{"id":32628,"date":"2025-09-20T11:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/32628\/"},"modified":"2025-09-20T11:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T11:02:12","slug":"sinn-feins-game-changer-candidate-may-be-a-show-of-weakness-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/32628\/","title":{"rendered":"Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s \u2018game changer\u2019 candidate may be a show of weakness \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five weeks to go and the presidential election<\/a> campaign is swinging into gear. Declared candidates are well and truly on the campaign trail. Others are either scrambling furiously for a nomination or \u2013 in Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a>\u2019s case \u2013 continuing to hum and haw about running a candidate and who it might be, though the party is set to decide today. Either way, the list of candidates will be finalised by Wednesday, September 24th.<\/p>\n

Fine Gael<\/a> candidate Heather Humphreys<\/a> launched her campaign last weekend in Monaghan in a packed room full of enthusiastic supporters, Ministers and TDs. \u201cWe love you and we\u2019ve got your back,\u201d party leader Simon Harris<\/a> told the candidate, to raucous cheers. <\/p>\n

Her many qualities were highlighted by a range of high-profile supporters: Heather the mother and grandmother; Heather the farmer; Heather the hard-working constituency TD and impactful Minister; Heather the borderland Protestant who can reach out to unionists in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

Of course, the challenge for Heather the candidate is to appeal beyond Fine Gael voters into the wider centrist constituency. And the enthusiasm of Fine Gaelers has not always provided a reliable guide to success in that field.<\/p>\n

Still, she was enthusiastically received at the National Ploughing Championships<\/a> this week \u2013 though everyone is received enthusiastically at the ploughing. Polls published so far suggest Humphreys is the front-runner \u2013 but there\u2019s not much in it and, anyway, polls mean little beyond voter recognition at this stage of the race.<\/p>\n

With crowds of up to 300,000 milling around over the week, she wasn\u2019t the only candidate at the ploughing. She had a warm encounter with the Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> candidate Jim Gavin<\/a> and the interplay between their campaigns will be closely watched. Each knows that their path to the presidency runs through the other. If Humphreys wins it will be with the assistance of Gavin\u2019s transfers, and vice versa.<\/p>\n

So in many ways, theirs could be the key battle of the entire campaign \u2013 who can get ahead of the other to stay in the race and benefit from the transfers? But it will be a polite battle, because they can\u2019t risk alienating the other\u2019s voters.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Gareth Sheridan\u2019s presidential prospects dealt a blow in CarlowOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Gavin faced teasing about a video clip he posted which trumpeted his farming credentials \u2013 critics pointed out he was wearing white trousers (unusual on a farm, sources say) and failed to fully close a gate behind him, a mortal sin where livestock are present.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m standing for the Presidency because I believe in our country and I believe in the incredibly positive role which the President plays.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to travel to every part of our country bringing a positive message of a President defined by service and leadership. pic.twitter.com\/xbFzmNpHXX<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim Gavin For President (@gavinforthearas) September 14, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

He laughed it off. The big question about Gavin \u2013 does he fly as a candidate? \u2013 remains unanswered.<\/p>\n

Humphreys dismissed with a \u201cso-what?\u201d shrug reports that her husband had been a member of the Orange Order<\/a> 50 years ago, though the Daily Mail\u2019s questions to her at the campaign launch last Saturday do appear to have caused an initial, mild panic in Fine Gael. Confronted by the Man from the Daily Mail, Eric Humphreys wisely took refuge in a toilet and closed the door.<\/p>\n

So far, the all the declared candidates have emerged intact from their initial bouts of interrogation by the media, though Catherine Connolly<\/a> has bristled at some of the questioning. In truth, the encounters were neither especially intense nor hostile. They can be expected to get a bit more difficult as the campaign progresses. <\/p>\n

But they did point at one important lesson: for the candidates it\u2019s often more important how they deal with the story rather than what the content of the story is. A lot of the things that will be thrown at the candidates in the coming weeks will be pretty inconsequential. Do people really care that Heather Humphreys\u2019s husband was in the Orange Order 50 years ago? Or that Jim Gavin didn\u2019t properly close a gate behind him on a farm? Probably not. What matters is how they deal with the issue under pressure. Can they get past it? Often that\u2019s a presidential campaign comes down to.<\/p>\n

Connolly\u2019s campaign has been more conspicuously active on the ground in recent weeks, holding canvasses and attending events. In the last two weeks she has been campaigning in Galway, Laois, Donegal, Cork, Dublin, Offaly and Carlow. She was, reports one observer, rapturously received at a pro-Palestine event in Cork but an unremarkable speech produced only polite applause. All the candidates will have to learn how to pace themselves.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s crunch time for the independent candidates. Gareth Sheridan secured the backing of two local authorities and he needs two more, from four remaining chances. His hopes hang in the balance. <\/p>\n

Maria Steen<\/a>\u2019s chances look flimsier. Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn<\/a> of Aont\u00fa<\/a> \u2013 who has leveraged the process skilfully to ensure maximum prominence for himself and his party \u2013 claims he has up to 13 nominations for Steen in the Oireachtas. If he can get to 16, Independent Ireland<\/a> says it will supply the additional four needed. But if could get the votes needed, he\u2019d probably have them by now. It\u2019s hard to avoid the conclusion that Steen \u2013 and Aont\u00fa \u2013 started all this a few months too late.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Sinn F\u00e9in will endorse presidential candidate with \u2018plenty of Irish\u2019, says McDonaldOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The big question mark remains over Sinn F\u00e9in. Mary Lou McDonald<\/a> said on Thursday that the party\u2019s decision this weekend would be a \u201cgame-changer\u201d. On Friday, there was an expectation among many \u2013 but no certainty \u2013 that the party was gearing up to back Connolly. That would certainly be a massive boost to her campaign \u2013 but also an unusual admission of political weakness by Sinn F\u00e9in. The party\u2019s ardchomhairle meets in Dublin on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n