Editorial: Presidential ballot to be exclusive

The course of a presidential election rarely runs true as we are seeing once again.

Our history columnist Cllr Kieran McCarthy was thwarted in his efforts to get a nomination from his own Cork City Council on Monday evening. Councillors from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin voted against nominating a candidate and their 15 votes were enough to carry the day on Monday.

Kieran McCarthy was among seven candidates present who gave short presentations to the councillors. He told the Cork Independent he was “disappointed but not surprised by the ongoing vote blocking by the larger political parties”.

As he pointed out, they are his colleagues so he knows them and how they operate but it must be disappointing.

Former lord mayor Dan Boyle was less measured in his reaction on X. “Tonight Cork City Council had the opportunity of part nominating a candidate to contest the presidential election in Ireland. At a ten minute public meeting, on a vote of 15-10, without debate, the council voted not to endorse any candidate who appeared before it this evening.

“Among those presenting was council colleague Kieran McCarthy, my predecessor as lord mayor of Cork, a role he performed with distinction. He gave an excellent presentation to a prior closed meeting of the council, the best of whom presented. He deserved the council's support.”

For more coverage of this see page 10.

Of course it was little surprise that the controversial former MMA fighter Conor McGregor tapped out this week. He pulled out on Monday, the day he was due to address meetings of Dublin City Council and Kildare County Council and actually engage with the process. He previously claimed he would be on the ballot paper having secured nominations from politicians and local authorities.

He said on X that he was withdrawing following “careful reflection, and after consulting with my family”.

“This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one at this moment in time. While I will not contest this election, my commitment to Ireland does not end here,” he said.

On Monday, European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) Ireland released their review of Conor McGregor's online campaign for the Irish Presidency. The study examined 127 posts from McGregor’s X account between January and September 2025. It found that: 58% of posts contained false claims about the Irish presidency, constitution, or history.

28% included ethnonationalist rhetoric, while others attacked government figures as “traitors” or enemies of the people. At least six posts implied political violence, targeting migrants and public officials. Platform safeguards failed: 23 posts attracted suggested fact-checks from X’s Community Notes, but none were activated. EDMO Ireland concluded that: “While Conor McGregor was never likely to secure a presidential nomination, his campaign has wider implications. It highlights how Ireland fits into an international political trend that merges celebrity, online movements, and the vast resources of billionaires to seed and normalise anti-democratic and authoritarian ideas. It would be a mistake to dismiss these dynamics.”

McGregor was never going to run but that doesn’t mean he didn’t achieve his aims.