Independent socialist Catherine Connolly’s coolness to Brussels and hostility to Donald Trump put her at odds with the Irish government.
She’s slammed NATO, voted against EU treaties, been accused of offering propaganda boosts for dictators from Russia to Syria — and now she’s on track to become Ireland’s next president.
Catherine Connolly, a former mayor of the western city of Galway who’s spent the past nine years as an opposition socialist lawmaker in Ireland’s parliament, has built a commanding polling lead ahead of Friday’s election versus her only challenger, former government minister Heather Humphreys from the center-ground Fine Gael party.
The latest opinion poll, published Wednesday night, put Connolly on 55.7 percent support compared to Humphreys’ 31.6 percent. Results will be announced Saturday, but the surprisingly fleet-footed 68-year-old Connolly acts and talks like she’s already won.
Not that it matters in a purely ceremonial governmental position.
There is some truth to that, but I think you generally want savvy individuals even in ceremonial positions
Fair, but have you seen the other candidates?
I have not, no.
Are you saying nothing they advocate for matters at all? No? Then where do you draw the line? Seems like a disingenuous statement. Of course it matters what the opinions of a elected official are.
Sure, it matters what the opinions of an elected official are. But when the elected official in question holds little to no power, then does it really matter what their specific opinion on NATO is, especially when the other candidates are right-wing dipshits? It’s good to have a head of state with generally respectable opinions, but in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t matter.