Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
WITH NOMINATIONS NOW closed for this year’s presidential election, the race for the Áras has officially begun.
With Maria Steen failing to get on the ballot after her campaign going down to the wire this morning, this year’s presidential election will have the fewest number of candidates since 1990.
Steen – who had been backed by Aontú – secured nominations from 18 TDs and Senators, falling two short of the required 20.
Independent candidate Catherine Connolly, Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys or Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin will be the next President of Ireland.
The election will take place on Friday, 24 October.
Here’s a brief rundown of each candidate.
Connolly, who is currently an Independent TD for Galway West, has the broad backing of left-wing parties and Independents, with Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, the Green Party and People Before Profit all pitching in behind her in an unprecedented show of unity.
The 68-year-old is a barrister and clinical psychologist by trade and has been in Irish politics since her election to Galway City Council in 1999. She was first elected to the Dáil in 2016.
Connolly is the only Gaeilgeoir among the three presidential candidates and has questioned TG4′s decision not to hold a presidential debate this year, arguing that the station’s viewers should have had the opportunity to have their questions answered in detail in their own language.
She has positioned herself as someone who will speak for the “underdog” if elected.
“I want to empower and enable you to realise the power that you have, and the power is within this community and within all the communities in Ireland, and you need to use your voice and demand answers, and I’m proud to be part of that movement,” she said at her campaign launch earlier this week.
Former Fine Gael minister Heather Humphreys was a surprise entry to the race, after Fine Gael’s first candidate, former EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, had to withdraw on health grounds.
The 65-year-old Monaghan woman has been in politics since 2003. Before her retirement from the Dáil last year, she served most recently as Minister for Social Protection and Rural Affairs and also had a short stint as deputy leader of Fine Gael following Simon Harris’s appointment as leader in April 2024.
A Presbyterian, Humphreys has previously described herself as “a proud Ulsterwoman, a Protestant and an Irish republican”. She has long spoken of the need for inclusion on the island.
Humphreys’ pitch to voters is that she has a “track record of supporting communities” and “bringing people together”.
“I’m not promising perfection, but I promise honesty, compassion and service,” Humphreys said during the summer.
The former GAA manager took his Dublin men’s team to victory six times but told reporters earlier this month that this presidential race will be the “toughest campaign that I’ve ever been involved in”.
He is an ex-Air Corps Commandant and current operations director for the Irish Aviation Authority.
From the beginning, the 54-year-old has been Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s pick for the job, pipping MEP Billy Kelleher to get the party’s nomination.
Unlike Humphreys and Connolly, Gavin’s involvement in political life has been slim, bar chairing a Citizens’ Assembly on Dublin’s directly elected Mayor and the North-East Inner City Taskforce in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Gavin has said there are three “core pillars” to his campaign: engaging with communities in every part of the island; opening up Áras an Úachtaráin and expanding the number of community events held there; and promoting Ireland to the wider world.
With exactly a month to go until the election, the campaign has officially begun.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say