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Gavin Duffy addressing Carlow County Council today.

Trump, racism and tea parties: Yes, this was the talk from the Irish presidential hopefuls

Next stop on the presidential campaign… Carlow: Independent hopefuls vie for council nomination

NEXT STOP ON the presidential election train… Carlow County Council.

And today’s stop didn’t disappoint the gathered media.

There was talk of Trump, tea parties at the Áras, racism in Ireland, the Pope not meeting abuse survivors and how much the president spends on hotels and travel.

Marie Goretti Moylan, an Athlone woman who has expressed her interest in the job to a number of councils including Carlow, had piqued interest of the travelling reporters in recent days. In her letter looking for support, she spoke of her volunteer work, her love of music, art and golf and her wish to be an ambassador for the Midlands. However, today she was a no-show.

The local authority, however, did hear from Senator Joan Freeman, founder of the Pieta House suicide charity, businessman Gavin Duffy, artist Kevin Sharkey (who, you may recall, was not too pleased at not being asked Waterford County Council’s meeting earlier this month), and ex-Aer Lingus employee Patrick Feeney.

The presidential hopefuls have been attempting to do a whistle-stop tour of local county councils this summer in a bid to secure a nomination as candidates for the election in October.

Waterford City and County Council has already had the pleasure of hearing from them and today, it was Carlow’s turn.

Though the council cannot make a nomination yet – the Environment Minister must make a ministerial order officially announcing the election first – all three are hoping that they can garner the support of local authorities to get on the ballot.

To do so, they must have the support of four local authorities or 20 members of the Oireachtas.

Gavin Duffy

First with his pitch today was Gavin Duffy.

He was in the chamber well before the 2.30pm start – working the room, pressing the flesh.

“I believe that I have the necessary experience, energy, integrity and vision to bring a new and invigorated presidency,” he began.

“A Presidency for our times.The President of Ireland has what I call ‘hard’ power and ‘soft’ power,” he said, adding that he knows how to use both.

I will be a President who goes beyond speeches and invitations for tea in the Park.

Summer Festival 2018 - Day Four - Galway Racecourse Presidential candidate Gavin Duffy PA Wire / PA Images PA Wire / PA Images / PA Images

“Sound judgement, empathy, courage, expertise and the ability to weigh the advice of experts” -  these are requirements for the next president, he believes, and they are “second nature” to him.

Taking something of a swipe at the incumbent and reports that €3,000 was spent on a hotel stay during his tenure, Duffy said he will immediately move to put in place a comprehensive voluntary protocol to give effect to Freedom of Information laws.

I have no doubt that the Office of President will benefit from greater scrutiny, openness and transparency and will be held in even greater respect by the people.
As you well know, the people do not begrudge the necessary legitimate expenditure associated with any role in public office but they are concerned about any expenses that are shrouded in secrecy.

Answering a question by one council member, he said he has no links to any property developers and he can prove that if needs be.

Duffy came across as a confident businessman, often calling councillors by their first name, playing for a degree of familiarity. He used some good auld Irish slagging for the same reason, telling the odd councillor they were “getting on a bit”.

However, he also got serious. He told the chamber that he has taking a great risk putting his name forward because to raise the necessary funds to do so, he has mortgaged his home. His exposure is not just financial either, he has also left himself open to the public’s scrutiny.

Joan Freeman 

Next up was Pieta House founder Senator Joan Freeman.

With her expertise in mental health services, it was no surprise to hear that her presidency would focus on that.

If elected, she wants to hold the first presidential mental health forum.

While Freeman said the office of the president is no place for politics, she departed from the statement somewhat when she said she would be “extraordinarily disappointed” if Pope Francis does not meet with victims of sexual abuse when he visits this month.

It was then time for some questions, such as who she voted for in the last election. Like Duffy, she voted for Sean Gallagher last time around.

When asked afterwards if she thinks he should run again, she was less committal – ‘if he feels it’s right for him’.

Freeman also agrees with Duffy on transparency around the spending of the office of the president, although she believes it is a step too far to demand that Michael D Higgins release his medical records.

Irish Presidential election Presidential candidate Senator Joan Freeman Niall Carson Niall Carson

Kevin Sharkey

Artist Kevin Sharkey followed Freeman.

He began by asking what makes a president. Is it someone who is connected or someone who cares deeply about people?, he mused.

Sharkey said he wants to address racism in Ireland, adding that his mother used to call him “that little black bastard” which really hurt coming from someone he loved, he said.

There needs to be open dialogue about racism, adding that it is not racist to have a conversation about immigration.

I’m not against immigration, we need to wake up and with Brexit happening it’s not racist to have a conversation about immigration. It’s a conversation we need to have as adults.

“This is Ireland and it should always be Ireland,” said the presidential hopeful who grew up in Donegal. He added that it makes sense to him that Ireland “will always predominantly be a white country”.

