I give you Michael D Higgins 9th President of Ireland

I’ve just been down the Wexford count to watch votes being counted. It’s not as hectic as a Dail or local election as the candidates aren’t there. The boxes I saw tell me that Sean Gallagher has done well in rural parts of Wexford but urban boxes have yet to be counted. Michael D Higgins is doing much better than expected. In one box I saw from Adamstown the votes were effectively divided between Gallagher and Higgins on a 60/40 basis with 10% for all other candidates. There are over 200 boxes here and the majority are not yet open. Votes have to be separated from referenda ballots. The count will not finish tonight. Given that the Wexford boxes have yet to be openend I beleive Michael D will top the poll in this constituency.

Michael D has a strong local link. I was delighted to see Paddy McKiernan and his daughter. Michael is a brother in law of Paddy’s wife. Michael D’s niece is Paddy’s daughter, both pleased and clearly proud of the national trend and the clear indications from Co Wexford. Their moment is coming. The Irish presidency is the one political office that has retained respect because of the integrity of the office holder. Voters believed that a Sean Gallagher presidency would damage that. That is why Michael D Higgins is going to win in Wexford and also nationally.

I am surprised that Gay Mitchell hasn’t performed well as there is a strong Fine Gael vote in Wexford. I understand exactly why FG members nominated Gay. No party member likes head office telling them who to select. No TD likes to be sidelined by head office who do not run for election. Sinn Fein will have achieved the scalp of Fianna Fail. Beating Fianna Fail is what Sinn Fein wants. They want to be the main opposition and nothing will stop that project. Any hope Fianna Fail has of reviving its moribund organisation is now in tatters. I didn’t see anyone that I recognise from Fianna Fail at the count in Wexford. When did that last happen? Not even the tea is boiled in a Fianna Fail kettle in Wexford anymore.

Sinn Fein may reflect on this election as a missed opportunity when the dust settles. I’d have expected them to perform better than what I’ve seen in Wexford today. As for the other candidates there is little in Wexford to cheer them up. Mary Davis, David Norris and Dana all doing poorly here. Another notable achievement is passing under the radar. Patrick Nulty is winning the by-election to replace the late Brian Lenihan in Dublin West. This is significant as one more constituency will now have 2 Labour TD’s. Not since 1982 has a government won a by-election. This is great achievement for Patrick and his supporters in Blanchardstown. Well done, a great day for Labour. We’ve held our place in the polls and are now winning seats. At the end of the day that’s what counts.

Why Michael D is the man for me!

It’s almost 30 years since I first heard Michael D Higgins speak. It was in the political cauldron of Labour’s 1982 National Conference in Leisureland Salthill. Michael D was party chairman who opened the conference with a passionate analysis of Ireland’s economic difficulties and a critique of our social conservatism. He was delighted that the party conference had come to his own city. He ended with a passionate plea to those who shared our desire for change to join Labour and change our society.

Labour in 1982 was a very different place to where it is at now. Politically threatened from the left, internally riven with personalised rivalries and hosting a virus called Militant Tendency, Labour was not in a position to radically transform an Ireland in thrall to the constitutional crusade or GUBU politics. That conference ended Michael O’Leary’s tenure as Labour leader and you could cut the political tension in the air.

Almost 30 years on the issues may be different but the passion for empowerment of people is still the same. That’s why Michael D will make an outstanding president. What separates Michael from the other candidates in this election is his analysis of how we can have a better country. We have a passive society, where the expectation of the populace is that something is done for them regardless as to whether there is an entitlement or not. It is a curious aspect of the Irish mind that we feel that the need to have another individual solve matters for ourselves. That’s not to write off our society, we’re second to none in our concern for other people who are suffering.

Add to that societal changes in media and values which emphasise the ego. A recent survey of children showed that jobs now considered desirable are pop singers, soap actors and models. A huge change from the fireman or train driver, occupations of service to society, that predominated a generation or 2 ago. Society is now heading in a direction that values celebrity not participation. I find these changes worrying for many reasons as they exclude swathes of society. An exclusive society will produce a stratified Ireland. The flirting with celebrity in this election is another indicator that rather than confront the societal changes some parties are pandering to it.

