Conor McGregor is expected to address a meeting of Dublin City Council next Monday. The former MMA fighter is listed among 12 presidential hopefuls who will address the meeting next week. The list was distributed to councillors on Thursday.
Twenty requests for nominations were received before last Friday’s deadline. Since then, five have withdrawn from the process.
Of the remaining 15, all but one have confirmed their eligibility to attend Monday’s special meeting. Two have advised that they are unable to attend the meeting in person as several other local authorities are holding meetings for the same purpose at the same time.
In materials distributed to councillors, Mr McGregor argues that he will use the constitutional authority under Articles 12 to 14 to “restore political power to the Irish citizenry”. He adds: “This will be achieved through collaboration with the people of Ireland and Dáil Éireann to initiate constitutional amendments, enacted through public referendums, to return authority to the nation’s citizens.”
Last year, Mr McGregor was ordered to pay Nikita Hand €250,000 in damages after a High Court jury found he had assaulted her in a Dublin hotel.
In July, he lost his appeal against the jury finding in favour of Ms Hand, who sued him for alleged rape at the Beacon hotel on December 9th, 2018.
Mr McGregor wrote to councillors that Ireland “will once again operate under direct democracy”, although it is not clear what political or historical era he is referencing.
Other candidates seeking the nomination of Dublin City Council are businessman Gareth Sheridan, former presidential candidate Peter Casey – who finished second in the 2018 contest – and barrister and conservative campaigner Maria Steen. Mr Casey is listed as seeking the nomination but it is not confirmed that he will attend on Monday.
Dolores Cahill, a former UCD professor who gained some prominence as an anti-vaccination campaigner during the Covid pandemic, is also on the list.
In his letter distributed to councillors, Mr McGregor pointed to his sporting record and says that he has invested in the country through his business activities. He claims to have “directly helped create thousands of jobs”.
He says his online following allows him to reach, in particular, “younger generations who are increasingly disengaged from establishment politics. This reach would allow the Presidency under my tenure to be more visible, more relevant, and more inclusive than ever before”.