Questions remain over Catherine Connolly’s ‘new republic’

At her final campaign rally before romping to victory in the presidential election, Catherine Connolly said her supporters had come together to “shape a new republic”.

Her landslide win poses questions for how the left-wing parties that supported her will deliver on that vision, how the Government parties will react, and who feels excluded from the conversation.

The most immediate impact of polling day will be Ms Connolly succeeding Michael D Higgins as president and moving into Aras an Uachtarain next month.

She will have to vacate her seat in Ireland’s parliament to do so, triggering a by-election in her Galway West home constituency.

That may pose the first test for the opposition coalition which backed her in the name of left unity.

A common criticism of left-leaning parties following last year’s general election was that they had failed to present a coherent alternative to the Government parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

Post-election, opposition parties created a united front against Government changes to parliamentary rules on speaking rights, which formed a healthy platform for those on the left to come together behind Ms Connolly, an independent.

Beyond the Galway West race, the next elections are years away and these parties will have to continue to band together if they want to see benefits in transfers down the line.

More pressing is the clear unanswered dissatisfaction in large swathes of the electorate evidenced through an unimpressive turnout and a significant campaign to spoil votes.

Many of those spoiling their vote felt unrepresented by the small pool of candidates, while some wrote explicit and violent messages against Government and opposition figures.

The protest vote largely stemmed around the state’s approach to migration and accommodation for asylum seekers, which remains a flashpoint issue in Ireland following violent protests in Dublin during the week.

As a “president for all”, Ms Connolly said she will listen to the concerns of all citizens – but has described anti-migrant language such as “Ireland is full” as “unacceptable”.

The issue is also a challenge for Government and Opposition parties as Ms Connolly leaves the Dail.

The parliament may also consider whether it is time to change the rules around nominations for the presidency, with just three candidates being nominated by TDs (MPs) and Senators, and none coming through the local-authority process.

Thousands expressed their first preference for a candidate who pulled out of contention weeks ago, although this may be chalked up to Fianna Fail unsuccessfully trying to reach the threshold to get some campaign expenses back for Jim Gavin’s botched bid.

Questions have been raised about the judgment of Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin and his deputy leader Jack Chambers in picking the political novice for the contest, and the shortcomings in the party’s vetting which saw it select a candidate who repeatedly failed to accurately answer questions about thousands of euro he owed a former tenant.

The Taoiseach said his party would review its processes when he told Fianna Fail colleagues he was “deeply sorry” for the debacle.

Several members of the parliamentary party had earlier raised concerns about the selection process.

Although scarred, Mr Martin weathered the initial storm with no clear challenge to his leadership of Fianna Fail.

But now there are similar questions for his coalition colleague, Tanaiste Simon Harris.

Mr Harris, the deputy premier and leader of Fine Gael, must account for how Heather Humphreys fared in the election and how their party ran her campaign.

Ms Humphreys had initially ruled herself of the election, but reconsidered when Fine Gael’s first candidate Mairead McGuinness withdrew on health grounds.

Another potential hopeful, Sean Kelly, said Fine Gael not holding an internal contest to pick a candidate was a “big, big mistake”.

Mr Harris’s party has also been accused of negative campaigning, with supporters of Ms Connolly accusing Fine Gael of engaging in unedifying smears and ramping up a “project fear”-style counter-campaign.

Some of the criticism against Ms Connolly was about her previous foreign policy positions after she spoke out on the European Union, the UK, the US, France and Germany.

The former barrister has since insisted she will fulfil all her duties and abide by the expectations on a president not to come into conflict with Government policy.

However, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy and Labour leader Ivana Bacik were among Ms Connolly’s supporters who said the large margin of victory against Government candidates should give the coalition pause on its approaches to issues such as Irish neutrality and housing.

Ms Connolly’s victory also begs the question of the influence of Sinn Fein in the contest.

After much delay in announcing whether it would run its own candidate, the party was one of the last to back Ms Connolly.

It declared its involvement a “game-changer” – but the contest would have been shaken up further by a direct Sinn Fein candidate.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said Sinn Fein was satisfied with Ms Connolly’s stance on Irish unification.

For her part, the new president said she felt whenever she was north of the border that “we have cut off one of our limbs”.

She said Ireland was a country divided, adding that the Constitution sets out the firm will of the Irish people to unite the island.

In one of the priorities during her term, Ms Connolly said: “A report of a cross party-committee last year sits on a shelf, and one of the recommendations of that cross-party committee called on the Government to prepare a green paper so that we can further the steps that we need to take for United Ireland.

“I will use my voice as president, through all of my power, to advance that in as conciliatory way and an open and accountable way as possible.”