Maria Steen ‘very hopeful’ of reaching 20 nominations as presidential deadline looms
Maria Steen, an independent hopeful for a presidential nomination, arrives at Leinster House in Dublin. Picture date: Tuesday September 23, 2025.
Conservative campaigner Maria Steen said she was “very hopeful” of securing the required nominations to become a presidential candidate.
The deadline to submit nominations from either 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities is 12pm on Wednesday at the Custom House.
“I think today we made good progress. I was at 12 this morning, and I’m now at 17 this afternoon, and I am hoping to get to 20 before the end of the evening,” she told RTÉ’s .
“The truth is I am happy to take a nomination from anybody who’s willing to give it to me, and I am available to talk to everybody and meet if they would like to.”
She said there are a few independents she has not yet met and added that she would be happy to speak with party members who might “break rank” to back her.
She confirmed she had not spoken to former justice minister and attorney general Michael McDowell, who campaigned with her for a No vote in last year’s family and care referenda.
“I’m hopeful that he will come on board. We don’t agree on everything, but we actually have many things that we do agree on, so I think I’d be very grateful for his support, and we’ll see if he’ll meet me this evening.”
Earlier, Independent Ireland and Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae will back Ms Steen in the presidential election, bringing her closer to securing a place on the ballot paper.
The party's four TDs and Mr Healy-Rae will sign nomination papers for the barrister and conservative campaigner, following Independent junior minister Marian Harkin, who on Tuesday became the second minister to sign for Ms Steen.
Ms Steen now has 17 nomination papers from TDs and senators of the 20 needed to get on the ballot. The understands one more TD or senator is expected to sign today.
Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins confirmed that after a meeting with Ms Steen, the party’s four TDs will sign her papers.
“We were impressed by her honesty, her candour and her ability to clearly communicate her views and vision for the presidency,” he said.
“We are particularly struck by her determination to be a genuine voice for the people of Ireland who feel ignored and unrepresented by the political establishment.
“As elected parliamentarians, we believe it is our duty to ensure that voters are given a real choice in this election.”
Mr Healy-Rae confirmed shortly afterwards that he would be signatory number 17.
Speaking outside Leinster House, Ms Steen said she was “honoured to have his signature on my nomination papers”.
“He and the other people who have signed for me, the other TDs and senators, are true democrats that want to give the people of Ireland a different, alternative voice and choice on the ballot paper,” she said.
“I also want to express my gratitude to Independent Ireland, the four TDs who have agreed to sign my papers. They are decent, honest, hard-working representatives. They've been completely straightforward, professional, and courteous in their dealings with me.
“I had a very good meeting with them last night, so I'm very grateful to them too for their support. That now puts me at 17, and I have three more to find before the close of business today.
“I am hopeful that there's enough momentum behind me now that it will maybe encourage others to come out and give me support today.
“I'm talking to as many people. Anybody who's willing to talk to me, I'm willing to talk to them, and I would be really very grateful for their support.”
When asked about Independent Ireland TD Ken O’Flynn’s support, given that he is married to a man and Ms Steen campaigned against marriage equality, she said she “accepted the will of the people.”
“There is great support out there among the gay community for me, because there is also a lot of stereotyping of gay people,” she said. "They don't all think the same, and many support me."
Mr O’Flynn said he had a “robust” and “respectful” conversation with Ms Steen on the issue.
“She has given me certain assurances, if she was elected as president, that she would work with the LGBTQ community, that she would be an all inclusive president, that she would honour the decisions that have been made by this State,” he said.
“I have to say, she put forward a very good argument for herself. I was impressed by her. We had a lot of discussions about different things and different things in society.
“I think the reality for me is that I think I meet her maybe 80% of the way. More than I do with other candidates. I think facilitating her today is the right thing to do.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Ms Harkin said Ms Steen is a “credible” candidate and confirmed she had signed her papers.
However, like junior minister Michael Healy-Rae, Ms Harkin said she is signing Ms Steen’s papers but will vote for Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys in the election.
“I have signed the presidential election nomination papers for Maria Steen,” she said.
“As a member of the Oireachtas I have two votes in the presidential election and will use both — one to nominate a candidate whose name can appear on the ballot paper, in this case Maria Steen, and the other to vote for my preferred candidate, Heather Humphreys.
“I am nominating Maria Steen for a number of reasons. Firstly, she is a credible candidate and reflects all or some of the views of a significant portion of the Irish people.
“I believe we should see a respectful, considered debate with different viewpoints in the upcoming presidential election and by not giving a voice to different viewpoints, certain groups of people become further polarised, believing they are being sidelined in the discussion about the person we want to represent us as president for the next seven years.
“That leads to a fracture and polarisation. We have an opportunity to stop this happening, for now at least, by giving voters a wider choice.
“Secondly, all the candidates nominated so far have been nominated by political parties, yet many Irish people vote for Independents and expect them to use their independent voice to influence outcomes."
Ms Harkin said the chance to select an alternative candidate is largely "within the gift of Independents."
"In the longer term we need a debate about how presidential candidates get their names on the ballot paper, but for now we must work within our constitutional and legal limits.
“In this regard, the political parties have blocked alternative avenues through the county councils but we, as independent members of the Oireachtas, have the freedom to provide that pathway.
“Finally, while I do not agree with Maria Steen's views on a number of issues, I will however defend her right not only to have those views but also to articulate them in a presidential election. This is an important space where different views can be discussed, we shouldn't just leave it to social media."
Ms Harkin said she has "faith in the Irish electorate to select the most suitable candidate as our next president", adding: "My only role for now is to help give them the opportunity to make their choice from a more diverse group of candidates".
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