A Short Note on IRELAND’s Presidential Election

 

See todays (FRIDAY’s) image on GOOGLE’s front page.

Today is IRELAND’s presidential election. Three candidates on the ballot paper, but one is not running an active campaign. ... So, it is really a two-horse race—two women—an independent (formerly LABOUR) and a candidate from FG (one of the two parties in the governing FF-FG coalition). The independent is the favourite according to the bookies. Odds on the FG candidate are around 10-to-1.

The leading opposition party—SINN FEIN—did not field its own candidate. In fact, SF is supporting the independent. And the smaller opposition parties all (or nearly all) also support the independent. The third candidate, the one on the ballot paper but who is not actively running a campaign, was nominated by FF—one of the two parties in the governing coalition. My understanding is that if the FF candidate does not clear 12%, then FF will sustain considerable negative financial consequences—I think a loss of its deposit. Of course, FF also sunk its own party funds into the candidate’s election prior to the candidate’s decision to stop active campaigning.

Throughout most of post-independence Irish history, FF and FG competed with one another. Indeed, immediately after independence, the two parties’ antecedents fought on opposite sides in a civil war. Lately they have become coalition partners—the Irish uniparty.

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘A Short Note on IRELAND’s Presidential Election,’ New Reform Club (Oct. 24, 2025, 6:51 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-short-note-on-irelands-presidential.html>;