The 2025 Irish presidential election campaign is officially underway. Three candidates stand, the fewest since 1990. the policy decisions of the Taoiseach or the Dáil (the Irish equivalent of a Prime Minister and the House of Commons, respectively), but they lead Ireland, both in cultural identity and moral authority. The Irish President may not have a role in policy making, introducing bills or laws, or overseeing ministries or budgets; in fact, the president usually acts on the government’s advice when it comes to legislative concerns.
However, although they are not the executive heads of state but rather constitutional ones, this does not mean they are without real influence and power. The president speaks to the national conscience of Ireland; they represent the country abroad and set a cultural tone, acting as a source of moral guidance in times of crisis. The outgoing president, Michael D.
Higgins, who served two terms, consistently used this soft power in arguably the most effective and unifying manner of any president since the founding of the state. So, who will take Áras an Uachtaráin next? This is truly a race for those interested in women in politics to watch, with women outnumbering men two to one on the ballot.
Ireland has a history of very successful female presidents, with President Mary Robinson and President Mary McAleese having already taken the stage. Robinson was the first female Irish President and played a transformative role in modernising the presidency, achieving a greater sense of pluralism on the island of Ireland and is often considered to have played a large role in the elevation of Ireland’s moral leadership on the global stage. Mary McAleese was equally groundbreaking, being the first President from Northern Ireland, overseeing the Good Friday agreement and generally being an advocate for Irish identity and diaspora.
Fianna Fáil have backed Jim Gavin as their candidate. Gavin enters the race with almost legendary status as a player and manager in the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), Ireland’s largest and most culturally significant sporting organisation. Gavin is certainly a hero to many in Dublin, having managed the Dublin Gaelic Football team so well from 2012 to 2019, but will he be as popular a potential leader across the country?
He is running on a campaign of steady and predictable positions, though he appears to be struggling to overcome critiques of partisanship and address smear campaigns. Heather Humphreys enters as Fine Gael’s candidate. Humphreys, an experienced minister, has the challenge of overcoming the baggage of her party’s political career and appealing to a wider and non-partisan electorate.
Finally, Catherine Connolly. Connolly, backed widely by parties on the left (from Sinn Féin to the Social Democrats to some Independent candidates), is running the most direct cultural and moral campaign. She is presenting a campaign of strong ethics – standing strong on both climate and social justice, as well as Palestine.
Connolly seems best positioned at the moment to take on the progressive mantle of office, which President Higgins has held; however, she faces the challenge of appealing to those voters coming from the right who are sceptical of her strong positions. The battle for the Irish presidency, in the end, is all about who can show themselves best able to embody Ireland and her values. In Ireland, cultural leadership has possibly never been more diverse in the matters covered.
From the moral questions of climate and housing to Ireland’s national identity and international image (on issues like neutrality and stances on Palestine and Ukraine), to the ever-present challenge of bridging various social divides (generational ones, urban/ rural ones and class ones). This begs the question, who is best placed to articulate those values convincingly and who looks to be the most unifying moral figure? In a time of perhaps the most global uncertainty the 21 st century has seen, does Ireland want someone to continue its strong, culturally and mo ally engaged leadership, or does the nation want a quieter and more traditional figurehead for times of turbulence?
My guess? Well, we Irish feel strongly about it and act accordingly. We are ‘not backwards in coming forwards’ and President Higgins is a perfect example of how universally admired a president who exemplifies this can be.
Whoever walks in his footsteps will not only need to have put their best foot forward already, but will need now to follow through with a clear moral and modern message, and exhibit the tenacious integrity the Irish people expect of the chief resident of the Áras.