The people have final say on president

AUGUST is traditionally seen as the “silly” month for serious news, as national politics take a downtime and the media fills the vacuum by chasing after anything, sometimes going into overdrive, like what is happening with the race to Áras.

First, it was candidate Senator David Norris, a cultured and educated man. He consistently topped the opinion polls to be president, but getting a nomination was harder. He represented the ideals of Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen tradition of politics of the 1790s, of an Ireland representing Catholic, Protestant, dissenter, alike. He was also from the Anglo-Irish tradition. We are not solely Irish and Catholic in our Irishness. He never got the chance to run because of the nomination process and the media scrutiny on something controversial that happened 15 years ago. He was guilty of loyalty and error of judgement for a former partner.

Next up, Gay Byrne. A national radio and TV broadcaster of 50 years’ experience and an excellent communicator. He found himself in a week-long whirlwind to run for president, but he didn’t put his name forward as, again, he knew the media onslaught would be hard and he wasn’t interested in bringing that into his life.

Presidents Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese pushed out the boundaries, making the role more relevant, inviting many groups and communities to Áras an Uachtaráin and visiting nearly every community in the country. They dusted the cobwebs off the role, as it was seen as a job for retired politicians.

One power the president has, as a check to government, is the right to submit a government bill to the Supreme Court to see if a proposed law or change to a law, is abiding by the constitution or not. This is an important power on our behalf as a people, but seldom used. One that did use it, was President Cearbhall ÓDalaigh in the 1970s, who in the tumultuous aftermath, received such disrespect from key figures in the FG/LABOUR government, that he resigned in protest. We need a president to be brave and independent like this, on occasions, when it is really needed.

Running for the presidency is not for the faint-hearted. The media can give itself too much say and influence, not much dissimilar to the Catholic Church in the “bad old days”. Ordinary folk don’t expect candidates to be purer than pure. It is the voters who will decide in October and not the media at the end of the day.

Mary Sullivan

Cork