Independent Ireland has agreed to nominate Maria Steen to enter the presidential election.
Ms Steen needs nominations from 20 Oireachtas members to contest the election and currently has as many as 16.
Elsewhere, left-leaning parties who are supporting Catherine Connolly have been reacting to her comments about Hamas being part of the fabric of Palestinian people.
Key readsIndependent Ireland’s four TDS back Maria Steen presidential nomination
Cormac McQuinn writes: Independent Ireland has agreed to nominate Maria Steen to enter the presidential election.
The decision adds four TDs and a considerable boost to Ms Steen’s efforts to get in the ballot paper.
She needs nominations from 20 Oireachtas members to contest the election and currently has as many as 16.
Danny Healy-Rae is also due to announce his intentions imminently. It is expected he will also sign Steen’s nomination papers.
Ellen Coyne has details on its statement:
“Following a private meeting last night with Maria Steen, members of the Independent Ireland parliamentary party met this morning to discuss nominating Ms. Steen for the presidential election.
“We were impressed by her honesty, her candour, and her ability to clearly communicate her views and vision for the presidency. We were particularly struck by her determination to be a genuine voice for the people of Ireland who feel ignored and unrepresented by the political establishment.
“As elected parliamentarians, we believe it is our duty to ensure that voters are given a real choice in this election. Yet the process of securing a place on the ballot has been deliberately made more difficult by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael at council level, which we regard as an affront to democracy itself.
“It is in that spirit, and after careful consideration, The Independent Ireland party has agreed this morning that four Independent Ireland TDs will sign Maria Steen’s nomination papers today. ”
Parties backing Connolly react to Hamas comments
Left-leaning parties who are supporting Catherine Connolly have been reacting to her comments about Hamas being part of the fabric of Palestinian people.
Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said Hamas is “part of situation in Palestine” and “there’s no doubt about that”.
He said he believes what Ms Connolly said is “consistent” with what has been said by all parties in the Oireachtas.
He said the actions of Hamas were “war crimes” and “indefensible” but so too are the actions of the Israeli government.
Mr Carthy said “Whether we like it or not” there will be “no meaningful negotiations without those two entities”
In the last few minutes, Green Party leader, Roderic O’Gorman has said:
“I see Hamas as a terrorist organisation and I don’t see them as part of democratic governance of Palestine but I think we have to keep the door open.”
Ged Nash of Labour has said that her remarks in the BBC interview were “not the language I would have used”.
His response was not as strong as that of his colleague Alan Kelly last night who asked her to withdraw her remarks.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime Me Kelly said Hamas is a terrorist organisation “and I think it is very clear where the Irish people stand”.
Pressed on whether he would like to see Labour ask her to retract her comments he said “I would expect that will happen. I expect that will be necessary.”
Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats defended Connolly in remarks made on the plinth of Leinster House a short while ago. She said the Independent TD had clarified her Hamas remarks on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.
Officially the SocDems have said the party “would not have used the same language as Catherine”.
“It is up to the Palestinian people to decide who their political representatives should be, following free and fair elections,” it said in a statement.
So who is backing Maria Steen?
Not all of the backers are declared publicly. But this is what we know.
Peadar Tóibin; Paul Lawless; Michael Healy-Rae; Carol Nolan; Sen Ronan Mullen; Sen Sarah O’Reilly; Mattie McGrath; Sen Joe Conway; Sen Sharon Keoghan; Gillian Toole, Paul Gogarty; Marian Harkin.
That’s 12.
It’s thought Kerry Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae will follow his brother Michael’s decision and agree to sign the nomination papers today. That would make it 13.
There is speculation that Independent Senator Aubrey McCarthy may also be willing to sign the nomination papers. But as yet he has not spoken publicly about the matter. That would bring it to 14.
With the backing of the four Independent Ireland TDs, that would leave Steen with only two signatures to collect.
The Dublin Bay North Independent TD Barry Heneghan will definitely not be signing the papers. He is a Catherine Connolly supporter and is, indeed, out of the country on his way to join a flotilla to Gaza.
So the efforts of Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín and other Steen supporters will focus on a number of other Independent TDs, namely those from the Regional group who are supporting the Government. They include three Ministers of State: Seán Canney; Noel Grealish; and Kevin Boxer Moran. There is also the Independent TD for Tipperary Michael Lowry who has been notably quiet on this issue.
23/01/2025 – Danny Healy-Rae’s signature may bring Maria Steen within two votes of getting nominated. Photograph Nick Bradshaw Maria Steen’s path to a presidential nomination
The four TDs from Independent Ireland have just begun meeting to decide if they are to back Maria Steen or not. Around noon, Michael Collins, Michael Fitzmaurice, Richard O’Donoghue and Ken O’Flynn will come out on the plinth of Leinster House and hold a press conference disclosing their party’s position.
