forth with Connolly on the issues of Russia, defence spending and Gaza.
It was noted that he had gotten the most speaking time from the debate, but unfortunately, none of his points landed in a memorable way.
He largely stuck to the Fianna Fáil leadership hymn book when it came to a united Ireland, stating that he wasn’t sure it was the right time.
He spoke about Ireland’s neutrality being set out in the Constitution, but also spoke about how the next president should not irk Ireland’s “allies” and how when it comes to Russia “we have to take action”, stating that not to do so risks the countries on the eastern border of Europe being invaded.
One of the stark differences between Connolly and the other two candidates was during questions on defence spending. Connolly has been criticised over her comments regarding Germany’s military armament.
“We need to reflect where we are going as a country,” she said, stating her comments were meant more generally in terms of the rise of militarism.
She said militarism throughout the world was being pitched as “method of bringing peace”, stating that it is of serious concern to her. Humphreys jumped in to state that Russia is the aggressor who brought war back to Europe and accused Connolly of not speaking out against Russia, something she denied.
Humphreys will be happy enough that she brought more energy to this debate and had the elbows out on some occasions with Connolly, who is now her lead contender.
While Connolly spoke about trips she had made North to speak to people who she said should have a vote in this election, Humphreys jibbed in: “I don’t just go to the North on day trips.”
However, Humphreys has a job to do in coming across as presidential, rather than ministerial, finding herself on a number of instances today defending the government’s record, particularly on housing.
Overall, this debate got more into the detail. Candidates, though still polite, appeared to wipe away their niceties towards one another, and weren’t afraid to get the elbows out.
The next three weeks could prove interesting.
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