It may be more plámás than power, but the Presidency is still important

And in this respect we can see some progress

SO, who wants to talk about the Presidency then? Well so far, not too many people, and that even includes the potential candidates. Watching the RTÉ frontline programme on Monday evening, where four out of a suggested 10 people interested in the job turned up to talk and answer questions, it was hard to detect a sense of enthusiasm for all the “new politics” and political reform that was being talked about in the general election only a couple of months ago.

To be fair to the candidates, it would be entirely inappropriate for them to seek election to an office whilst at the same time campaigning for its reform: if you want to be a goalkeeper, you can’t be moving the posts.

But still it was shocking to hear the blatant disregard for democracy that has become de rigueur for many political commentators and citizens alike.

When did ideas like “we can’t afford elections”, or “the government should just decide” cease to be ludicrous? Obviously, I’ve not been paying full attention. I know that they were prevalent in Germany and Italy in the 1930s and lasted in Spain and Portugal until the 1970s — though still they were never really popular with the people; but now it seems that they’re getting a bit of a revival in Ireland. Other interesting propositions were that we should stop the political classes from running for election — a tricky one to implement since anyone who is seriously attempting to get elected to the position of president of state has pretty much signed up for “political class membership”.

This is obviously the Irish politics version of the old Groucho Marx joke, where he argues that he wouldn’t want to join the kind of club that would let him in. Fortunately, for Irish democracy, however, it seems that there are at least 10 Irish citizens left who still think that the office of president is important enough to contest. Well, at least we think there are 10. Only four of them are willing to go on national television to talk about it (the others are presumably still wrestling with their inner Grouchos).

So, assuming that the Áras an Uachtaráin club membership is up for renewal this autumn and that we won’t be having anything in the way of a coup d’etat during the summer, what exactly could or should the President do? According to the 1937 constitution and the conventions of government ever after, the balance of power between the president and the government is tilted clearly and unambiguously in the government’s favour. Although article 12.1 of the Constitution states that the office of President takes “precedence over all other persons in the State”, the limited formal powers that are given to the office suggest that this is an expression of plámás not power.

Most agree that presidential power, such as it is, resides almost exclusively in the symbolic and ideational value of representation. When, for example, Mary Robinson took up the office at the age of 47, the Head of State was a young, professional woman. She was a practicing Catholic, married to a Protestant, with an impressive CV and extensive experience as a practicing constitutional lawyer — seeking to liberalise contraception laws, advance women’s rights, decriminalise homosexuality and, opposing the insertion of an anti-abortion clause into the Constitution in 1983, as well as supporting the unsuccessful attempt to remove the ban on divorce in 1986. In short, she was the symbolic embodiment of a modern, pluralist, non-sectarian and secular state.

This symbolic style to the presidential office was further developed by her successor, Mary McAleese, whose “bridge building” presidential theme was conclusively cemented by the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth last month. Certainly, in the two decades since the two Marys took up the office, the chief significance of the Presidency has come to be seen much more explicitly in terms of the ways in which our Head of State embodies, represents and reflects core values that we want associated with Ireland. And in this respect we can see some progress.

At the very least, for example, some of the egregious and sexist comments made during Robinson’s campaign (about her new-found hair styles and make-up), are no longer to be tolerated: it would now, for example, be unthinkable to suggest that in Frontline programme on Monday evening, Michael D was wearing the nicest tie.

This is because we no longer need to look for implicit and unstated messages that our would-be presidents might convey, by their dress code, gender, lifestyle or domestic arrangements.

Now that we’ve all bought into the whole “symbolic power of ideas” aspect of the presidency, it has become the norm for presidential candidates to explicitly state what their thematic will be. So, what are the ideas on offer from our would-be presidential candidates? Well, obviously it’s their job to tell you, but here’s what I’ve managed to suss out so far.

MARY DAVIS wants to send a signal that Ireland can and will renew and rebuild itself. She wants to be “a practical president in the service of the Irish people” and to promote strong communities, fairness and respect. Fergus Finlay wants to follow in Jim Larkin’s footsteps and “close the gap between what is and what ought to be”. His vision it to use the office of president as a “champion for those whose voices are not heard” and to “rebuild hope, trust, pride and confidence”.

If any of this job involves hugging, kissing and cool stuff — he’s up for that as well. Michael D Higgins is all about “hope and creativity”. His vision for the presidency is to create “a radically inclusive citizenship in a creative society appropriate to a republic”.

David Norris wants a “strong, independent and optimistic voice” in the office of President. Alongside the importance of culture and enterprise, Norris’s message adds that “mental health is on the table, up for discussion, out in the open” ready to be dealt with “head on”. Niall O’Dowd offers himself as “Ireland’s best travelling salesman”; Gay Mitchell profers a Christian Democratic ethos; Mairead McGuinness wants to imagine a “renewed, creative and dynamic Ireland”. Kathleen O’Meara thinks that the job of the next president is to build the nation again. She wants to lead “a national conversation about the things we value, honour and cherish”.

When we’re all clear about “what we want at the heart of our nation”, she wants to declare a new proclamation for 2016 — a new vision, for a new Ireland. If you are a candidate and I am misrepresenting you: now would be the time to start correcting and clarifying.

Maura Adshead is Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Limerick.