If the four do back Steen, she will have 17 nominations from Oireachtas members, just three short of the 20 required. There is a path there for her but she will need to persuade a number of key Independents to change their minds.
The statement issued by Marian Harkin this morning was highly significant. She said she would vote for Heather Humphreys in the election but had also agreed to nominate Steen.
Setting out her reasons she said: “Firstly, she is a credible candidate and reflects all or some of the views of a significant portion of the Irish people.
“I believe we should see a respectful considered debate with different viewpoints in the upcoming presidential election and by not giving a voice to different viewpoints certain groups of people become further polarised, believing they are being sidelined in the discussion about the person we want to represent us as president for the next seven years.
“That leads to a fracture and polarisation. “We have an opportunity to stop this happening, for now at least, by giving voters a wider choice.”
She also emphasised the role of Independents without any links to parties – formal or informal – in the electoral process.
“All the candidates nominated so far have been nominated by political parties, yet many Irish people vote for Independents and expect them to use their independent voice to influence outcomes.
“While of course the outcome of the election will be decided by the people, the opportunity to select an alternative candidate is largely within the gift of Independents.”
That statement will be used by those hoping to persuade Independent TDs and Senators who might be swaying to change their minds and sign the papers.
Delighted Marian Harkin TD has announced she is nominating Maria Steen for the Presidential election.
There are just 3 candidates on the ballot.
2 are from government.
This is far too narrow. It’s no choice at all.
If you’re a democratic TD, nominate & let the people decide.
— Peadar Tóibín TD (@Toibin1) September 23, 2025
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Kelly is now based in Indonesia and identifies himself as a Trump loyalist and goes under the moniker of Captain Kieran Kelly.
The unmissable Irish Times political digest
The political team wakes up before dawn to bring you a comprehensive early-morning digest, available by email and online to our subscribers, on each sitting day of the Dáil.
It lets you know about all the significant things that have happened, and which we expect to happen during the course of the day.
Ellen Coyne was the early morning conductor this morning. Read her analysis of the day here.
Catherine Connolly on Hamas and Northern Ireland
Catherine Connolly asserted in a BBC interview yesterday that Hamas was part of the fabric of Palestinian life. She also criticised British prime minister Keir Starmer for saying the organisation, which has been proscribed, should play no part in a future administration in Palestine.
The Independent presidential candidate was interviewed on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning, and was rigorously questioned by Audrey Carville on these matters, in addition to her views on Nato, and whether or not her position on a united Ireland tallies with that of Sinn Féin.
Vivienne Clarke writes that Connolly “has denied ever being “equivocal” on Hamas, a day after saying the proscribed terrorist group was “part of the fabric” of the Palestinian people.
Her comments in a BBC interview on Monday were condemned by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who said Hamas cannot be part of Gaza’s future.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Connolly condemned both Israel and Hamas for committing war crimes and said both sides will have to be held to account.”
Here is Vivienne’s full report on the Morning Ireland interview.
And then there were three?
Hi, it’s Harry McGee who will be bringing you live coverage of the presidential election campaign with only 24 hours left to the final deadline for nominations.
Yesterday, 12 councils throughout the State decided if they would nominate a candidate or not. All 12 rejected any nomination. It was the end of the road for Gareth Sheridan and other pretenders. It was also the first time in 28 years that no candidate came through the council route.
If the two big parties continue to block in the future, that Constitutional provision will become as moribund as it was for the first 60 years of presidential elections.
So it is three? We will find out by the end of the day. The four TDs of Independent Ireland meet soon to decide their position. If they back Maria Steen, the barrister and conservative campaigner, it is reckoned she will have 17 nominations, just three shy of the threshold of 20.
It gives her a possible route to be added to the ballot paper. There are a number of Independent TDs who are supporting Heather Humphreys. But two – Michael Healy-Rae and Marian Harkin – have already committed to giving Steen a nomination. There will be huge pressure put on others – Sean Canney, Noel Grealish, Kevin Boxer Moran – to sign the nomination papers. It will make for a very interesting 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Catherine Connolly has given an interview to Morning Ireland where her views on Hamas and a United Ireland were parsed closely by Audrey Carville. She launched her campaign last night. We will return to all those a little later on.
Meanwhile Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin will launch his campaign this week as he criticises social media companies for not taking down malicious and unfounded posts about his personal life.
Maria Steen. Photograph Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times