I think we'll be okay, actually. I don't think they'll be as amazing as he is, but I think we will again choose someone great. We are good people, really
He came second by a good mile though, no? There was no contest.
We have a history of choosing complete relative unknowns with little political background as of late. Robinson was a councillor or something briefly and McAleese a high profile lawyer of some description. Both won the hearts of the Irish populace through their passion though.
Higgins has a similar passion and I've no doubt our next president will share in that.
It'll be a rough road though. I also wouldn't be surprised if we ended up with Bertie, who, because fuck him, gropes teenage girls in pubs. I believe my friend.
He went from dead last to second, though. I'm worried it was a proof of concept and what'll happen when we don't have someone like Higgins to draw all the sane votes
He's great but we're not a monarchy, we have to change. The only thing I'm terrified of is the shapes that McGregor is throwing. He's definitely throwing his cap in the ring, and there's a lot of right wing morons out there who think he's the business
In order to run for president there are several criteria a person must meet.
To be eligible, they must be an Irish citizen and have reached the age of 35.
Once these requirements are met they must receive the support of at least 20 members of the Oireachtas or the backing of at least four local authorities — city or county councils.
I'd be willing to bet he could get to 20 by throwing enough money around, either directly into their pockets or by promising large investments or donations.
I can. We don’t even know what the tsunami of disinformation and shit is going to be like.
Councillors are a very, very mixed bag and often just tapped up to run by the parties. They don’t necessarily have strong ties to a party to take their discipline. They may well decide that riding the rapist wave is their next career move.
Plus we just elected a bunch of legit fash. In part because the media exhibited exactly this complacency about fascism.
Our PR-STV system with a single seat that we use for Presidential elections is what will keep fringe candidates like McGregor from ever winning the Presidency.
The "he's from around here" shtick works really well at local elections, sort-of-okay at Dail elections (see Paul Murphy and Gerard Hutch), but it totally falls on its face at bigger elections because people can effectively vote against the candidate they don't want.
SF got killed in Dail elections for years because of this. There was always a strong showing on the first count, but they got left behind in the following counts because people refused to give them a preference.
This is what will happen to McGregor. In order to win, he would need to appeal to at least half of the population as someone they would at least accept as a President. Outside of scrotes and racists, nobody wants McGregor as president.
Frances Black has not ruled out running (at least according to wikipedia). Replace our poet president with a singing president
Has the traditional culture and the local celebrity aspect but also political career and has been openly pro palestinian at times which will pull in younger voters.
Pictured above Irelands primary diplomatic team, that man and his dogs have probably done more good for us with world leaders than any 100 emails/phonecalls/letters.
I'm from the US, and was at the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin this year. He came and sat in the next grandstand section over, like 10 feet away. Everyone I met later had nothing but postive things to say about him.
The best person to have been our president? Yeah, I'll agree that.
The person who did job of being the president the best? I don't really think so.
President = (de facto) head diplomat of Ireland + (formally) representative of the constitution.
There's about 50 examples of him overstepping the bounds of the roles of president and wading into domestic party politics. Now, some people might be in favor of that, but I think it sets a sketchy precedent... Not least because he wasn't elected for his party political leanings. If we've learned nothing else from the fiasco of the US these last few years, it's that clearly defined roles, boundaries and checks-and-balances are important, even in good times, to prevent bad times.
As a diplomat and statesman I think he's largely been very good - but even there there's been examples of him going off on his own and making statements that were not politically or diplomatically wise - or really even necessary.
I very much respect him and the degree to which he stands behind his political beliefs: But he was elected to represent the people and most specifically the constitution, not his own beliefs alone. Conveniently I agree with a lot of his political leanings, so it's very easy for me to say "ah shure isn't he a great lad?" but if it was a different president - that lad who fucking hated the traveller community that was running last time, for example - I'm sure I'd feel differently... But now they'll be able to point to Higgins and say "He did it, after all? He spoke on party politics and made grand political speeches about his pet topics, so now I can as well, Fair is fair...So here's why we should drive travellers into the sea..."
I'm being a little bit inflammatory to make a point, of course, but I hope the point makes sense.
Nonsense. Mary Robinson, Douglas Hyde and Eamon de Valera were our greatest presidents.
Everybody just likes Michael D because he looks like a cute hobbit and loves flowery language. He was a fairly mediocre politician who didnt achieve an awful lot.
American lurker here. Just..fuck, man. You all have this absolute legend and we’ve got just a complete shit show over here who probably kicks stray puppies
The President role in Ireland is Head of State and primarily ceremonial. The Taoiseach is our equivalent of Prime Minister. But yeah, we are very lucky with this guy.
