McDowell says he didn't nominate Steen because 'her election would be step backwards'
James Cox
Senator Michael McDowell has said he did not nominate Maria Steen for the presidency because "as a liberal, I felt her election would have been a step backwards for the Ireland I believe in".
Ms Steen is a conservative campaigner who advocated for a no vote in the abortion and same-sex marriage referendums.
She received 18 of the 20 required Oireachtas nominations, and criticised Mr McDowell in the aftermath of her failed bid. Ms Steen claimed she had been waiting to see if Mr McDowell would run.
She also said she had expected his support as they campaigned on the same side in the family and care referenda, which were overwhelmingly rejected by the public.
Writing in The Irish Times, Mr McDowell said he had been "consistently liberal", and felt the Ms Steen's candidacy would be a "step backwards" for Ireland.
He wrote: "In early 2025, I considered suggestions that I should seek nomination for the presidential election and decided against doing so. My decision was made public on May 23rd in this newspaper.
"In July, my office was informed of plans by pro-life members of the Oireachtas, including Aontú, to establish a process in which members of the Oireachtas would interview aspiring candidates chosen by them, and that these aspirants would include Declan Ganley and Maria Steen, both known pro-life activists. I indicated then that I was not interested in becoming involved with such a caucus."
Mr McDowell said he was approached by Aontú Peadar Tóibín on a second occasion, but again declined to take part in the process.
He also discussed correspondence he received from Ms Steen.
"A number of people sounded me out as to whether I would support their candidacies. On September 1st, Steen contacted me by text saying: 'you may have seen I am looking for a nomination would you have time to take a quick call today'.
"I replied as follows: 'Maria, thanks for your message. My position is that as I have already informed two hopefuls, I will make no decision or commitments on nominations until the likely set of nominees becomes clearer including the possibility of Local Authority nominations and whether SF are running an SF candidate. Michael.'"
He concluded: "I did not consider that a face-to-face meeting with Steen would serve any useful purpose, as her Seanad supporters well knew my position.
"Suggestions that I was motivated by envy, jealousy, misogyny or other base reasons are simply untrue. For the reasons stated above, I was opposed to her election, which might very well have happened, in my view. It would have been divisive and a step backwards for the kind of Ireland I believe in."