He said there is nothing wrong with looking after Irish people first, but said that does not mean that others should be excluded.

“It is not racist to think your own people should be prioritised and looked after.”

One councillor said his speech had a hint of ‘make Ireland great again’ and smacked of Trump’s rhetoric.

Speaking of the US president, Sharkey said he had a €50-bet on Donald Trump when he won.

“When I saw Trump I said ‘oh my God it’s John Wayne’. You remember John Wayne, ‘where are the broads at?’,” he said.

“Trump hasn’t killed as many people as the rest of them [other American presidents] so I’d give him a vote,” he said.

Sharkey said he did not understand the media’s obsession with Trump: “He has been elected we need to get used to it.”

In his opinion, Trump is a man who is trying to get the job done, and he believes he is delivering. There were gasps and giggles in the chamber when Sharkey said he does not agree with Trump on a great many things, but added “fair play” to the man for giving up his “beautiful wife” and rounds of golf to take on the role.

File Photo Internationally famous Irish artist Kevin Sharkey has been homeless for months, after falling victim to Ireland's accommodation crisis. Sharkey - whose fans include Kate Moss and the late Whitney Houston - was the darling of the art world and m Presidential hopeful Kevin Sharkey RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

Patrick Feeney

A former worker with Aer Lingus, Patrick Feeney was the last candidate to address the councillors today as Marie Gorretti Moylan was a no-show this afternoon.

Feeney said he wants the job as president so he can challenge the status quo. He wants electoral reform, but ultimately he wants Carlow to get its beet factory back, adding that both Carlow and Waterford should have standalone universities.

original (13) PA PA

There was just one unexpected interruption throughout the day – when the theme tune of the RTÉ Sean O’Rourke radio programme rang out from a councillor’s phone in the middle of Freeman’s speech.

If any or all of the candidates get their way, they might have to hear it for real, in person, very soon.

Presidential elections are known to be merciless, somewhat vicious, unpredictable and colourful, and by the standard displayed today by the hopefuls, we’re in for an interesting, and bumpy ride in the run up to October.

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    Mute kerrill thornhill
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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:21 AM

    >5000 Civilian dead, over 2000 kids. Collective punishment, denial of water, food & power – numerous atrocities & war crimes carried out with impunity. Scant reporting of the slaughter in western media, no calls for sanctions, no fundraisers or calls to provide arms to Palestinian resistance. Why do our media organisations deny Palestinians the same human dignity they gave Ukranians? or even advocate for the basic application of international law? just silently supporting genocide. The ugly underbelly of the EU & US is there for all the world to see

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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:25 AM

    @kerrill thornhill: it’s shocking isn’t it, Israel targeting hospitals and civilian infrastructure, 2500 children dead for israels insatiable thirst for stealing land.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:33 AM

    @kerrill thornhill: what about the hundreds of thousands that putin has slaughtered?

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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:51 AM

    first of all, you only have Hamas’s word for the casualty numbers. Secondly, you do know a large slice of the Palestinian leadership WANTS its civilians to die, don’t you? They know the gullible West laps up images of babies being pulled from rubble and will put pressure on Israel. It’s win/win for them. Newsflash: Islamists like ISIS and Hamas love death like we love life – they are a death cult. They don’t think like you. Just look at memri.org if you don’t believe me. If this were purely a territorial dispute, the Palestinians would’ve had a state of their own long ago. They object to a Jewish state in Islamic territory, end of. You think they wring their hands about Islamic colonialism the way our friend Kerill does about Western colonialism? Not a chance. They are Islamic supremacist.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:58 AM

    Russia had been sanctioned relentlessly, thrown out of international financial systems, Russian individuals wealth was take from them. I personally organised a fundraiser making €1.5k for Ujranian refugees, my home village was 25% Ukranian (welcomed with open arms) at one stage last year. The West bombed Russian infrastructure, provided >$150bn in weapons & military support, it runs non-stop propoganda for Ukraine. Conversely, the West provides bombs for Israel to kill Palestinian refugees, it denies them food, water & electricity and our media dehumanisees them. Both people are resisting illegal occupation – other the white western supremacy, how do you explain this absurd difference in treatment?

