Now that the Dáil election is over, it is a good time to look ahead to a possible scenario for the next Irish Presidential election, due to take place in late 2025. It is frustrating and disappointing that only Irish citizens who live in the Twenty-Six Counties have a vote for our Head of State. The time has long past when Irish citizens in the North and who live overseas should have the right to vote.
We often hear people talking about the Irish diaspora and how this is important to Ireland culturally and economically for foreign direct investment. The next Irish Government, whenever it is formed, should show its recognition of this and a desire to reunite the island by giving Irish citizens in Northern Ireland and around the world a vote for the President of Ireland. Apparently any legislative change cannot be completed before the next presidential election but it should still be implemented now.
There have been many people touted as potential candidates for President from across different parties. But while we are waiting for the outcome of the negotiations over the formation of the next coalition government, it’s a good time to contemplate new options.
I think Barry McGuigan could be the next President of Ireland. An Ulsterman who understands the importance of links between North and South of Ireland, as well as between Ireland and Britain. He is a Catholic who has been married to his Protestant wife for more than forty years. Born in Monaghan, the ‘Clones Cyclone’ now lives in Kent in England.
He has shown great character in his boxing life and in the way he has conducted himself after he retired as a boxer. Watching him talk with real emotion about the grief of losing a daughter, on I’m a Celebrity, it was impossible not to be moved. There can surely be nothing worse than losing your child.
But in that moment he showed his humility and empathy as a human and I think that someone of his character would be great as the next President of Ireland. I have no idea whether he would ever entertain the idea but for me there are compelling reasons why I think he could be the right person at this crucial time.
The Presidency should not just be seen as the reward for someone at the end of a long political career. The Head of State must be someone who can represent the island abroad and bring people together at home. The President should be someone who is above and beyond politics, who can engage and reach citizens without any political baggage.
Politicians have to make many sacrifices to get elected. In return they have the honour and opportunity to representing voters, of debating the issues which affect people on a day to day basis. I think it would help to dispel cynicism and apathy about politics if we had a Head of State who was not part of a political party, to represent Ireland on the global stage.
We want Ireland to have a good relationship with Britain now and in the future. Barry McGuigan epitomises this as someone who represented Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games and was a British boxing champion before he became a European and World Champion.
I remember as a child growing up in Belfast in the 1980s that he had his father sing ‘Danny Boy’ in a packed King’s Hall in Belfast for his Featherweight title fight in 1985 while a blue flag with a white dove on it was carried into the ring. This was during the dark days of The Troubles and Barry gave us hope, something to cheer for and was someone that everyone from across Ireland could support. In fact I think he could use a blue flag with a white dove on it during the presidential campaign. We live in a turbulent world and I think having someone campaign for President who has epitomised peace would be a good thing.
He has embraced his Irish identity in a way which should appeal to Nationalists, Unionists and the non-aligned across the island. He was seen as being above the Troubles during his boxing career and he could be seen as above party politics in a Presidential campaign. I believe that this would be very appealing to voters.
We have a fragmented political landscape in Ireland now and any party representative starts off with a majority of voters supporting parties other than their own, or indeed not supporting a party at all. A candidate with high name recognition like Barry McGuigan has, starts with good potential and would have momentum on day one.
We are likely to see increasing instability in British politics. There is a rising Plaid Cymru in Wales who want independence, the most popular party in a recent opinion poll. The Welsh Labour party have been in government continuously since 1999, so perhaps voters there have decided they want change. Despite recent setbacks, the SNP are still the party of government in Scotland and support for independence still sits at around 50%. The Reform party is seeing increasing support across England, Scotland and Wales. This may lead to the Conservative party tacking further to the right.
The impact of these changes on Northern Ireland and its place in the UK is not an active consideration for British political parties. There will be a December vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the continued application of Articles 5-10 of the Windsor Framework. Despite Unionist parties voting against, the measure will pass through Nationalist and non-aligned parties voting in favour. This is a time of significant unrest for our Unionist brothers and sisters. We must acknowledge this, seek to offer the hand of friendship and provide them with an alternative.
While there may be a different emphasis on the timeline, all of the mainstream political parties elected to the Dáil are in favour of Irish unity. This gives us a firm foundation to plan and prepare in the coming months. We need to be ready for the rapid fragmentation of British politics.
Elon Musk is apparently considering investing $100m to supporting Nigel Farage, according to media reports. Brexit was an English nationalist project and Farage was its chief architect. Farage is on record as saying that he expects there to be a United Ireland in the period ahead. It is the Alliance and Green voters who will be decisive in any future border poll. Both sets of voters tend to be very pro-European, so the prospect of remaining part of a country with an increasing influence by Farage, will not appeal to them.
Mary McAleese was President in the post-conflict phase. We are now moving into the pre-unity phase and Barry McGuigan would be ideally suited for this time. The President is Head of State and not Head of Government which is an important distinction. They do not require to have years of experience working in politics before becoming President. In fact there is frankly a certain appeal in having someone as Head of State who has not been part of political machinations over recent years.
Ultimately it will be for the people to decide our next Head of State and hopefully before too long, it will be a decision in which all Irish citizens have a vote.
