Where Have All the Candidates Gone?
I have been around long enough to have worked on four Irish presidential campaigns. I’ve seen the circus arrive in town with celebrity hopefuls, independents armed with clipboards and conviction and party machines grinding into action.
I have been there when the survey results come in, fund raising money dries up and hopeful candidate getting tired.
The one constant? A healthy field of candidates. Until now.
So far in 2025, we have just three confirmed runners: Heather Humphreys for Fine Gael, Jim Gavin for Fianna Fáil, and Catherine Connolly, the independent TD with backing from Labour, the Social Democrats, and People Before Profit. Sinn Féin still hasn’t decided whether to field its own contender or rally behind Connolly.
A weekend poll gave Humphreys 22%, Gavin 18%, and Connolly 17% hardly commanding numbers for any of them.
What’s striking isn’t who’s in, but who’s missing. In past races, the presidential ballot was a magnet for independents, celebrities, and long-shots.
This time, the county councils traditionally a gateway for outsiders have closed ranks. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors aren’t lending nominations to non-party hopefuls, and without that support, many independents have quietly melted away.
The presidency has always been one of the few platforms where independents could go toe-to-toe with the parties, sometimes reshaping the national conversation in the process.
By narrowing the field, we risk losing that unpredictability, that spark of democracy where an unexpected voice can capture public imagination.
Having lived through four campaigns, I can tell you this: the drama doesn’t come from a managed duel between two big parties.
It comes from the wildcards, the independents, the people who dare to challenge the orthodoxy. Right now, that energy is missing.
And unless Sinn Féin decides to shake the table, this election may feel more like a coronation than a contest.
The date is less than 6 weeks and is rapidly closing in. The race is narrowing.
And the real question lingers, in a country famed for independent spirit, where have all the candidates gone?
