The political right hates Michael D Higgins – with good reason. In the 14 years he's lived in Áras an Uachtaráin the president has repeatedly used his position to criticise neoliberal policies, and intolerably for the most tedious people in the country, promote left-wing ideas. He described the housing emergency and record levels of homelessness as "our great, great, great failure”, issued condolences to Cuba when Fidel Castro died and condemned attempts to erode Irish neutrality with the state’s “drift” towards imperialist alliances like Nato and uncritical embrace of the increasingly militarised European Union.
If the role of president is about what values the 26 counties want to project, who better than someone who says when Ireland finds itself "behind the shadows of previous empires within the EU it loses an opportunity to expand, enhance and use its influence for the world”.
The establishment doesn’t want a popular socialist leader to find a worthy successor. That's why it's doing everything it can to sabotage Catherine Connolly, who announced her candidacy in July.
She's what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael don't like: a campaigner for social and economic justice who has spent her time in Dáil Éireann actually challenging power. She has consistently defended Ireland’s tradition of neutrality and called out government’s pathetic response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which Ireland continues to materially facilitate, refusing to impose a single sanction against the state of Israel.
A few weeks ago I interviewed Catherine in the function room of Doyle’s pub along with journalists Ryan Grim and Abubaker Abed. The Ditch put together the event at short notice, barely promoted it, but the place was jammed, with attendees arriving hours early to hear her speak. The kind of bottom-up support evident in the room that night was briefly mentioned in the Irish Independent. The paper however gave more focus on a procedural presidential nomination Connolly gave to one of its former journalists and a fact-finding mission to Syria when it was in the middle of a civil war – with both presented to readers as evidence of questionable judgment.
There are parallels between the attacks historically directed at Higgins and those now levelled at Connolly. Communist, apologist for dictators, stooge for Vladimir Putin, someone who simply needs to “grow up” – the usual epithets from grassfed Very Serious Guys who have made careers telling the public how free market capitalism represents the natural order of things and why complete subordination to Washington is sophisticated realpolitik. They've identified a threat to the social order that benefits them. Now they’re getting to work.
The machinery of respectability, that great grinding apparatus of consensus, has been activated. So it’s been wonderful to see the left, in a rare moment of unity, cast aside its differences and support Connolly. People Before Profit, the Social Democrats and Labour have all backed her presidential run – with only the likes of Alan Kelly, who disgraced himself in an austerity Fine Gael government, dissenting because Connolly had previously criticised that record of supporting Fine Gael. Cross-party solidarity has given the left a genuine shot at the presidency, though the coalition awaits one final addition: Sinn Féin, whose endorsement could transform a promising campaign into a direct march to the Áras.
A left president: In the national interest
The left and right wings of Sinn Féin have been debating the merits of rallying behind Connolly. But the arithmetic is simple: running Mary Lou McDonald carries enormous risk for minimal reward. Should she poll poorly – and these elections are unpredictable – it would be a direct hit to the party's credibility and her leadership. Meanwhile running a peripheral figure like Rose Conway-Walsh serves no purpose beyond satisfying internal egos. The smart play is to champion a candidate who shares the party’s declared values, will be an advocate for ending partition and may actually win.
More importantly a Connolly presidency is in the national interest. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to commit Ireland to further vassalage to imperial powers. Maximising the chances of a victory for the left is essential for sustaining Irish sovereignty and protecting what remains of our military neutrality. Fianna Gael wants to deepen the dependencies that have made Ireland a shabby little client state and fostered a situation where the state is afraid to implement the Occupied Territories Bill – legislation supported by majority of the population – because it fears doing so may prompt the tax-dodging US companies at the centre of our development model to leave.
The alternative is someone like Heather Humphreys, whose candidacy is being lauded as progressive and symbolically powerful, a gesture towards unionists and loyalists because she happens to be a Protestant from Monaghan. Whether this would constitute progress is debatable. What isn't debatable is that Humphreys spent her political career targeting the most vulnerable in society, moving to create a tiered social welfare system that would have subjected individuals with disabilities to periodic interrogations, forcing them to plead for continued financial support.
Or maybe Ireland might elect one of the presidential hopefuls that emerge every seven years. This time around we’ve got the likes of pharma CEO Gareth Sheridan, lawyer turned dog groomer Nick Delahanty, firebreathing anti-choicer Maria Steen and apparently, Bob Geldof, a “rebel” figure who happily received a title from the British monarchy and remained silent on the genocide in Palestine for almost two years, before emerging, belatedly, alongside Bono, to protect his reputation.
Sinn Féin has made some bad choices recently. It backed a Yes-Yes vote in the disastrous referenda put forward by government last year, in which Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil misled voters, lying about the advice they had received from the attorney general. The party also caved to pressure from violent racists, releasing an indefensible document on international protection applicants – essentially a coded way of assuring the few disadvantaged communities where fascist groups wield influence that they needn't worry about more foreigners arriving.
But the party has redeemable qualities too. Its approach to housing is far superior to that of the current government, as are its positions on collective bargaining. During the last general election, it was clear that Mary Lou has an affinity for the general public, not sharing the sneering contempt displayed by taoiseach Micheál Martin and tánaiste Simon Harris. And despite this the party hasn’t fully committed to unifying the left, preferring to keep their options open for teaming up with Fianna Fáil – the kind of triangulation that has drained enthusiasm from young voters whose support secured that promising electoral result in 2020.
If Sinn Féin really wants to give an alternative to the single party posing as two that has ruled this state for generations, it needs to stop prioritising potential short-term gain over long-term coalition building. Supporting Catherine Connolly for president is an opportunity to do so.