Michael D Higgins believes in something fundamentally different. Where a society engages with its citizens outcomes are much better, society more stable and participation improves. Active citizenry is a very democratic idea. It is inclusive and has the potential to transform our damaged society to a better place. It encourages all regardless of income or sex, age or ability. It is enormously positive at a time when people need to hear something that will give them hope. It marks Michael out uniquely as a candidate that appeals to all citizens, it can help bridge that gap through which in the last 14 years citizens have slipped.

I mentioned earlier that we as a nation are generous to those worse off. Ironically through our generosity especially to 3^rd world countries we have helped societies where participation is more active than here in Ireland. If we can make the difference abroad we can make that difference at home too. Its just a month to the Presidential election. Michael’s analysis is the reason why he is attracting more support in terms of first and second preference than the other candidates. It is the single positive message of this campaign and it is why when all the controversy over letters and NI is over and the votes are counted he deserves to win.

The issues may be changed but the passion and values of Michael D still stand out.

The race for the race for the Park

In October we will have our first presidential election this century. A lot has changed in Ireland since the last president was elected in 1997. A presidential election is a different type of election. I’ve always regarded it as a statement of how we feel about ourselves in an international context and how we visualise ourselves as a nation. Mary Robinson represented a modern aspiring pluralist state that had something to say on the international stage. Mary McAleese is a more spiritual president who makes us feel comfortable. So what does the future hold for us now? Do we need a president who will re-build our self esteem as a community and if so to what end? Suggestions that the President should perform a role in reviving the economy miss the reality of the last decade that the economic growth didn’t reach everywhere. That suggests a President for a few and not for all. That’s the risk with celebrity TV candidates. How can they connect with the marginalised? I’m out!

Before you can run you’ve got to get a nomination. I’ve always transferred my vote in the past for David Norris in a Séanad elections. He’s an outstanding senator but would he make a president? If he’s nominated I’d certainly transfer to him but can he get nominated? The arrival of other independent candidates like Mary Davis and the Dragon make the process of getting nominations from the county councils harder as each candidate needs 4 and who’s to say that there are enough councils inclined to nominate? What if a political party decided to ask councils to nominate their candidates for them as they have every entitlement to do? Cats, pigeons and setting among come to mind.

That leaves Sinn Fein, Labour, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. I think Sinn Fein will nominate a candidate. Their 17 Oireachtas members plus help from a handful of like minded TD’s could see a candidate, perhaps Gerry Adams, with an eye to the 2016 centenary of the rebellion. Fianna Fail will run a candidate in the hope of a reasonable performance and picking up transfers on later counts. I expect Brian Crowley will be their man. Fine Gael may nominate Mairead McGuiness who will poll well in rural areas and outside Dublin. Which brings me back to Labour. We have 3 very able people declared as contenders; Michael D, Fergus Finlay and Kathleen O’Meara. It’s hard to say no to someone but it’s got to be done. Finlay and O’Meara are outstanding advocates in the area of health and welfare, 2 issues Labour has always been strong on. But I think the bold and imaginative candidate would be Michael D Higgins.

He has so many strings to his bow. Poet, Lecturer, former Arts Minister, philosopher, Galway via the Banner and Limerick and a journey through TG4 included. Potential support for Michael exists not just in these geographical areas but well beyond. He is a strong candidate who has a lot to offer and what’s more you could visualise him having a lot to say about our society and as to how national regeneration could be fairer, better and more sustainable than what went before. He’s done that for years in or out of office. That’s what I want a president to represent and to be. Michael D is the man who ended Section 31 and his appeal will bring in transfers and support beyond the Labour’s core vote. No one can win without that. He’s regarded by everyone as an outstanding orator and motivator.
Mary Robinson was challenged by Noel Browne for the Labour nomination in 1990. When Mary won that nomination we all set about winning the election around the slogan “A President with a Purpose”. That meant something then to me and it still does. It’s time to be bold and have a purpose. That’s why I hope Labour nominates Michael D Higgins as its candidate for the presidency next month.