Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys has dismissed suggestions that her party is involved in a smear campaign against Indepdendent candidate Catherine Connolly.
Ms Connolly has said she was “absolutely shocked” when she heard Ivan Yates in his podcast say Fine Gael and the Heather Humphreys’ team should embark in a smear campaign against her.
She said at a time when safe places are needed to have rational discussions on complex issues, it was terrible to hear him use language like “smear the bejaysus out of her” and “bring fear into the campaign”.
Speaking to reporters this morning, Ms Humphreys said the campaign is a fair one and ultimately people will have to make up their own minds as to who will be the best president.
She was responding to a statement yesterday from Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who said Fine Gael was resorting “to increasingly desperate smear tactics”.
Ms Humphreys said she did not know what the Labour leader was referring to and said there was no smear coming from her or from her campaign team.
Asked if she expected the remaining two weeks of the campaign to get “nasty”, she said she hopes they would not.
“You play the ball, not the woman,” she said.
Heather Humphreys also said she has paid her rates bill for her former constituency office, saying it totalled €104.
Things revving up in Wexford… ‘I used to ride a motorbike’ reveals Heather Humphreys @rtenews pic.twitter.com/TcV498fffT
— Conor Hunt (@conorfhunt) October 10, 2025
Speaking in Clonmel, Ms Connolly said: “I think on the other hand he [Ivan Yates] has done me a favour. I think he has done the people of Ireland a favour and he has certainly done my team a favour, in that he has absolutely exposed without hesitation what Fine Gael are up to.”
The Independent candidate said she is focused on her campaign.
“This is a movement for a different type of Ireland that will not tolerate that type of language from an ex-minister or indeed from the Fine Gael party.”
Catherine Connolly yesterday accused Heather Humphreys of making a ‘scurrilous’ accusation
Ms Connolly added: “There is a lesson here for me, for my team and for the people of Ireland that if you put your head above the parapet and you dare to speak out and give a rational opinion that is based on evidence, this is what we will do, we will take you out, and this is really a very serious point in the campaign.”
The Independent candidate continues her canvass in Tipperary this afternoon, in Carrick-on-Suir and Tipperary Town.
Yesterday, Ms Connolly accused her only rival for the presidency of making a “scurrilous” accusation that she had “insulted” allies.
The comments came during a debate on RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime, during which Ms Humphreys said people had a “clear choice” in the election: “Do you want a president that hasn’t fallen out with or insulted our allies?”
The question referred to comments previously made by Ms Connolly, when she referenced Germany’s militarisation during the 1930s under the Nazis when discussing the country’s current defence spending.
Ms Connolly replied, saying: “Normalisation of genocide is absolutely unacceptable to me, and the vast majority of the people in Ireland.
“Countries were pointed out by me that were very supportive of Israel and America’s role in it.”
The two presidential hopefuls faced each other for the first time since the third original candidate, Fianna Fáil nominee Jim Gavin, dropped out of the race on Monday.
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