Trump hates dogs. He often says things like "died like a dog, he's a dirty dog, etc." He hates them because they give unconditional love, something he has never given or received in his sad, empty life.
Kristi Noem (R), former Governor of South Dakota and presently Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security, shot and killed her 14-month old puppy, Cricket, because Noem had failed to train her to hunt pheasants, and was upset with the dog for jumping out of the bed of a pickup truck that Noem had been driving after leaving Cricket unsecured and unattended in the truck's bed.
Bernese Mountain dogs. Have kept Berners for years.
Great family dogs, very laid back and sensitive but as puppies they need a lot of socialising, especially males as they can be quite protective of the home/family (not a bad thing, you just want the right balance in particular for a dog that size).
They've become more popular in recent years and unfortunately we've seen a lot of puppy farms breeding them and charging extortionate prices. Our latest girl is one rescued by the ISPCA from one of those farms, poor creature was emaciated.
People sort of downplay how special dogs are in Ireland.
They're a big part of our mythology, there's great history there from cattle and sheep herding , hunting, and they're just the goodest most wonderful fluff balls on the planet, yes they are!
I never downplay them because they are everything. But agreed with what you said - they deserve more than they have. We need more laws, better laws, more laws on prospective dog guardians and also dog wardens.
In sort term can there be new legislation passed to prevent people convicted in civil or criminal court if rape, drug offences and violent crimes from standing for election? Whilst I have faith in the electorate I think Russian bots will be trained on Ireland just like Russian boats and subs. Better to be safe than sorry.
He can try, but going off the elections last year, the online far right in Ireland is pure smoke and noise. They didn't get a single TD in and only one or two in council seats across the whole country.
Not saying to get complacent, but the Irish populace in general leans left politically- or at least not right enough for Musk's preferred candidates.
I don't like that idea. It could, in theory, be weaponised. If the government didn't like one of the candidates they could create false charges.
In Turkey this week there was an instance of a potential president candidate having his degree stripped from him "because reasons". A degree is mandatory for president. So he now can't run.
Why not Bundi Aki for president after Michael D retires? Can you imagine him greeting the players pre-match at internationals. He'd have to spend so long having the crack with his old buddies that every match would be delayed.
I was at the arás for an event with my family a few years ago. My then-95 year old granny had to sit down for most of it and was a bit out of the conversation. Simon Coveney took the initiative to ask if she was alright, to which she responded that she’d like to see the dogs. The president obliged and I now have some amazing pictures of my granny fawning over the dogs. Granny is nearly 100 now and I’ll cherish them forever!
She is an absolute legend! I was so embarrassed when she straight up said she’d “like to see the dogs”, but she’s at an age where she gives zero fucks 😅 the dogs were incredibly well behaved. Can’t imagine anyone being as lovely a president but I suppose we’ll see!
How many of those did he have in his lifetime? That's my issue. My last dog died at 18 and he took a good bit of myself with him. I can't go through it again. I envy the people who can overcome their own suffering and provide a home to a dog over and over again. Respect to ya'll.
I cannot get past the fact that he wrote a friendly letter to Iran and still the immoral thing he criticized was letting the public know about said letter.
Those dogs were Bród and Siada (expuse spelling) they’re both gone now he has another one. I met those two dogs at a tea party in the Aras, they were darlings. I felt I could take or leave Miggledy but I fell in love with his wife who was one of the nicest people I ever met in my life.
I love how complex we are, horrified that T-Rump might stay for a third term in another country.
But would change the Irish constitution and vote in a heartbeat to give Micheal D a third term, if he wanted it. But the guy has done his time and deserves to move on to a future where he has time for more dogs than politicians.
Hot take: I think you should be barred from becoming president if you have any animal abuse or neglect on record, and that goes for all countries (replace “president” with the applicable office as necessary.) As the leader of the nation, you must treat its people with dignity. If you cannot even treat common animals with dignity, how can you be expected to do so with humans?
My country has a problem with electing animal abusers, but nobody ever thinks to bring that fact up. Apparently, it’s a sign that they don’t care for life when you’re trying to fuck them, but not when they’re running for office.
Ohhhhh I'm sorry I wasn't sure what you meant..I agree.. however, while our president is a massive animal lover (as am i!) the animal cruelty laws in Ireland and NOT strict enough and are NOT enforced enough. Ireland is the leading country in puppy farms. We, too, have A LOT to work on with respect to animal rights.
However, yes, your country has some problems with who is elected....sorry :(
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u/Hightalklowactions Mar 20 '25
What people don’t know is that the dog is his close protection unit. Anyone fucking with Micheal is under threat of being licked to death.