"She secured 18 Oireachtas members for her cause, but needed 20. So now there are only three in the race: Heather Humphreys of Fine Gael, Catherine Connolly for a coalition of the left and Fianna Fáil's choice, Jim Gavin. Bowing out, Ms Steen said that while she could not be president, being a citizen of this country was honour enough."
"Ms Steen, who has a Catholic right-wing background, said she had made her bid "in the hope of giving voters a real choice". The comment stung some, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin bristling at the idea that her failure to secure a place was "anti-democratic". "It's quite extraordinary that the people who have been criticising Fianna Fáil for quite a number of years now expect us to support their candidate," he said."
Ms Steen sought nomination for the presidency but obtained 18 Oireachtas endorsements, falling short of the required 20 and withdrawing. Her exit left three candidates: Heather Humphreys (Fine Gael), Catherine Connolly (left coalition), and Fianna Fáil's choice, Jim Gavin. Steen emphasized giving voters a real choice and drew support from Catholic right-wing quarters. Her failed bid provoked accusations of anti-democratic processes from some and calls for debate on nomination rules from others. Critics and supporters highlighted concerns about the dominant influence of larger parties over nominations and framed the situation as a democratic deficit.
Read at Irish Independent
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]