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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:02 AM

    @Squarepeg 01: There are thousand and thousands of images and videos of the destruction of Gaza, buildings razed and dismembered children, which our media is dutifully ignoring – you’ve lost the plot if you think the deaths are made up… Palestinians have been living there for centuries – you clearly don’t understand the term colonialism is you think Benny Netanyahu from Philadelhia is the local to the region…

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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:37 AM

    @kerrill thornhill: to reinterate, Hamas WANT their citizens to die and in many cases stop them from following Israeli instructions to evacuate so that they WILL die. Jews have been living in Palestine for centuries, too. Towns like Hebron had an uninterupted Jewish presence since Biblical times until the pogrom of 1929. ‘Oh but Jewish immigration stepped up following the 19th century Zionist project.’ Sure, but Arabs immigrated to work for the British, too. How come they’re not called illegal occupiers?
    There is a moral difference between people killed as collateral damage and terrorist gangs going house to house, raping women, burning families alive, shooting kids in the head, murdering babies in their cribs, abducting >200 hostages etc.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 11:49 AM

    @Squarepeg 01: Your argument is primarily an emotive racist diatribe.. I know many Arabs and Palestinians – they are no different to us. The number of people killed would indicate that Israel is considerably more barbaric – unless you think Palestinians are non-human? There are clear international borders (1967) between Israel and Palestine – the occupation is clearly defined in law as illegal, as are the settlements. The solution to this conflict is respecting both parties, international law and a negotiated peaceful coexistence.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:14 PM

    @kerrill thornhill: you are living in a fantasy land. Both sides covet the land, but only one party wants peaceful coexistence, the other wants to annihilate all Jews from Palestine. What clearer proof of that do you need than Hamas’s rampage on Oct 7th, which you never seem to mention.
    Nothing racist in what I said. Of course, the Palestinians are as human as you or I, but I was referring to their culture, which is absolutely different from ours. I mean, it’s not like they go to much trouble to hide it. They glorify martyrs by naming streets after them and paying their families rewards. This world is just a stepping stone to Paradise. Did you not know this?

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    Oct 24th 2023, 12:46 PM

    @Squarepeg 01: Your racist depiction of Arabs is ridiculous, straight from the daily telegraph. As is your insistence that Palestinians want to wipe out Israel – Fatah agree to the legal boundaries, even Hamas changed their charter to recognise the 1967 international boundaries. If you think Israel can continue illegally occupying & ethnically cleansing Palestine without starting a regional war – you are mistaken. World opinion is firmly in Palestinians court, and against the genocide in Gaza – Israel is alienating every one of it’s friends by ignoring international law.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 1:24 PM

    @kerrill thornhill: The settlements may exacerbate the situation, but the deeper problem for Islamists is the existence of Israel itself. You and the millions of other pro-Palestinian Westerners can continue to bury your heads in the sand about the types of people you are supporting all you like, but doing so has consequences. If they destroy Israel, do you think the West won’t be next? 10% of France’s population is Muslim. Many major European cities are already hotbeds of jihadi activity – what do you think it will be like as the Muslim population approaches parity? Putting Mulsim grievances down to Western colonialism would severely mischaracterise the situation – a very large number of them want to live under some form of sharia law. This is a spiritual battle, for us and them.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 3:43 PM

    @Squarepeg 01: You are completely ignoring the internationally recognised legal position, rambling about holy wars & spiritual battles – weirdos thinking the bible/torah is a property register started this mess. How about respecting the internationally recognised border, that over 130 countries have agreed to, along with Palestinian leadership. Just enforce this border, demilitarise the region and bring in peacekeepers. No one will win in a war

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    Oct 24th 2023, 5:07 PM

    @kerrill thornhill: with every reply you make, the more obvious it becomes that you don’t really understand the people you are supporting. You’re secular. You mouth the left wing shibboleths of ‘colonialism’ and ‘occupation’ while mocking ‘weirdos’ who believe in the Torah and the Bible. Are you so unself-aware not to realise how strongly your Palestinian buddies believe in the Qu’ran? Why do you think they shout ‘Alahu Akbar’ when they kill the Kafir? It’s funny in a way. Saul Alinsky taught the radical left how to use the values of the West against its own institutions in order to bring them down. Hamas and other Islamists are using a similar tactic, only this time they are hooking into the intersectional oppression narrative of the Left. In other words, you are being played.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 9:07 AM

    Where is kerrill the Russian bot? Where are you with your deflection?

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    Oct 24th 2023, 9:40 AM

    Last seen entering the Gaza strip in a hot-pants and gimp mask waving a rainbow flag.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 9:52 AM

    Good morning invisible man. I’m working, but will take a moment to share with you Bibis own published plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza below: EU/US politicians & media are aware of the plans, but have done nothing to stop this genocide – effectively controlled by military intelligence. They are blindly going along with a decades long campaign to dehumanise Palestinians, cover up their appalling treatment and normalise the llegal occupation. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israeli-think-tank-lays-out-a-blueprint-for-the-complete-ethnic-cleansing-of-gaza/?utm_content=buffera2434&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=buffer

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    Oct 24th 2023, 9:56 AM

    If our media is too cowardly to report the thousands of dead children and the carpet bombing of schools, hospitals and churches – I consider it an obligation to speak out about it. An anonymous person accusing me of deflection or being a bot, is quite ironic. Have a good day

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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:32 AM

    @kerrill thornhill: tell it to putin, I’m sure he cares.

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    Oct 24th 2023, 10:34 AM

    Lol! He heard you! Kerrill the gimpo!

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