World of Politics with Harry McGee

There have been some very prospective candidates for the Presidency over the years – but few were as eccentric as a gentleman who went by the name, William Abbey of the Holy Cross Fitzsimons. Fitzsimons was a retired customs officer, originally from Tipperary, who stood in a multiple of elections during the 1980s, never amassing more than a handful of votes.

In 1983, all the parties in the Dáil agreed that it would be better not to hold a Presidential election and allow the incumbent, Patrick Hillery, a second term. If there were to be a contest, a challenger would have to secure the backing of 20 Oireachtas members, or four of the State’s then 31 councils, to qualify as a candidate.

A number of people put their names forward as potential candidates. RTÉ allowed them each a minute or two of airtime, to make a pitch to councillors, TDs and Senators, in the hope of securing a nomination.

All of them were figures on the margin, but none more so than Fitzsimons. He was a gaunt man with dark hair and spectacles, with a cheery disposition. He chose to sing part of his political broadcast, with a slightly off-key rendition of Slievenamon.

Needless to say, he did not secure the support required to stand.

After an eventful 2024, in which there were three elections – general, European and local – there will be only one national election in 2025. And that will be the contest to choose the successor to President Michael D Higgins, who steps down after two terms, 14 years, in office.

The election will be held in late autumn, with the inauguration in early November.

Already a plethora of names have appeared in the public realm, as possible candidates for Áras an Uachtaráin. They range from very established political names to left field, and wherever beyond that is.

The role of the President was established following the adoption of the new Constitution in 1997. The first president, the author Douglas Hyde, was an agreed candidate between the parties.

After that Fianna Fáil candidates won an unbroken chain of elections for over half a century until 1990, when Mary Robinson (principally backed by the Labour Party) defeated the Fianna Fáil candidate Brian Lenihan.

Pictured: Flashback….Michael D Higgins speaking to the large crowd in Eyre Square at his homecoming after he was elected President in 2011.  Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.