Presidential campaign is bubbling along nicely

So there appears to be some life left in Fianna Fáil. 

Following my call here two weeks ago for bland Micheál to be selected to run for the Áras, there has been the stirrings of life among the party’s TDs. Hardly a groundswell but a movement. 

It started with the Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher, who happens to be from Cork (a North Central TD until he left for Europe) and a political neighbour of Micheál). He went public calling for a meeting of the parliamentary party, senators and MEPs to discuss the nomination of a candidate.

Bland Micheál has held the view that there is no urgency about a nomination and indicated that the party would have a get-together on an unspecified date sometime in the not-too-distant future. He wasn’t best pleased at Kelleher’s intervention and was inclined to snarl a little when he pointed out that MEP Kelleher fully understood where he, the Taoiseach, stood on the matter and indicated that he was not going to be stampeded into having a discussion on the appointment of a candidate. To think of Micheál stampeding is a bit of an oxymoron, but he was most likely seething when he heard that Carlow Kilkenny TD, Peter 'Chap' Cleere, went a step further and adopted the suggestion made here that Micheál should be the candidate for the Park.

Peter Cleere hurled for Kilkenny in the past and would know how to give a dig to an opponent, so it is to be expected that he knew the ramifications of what he was suggesting when he mentioned the Taoiseach as candidate for the Park. He would have been aware that Fianna Fáil would be looking for a new Taoiseach and a new party Leader. 

I have to admit that I was unaware of Peter Cleere until he made his declaration and perhaps it was just an innocent suggestion based on a belief that Micheál might be the party’s best chance of winning the Áras. Even if that is the case, he has created the imperative for a debate on where the party is headed.

That can’t be a bad thing. For too long now Micheál’s control over the party has created the situation where he is unchallenged in his leadership and allowed a free run as Taoiseach without so much as a question as to where he is leading the country. 

As a country and member of the European Union we do not seem to have a say in the big decisions being taken in Europe on our behalf. He is leading the country out of our neutral position in world affairs as he tries to undermine the triple lock which determines when Irish troops may be deployed as peacekeepers in post-war situations, perhaps even in Ukraine if peace comes to that part of the world.

He has failed to challenge the EU Commission President von der Leyen on her support for the genocide in Gaza. He does not seem to be aware that the vast majority of Irish people bleed with and for the people of Gaza. The Irish people have no problems with Jews, the country is not anti-Semitic. It is anti-Israel’s actions in Gaza. He has failed to sell that message and has failed to tell those MAGA supporters who threaten Ireland’s economy because of our humane approach to the genocide that we will do what is just and right despite any threats to the country’s economy.

It may be the case, as I suggested here, that Bland Micheál has simply run out of steam. That happens and it is not something that should be deplored. A man, or a woman even, is entitled to a break. Look at Heather Humphries. She stood back from the recent general election because she felt that the tank had run dry. She has had more than a year to re-charge her batteries and look at her now, fit and rearing to go. She is a very credible candidate and I expect that whatever the merits of Sean Kelly’s bid for the nomination, he will finish up as runner-up to Heather in the Fine Gael nomination stakes.

Heather is a very able operator and she is popular with the electorate. She made a name for herself in the Department of Social Protection where she displayed an acute understanding of the needs of people living in poverty. She will make a very determined bid. Fine Gael’s ratings nationally would not suggest that a party candidate will have an easy run to the Park but she has a fair wind behind her and the fact that Fianna Fáil are in a muddle as to what to do is an additional benefit. She will be the beneficiary of Micheál’s muddlings.

Of course the FFers are not the only ones in a muddle over the Presidential election. Sinn Féin have a similar conundrum. Mary Lou knows that if she were to be the candidate she would be beaten and that would be something of a disaster given that Sinn Féin performed poorly in the recent general election. To lose one election, to misquote Oscar Wilde, may be unfortunate but to lose two looks like carelessness and Mary Lou can do without that outcome.

Sinn Féin does not have a creditable candidate outside of Mary Lou (Michelle O’Neill may have some standing in Northern Ireland but would not stand a stagger down here) so their best option now is to declare a non-runner and throw their heft behind Catherine Connolly. They may have image issues to overcome by supporting Connolly but that’s nothing compared to having to live with another national electoral defeat.

My own campaign is bubbling along nicely and there has been a welcome outpouring of support in relation to my promise (my promise, unlike party political promises, will be kept) to undertake the Presidential duties without drawing the salary that goes with the job, which has struck a chord with the voters. My campaign advisers are urging me to publish my election manifesto sooner rather than later but there is the danger, in early publication, that the political parties will steal my clothes just as the Independent potential candidate Peter Casey has stolen my commitment on the salary issue. I declare there is nothing sacred in politics anymore.

Elements in the media, the print media in particular, have spotted that Micheál is showing the signs of stress. While they will not come out directly and say it, they resort to ludicrous suggestions regarding the possible candidature of Bertie. Bertie did not earn the sobriquet “most cunning of them all” by being foolish. He knows full well that he won’t be the candidate while Micheál is in control and Micheál knows that he won’t be in control if he supports Bertie. It is an insoluble conundrum.

Thought for the day 

He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools - Confucius