Now that the Dáil election is over, it is a good time to look ahead to a possible scenario for the next Irish Presidential election, due to take place in late 2025. It is frustrating and disappointing that only Irish citizens who live in the Twenty-Six Counties have a vote for our Head of State. The time has long past when Irish citizens in the North and who live overseas should have the right to vote.
We often hear people talking about the Irish diaspora and how this is important to Ireland culturally and economically for foreign direct investment. The next Irish Government, whenever it is formed, should show its recognition of this and a desire to reunite the island by giving Irish citizens in Northern Ireland and around the world a vote for the President of Ireland. Apparently any legislative change cannot be completed before the next presidential election but it should still be implemented now.
There have been many people touted as potential candidates for President from across different parties. But while we are waiting for the outcome of the negotiations over the formation of the next coalition government, it’s a good time to contemplate new options.
I think Barry McGuigan could be the next President of Ireland. An Ulsterman who understands the importance of links between North and South of Ireland, as well as between Ireland and Britain. He is a Catholic who has been married to his Protestant wife for more than forty years. Born in Monaghan, the ‘Clones Cyclone’ now lives in Kent in England.
He has shown great character in his boxing life and in the way he has conducted himself after he retired as a boxer. Watching him talk with real emotion about the grief of losing a daughter, on I’m a Celebrity, it was impossible not to be moved. There can surely be nothing worse than losing your child.
But in that moment he showed his humility and empathy as a human and I think that someone of his character would be great as the next President of Ireland. I have no idea whether he would ever entertain the idea but for me there are compelling reasons why I think he could be the right person at this crucial time.
The Presidency should not just be seen as the reward for someone at the end of a long political career. The Head of State must be someone who can represent the island abroad and bring people together at home. The President should be someone who is above and beyond politics, who can engage and reach citizens without any political baggage.
Politicians have to make many sacrifices to get elected. In return they have the honour and opportunity to representing voters, of debating the issues which affect people on a day to day basis. I think it would help to dispel cynicism and apathy about politics if we had a Head of State who was not part of a political party, to represent Ireland on the global stage.
We want Ireland to have a good relationship with Britain now and in the future. Barry McGuigan epitomises this as someone who represented Northern Ireland in the Commonwealth Games and was a British boxing champion before he became a European and World Champion.
I remember as a child growing up in Belfast in the 1980s that he had his father sing ‘Danny Boy’ in a packed King’s Hall in Belfast for his Featherweight title fight in 1985 while a blue flag with a white dove on it was carried into the ring. This was during the dark days of The Troubles and Barry gave us hope, something to cheer for and was someone that everyone from across Ireland could support. In fact I think he could use a blue flag with a white dove on it during the presidential campaign. We live in a turbulent world and I think having someone campaign for President who has epitomised peace would be a good thing.
He has embraced his Irish identity in a way which should appeal to Nationalists, Unionists and the non-aligned across the island. He was seen as being above the Troubles during his boxing career and he could be seen as above party politics in a Presidential campaign. I believe that this would be very appealing to voters.
We have a fragmented political landscape in Ireland now and any party representative starts off with a majority of voters supporting parties other than their own, or indeed not supporting a party at all. A candidate with high name recognition like Barry McGuigan has, starts with good potential and would have momentum on day one.
We are likely to see increasing instability in British politics. There is a rising Plaid Cymru in Wales who want independence, the most popular party in a recent opinion poll. The Welsh Labour party have been in government continuously since 1999, so perhaps voters there have decided they want change. Despite recent setbacks, the SNP are still the party of government in Scotland and support for independence still sits at around 50%. The Reform party is seeing increasing support across England, Scotland and Wales. This may lead to the Conservative party tacking further to the right.
The impact of these changes on Northern Ireland and its place in the UK is not an active consideration for British political parties. There will be a December vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the continued application of Articles 5-10 of the Windsor Framework. Despite Unionist parties voting against, the measure will pass through Nationalist and non-aligned parties voting in favour. This is a time of significant unrest for our Unionist brothers and sisters. We must acknowledge this, seek to offer the hand of friendship and provide them with an alternative.
While there may be a different emphasis on the timeline, all of the mainstream political parties elected to the Dáil are in favour of Irish unity. This gives us a firm foundation to plan and prepare in the coming months. We need to be ready for the rapid fragmentation of British politics.
Elon Musk is apparently considering investing $100m to supporting Nigel Farage, according to media reports. Brexit was an English nationalist project and Farage was its chief architect. Farage is on record as saying that he expects there to be a United Ireland in the period ahead. It is the Alliance and Green voters who will be decisive in any future border poll. Both sets of voters tend to be very pro-European, so the prospect of remaining part of a country with an increasing influence by Farage, will not appeal to them.
Mary McAleese was President in the post-conflict phase. We are now moving into the pre-unity phase and Barry McGuigan would be ideally suited for this time. The President is Head of State and not Head of Government which is an important distinction. They do not require to have years of experience working in politics before becoming President. In fact there is frankly a certain appeal in having someone as Head of State who has not been part of political machinations over recent years.
Ultimately it will be for the people to decide our next Head of State and hopefully before too long, it will be a decision in which all Irish citizens have a vote.