Presidency is the people’s gift – andwomen mustn’t cede the Áras again without a fight
NO ONE is unbeatable. Michael D Higgins is a strong candidate to remain in office, but presidential contests are notoriously volatile affairs: as an electorate, we break out the snacks and enjoy our ringside seats while contenders’ fortunes rise and fall overnight.
There is a touch of gladiators in the ring about the race for the Áras, and the public can prove as fickle in its affections as any Roman circus mob. Who knows what might trip up a popular runner during the course of the campaign?
However, we still don’t know whether a contest will take place. Currently Mr Higgins is the only nominee. Until others circling the presidency receive sufficient backing, there can be no challenge.
Here’s why there ought to be one: we are a republic, not a monarchy; citizens, not subjects. Nobody deserves to be returned to office automatically without going before the people.
However, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have determined democratic principles are expendable and are not fielding candidates. Their decision, triggered by narrow party interests – a desire to safeguard their war chests – closes down choice. I suggest we remember it when a general election is called.
Meanwhile, it is left now to Sinn Féin and the Independents to stand up for democracy. Sinn Féin is discussing the presidency today at its ard comhairle.
Leader Mary Lou McDonald favours an election – how much sway does her view hold with the ard comhairle? If the party, which has the Dáil numbers to make a nomination, puts forward a candidate then at that point an election will be sparked.
Sinn Féin may opt not to name a candidate today but the principle of contesting the election can be stated, at least.
The Independents are also considering an agreed candidate but the arithmetic is somewhat tighter for them – they are a less cohesive grouping. Meanwhile, former presidential hopeful Seán Gallagher has written to county councils asking them to back contenders and appears to be considering another tilt.
Aer Arann founder Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh, too, has been taking soundings. Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell deserves credit for his insistence last year on the need for an election rather than a coronation
If it’s to be a credible contest, some convincing contenders must stand. There is a perceived difficulty in finding a nominee of Mr Higgins’s stature. He is cultured, an intellectual socialist willing to champion the underdog, and his speeches are thoughtprovoking.
But why should the women of Ireland cede the Áras for seven more years without anyone throwing down the gauntlet? This year is significant for women – it is the centenary of limited female suffrage being won, and was marked by a grassroots female campaign (supported by men) which delivered repeal of the Eighth Amendment banning abortion. I’d like to see 2018 rounded off with several impressive female candidates offering themselves for the presidency.
Sinn Féin could row in behind a woman not associated with its party, who shares some of its values, as Fianna Fáil did with Mary McAleese 21 years ago. We are living in a televisual age so the candidate must be a woman of achievement and with public speaking skills.
Sr Stanislaus would be a worthy office-holder: the founder of Focus Ireland has spent a lifetime speaking up for the abused and needy. Human rights lawyer Noeline Blackwell has a long history of working with the marginalised. She is chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, and sits on the Immigrant Council of Ireland and Front Line Defenders.
Personally, I’d vote for a candidate invested in working to enhance north-south relations. Monica McWilliams springs to mind. A former Stormont MLA on behalf of the Women’s Coalition, her CV includes a period as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Chief Commissioner.
Former TD and ground-breaking newspaper editor Geraldine Kennedy has the right skillset. So does my colleague on the Irish Writers Centre board Liz MacManus, previously a Government minister. Why not consider Joan Burton? Ali Hewson? Marie Heaney?
Other possible candidates are Catriona Crowe, former archivist at the National Archives of Ireland; the entrepreneur Moya Doherty; Ailbhe Smyth, academic and key member of the Together for Yes campaign; businesswoman Norah Casey; writer Anne Enright; Pieta House founder Joan Freeman; broadcaster Olivia O’Leary; former politician and chair of the Road Safety Authority Liz O’Donnell; Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly; poets and academics Paula Meehan, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin or Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill; runner Sonia O’Sullivan; MEP Mairead McGuinness; Rough Magic’s artistic director Lynne Parker; former EU commissioner Máire GeogheganQuinn; and presenter Miriam O’Callaghan, a woman who understands life’s juggle.
Some have ruled themselves out but may be persuaded to reconsider if backed by a political party. Women can be hesitant about putting themselves forward.
Alternatively, we could look towards the new Irish and the diaspora. As soon as the mind is set to it, plenty of names bubble up.
No doubt, other people could draw up a different list of impressive women.
Mr Higgins is likeable and articulate, and has served us well. But we must not presume he is the only citizen capable of filling the office with distinction. Indeed, he ought to have made his formal announcement sooner because he lays himself open to a charge of wiliness – the Dáil is about to rise and many local authorities have no meetings scheduled until the autumn. His delay appears to be a manoeuvre to box in potential challengers, rather than due to a bout of soul-searching.
OCTOBER 26 is a likely date for an election, when a blasphemy referendum is envisaged and possibly a vote on the Constitution’s archaic reference to women’s place in the home.
We need to hear from Mr Higgins why he wants a second term after running on a single-term platform in 2011 and what he believes he can deliver. A change of mind is allowed – but it must be persuasive.
A sense of renewal matters for us as a people, and a presidential contest is part of that process. It allows us to reflect on our future direction, and consider whether we share the vision advanced by those who aspire to be the nation’s figurehead.
While the presidency is a ceremonial function, it is an important element in the State’s edifice. It would be wrong for any officeholder to continue on the basis of a nod from the larger political parties. The presidency is the people’s gift.
We should have a vote ... we are a republic, not a monarchy; citizens not subjects