Michael Flatley could face Conor Mcgregor in battle for Irish presidency

Telegraph

4 days ago

Michael Flatley and Conor McGregor are squaring up for a battle to become the next president of Ireland.
In a one-on-one few would have predicted, the Lord of the Dance could challenge the MMA champion in presidential elections in October 2025.
Flatley's ambitions for high office were inadvertently revealed during a High Court case about works carried out at his Castlehyde mansion in Co Cork.
The man credited with reinventing traditional Irish dance notified the court of a 'material change in circumstances' – he was moving back to Ireland to run in their presidential elections.
It raises the prospect of the man who once held the Guinness World Record for tap dancing 35 times per second facing off against McGregor.
McGregor, 37, who recently lost a civil case accusing him of rape, declared his intention to run for president in March this year at the White House, where he gained the tacit endorsement of Donald Trump.
Flatley, 67, who is eligible to run as an Irish citizen, hinted at the presidential bid last week in a radio interview, saying: 'Somebody has to speak for the Irish people.'
The Riverdance star said that he did not believe the Irish people 'have a voice, not a true proper deep voice that speaks their language'.
The 'average person on the street' is not 'happy right now', added a man whose feet were once insured for $57.6 million.
Flatley was in Ireland to perform on a flute at a July 4 celebration at the residence of Edward Walsh, the US ambassador to Ireland. Mr Walsh was recently appointed by Donald Trump, the US president.
In a breathtaking innovation, Flatley introduced upper body movements to a dance style famous for its blur of leggy stamping and rigid torsos.
His dance spectaculars are said to have been seen by more than 60 million people in 60 countries and have grossed more than $1 billion.
The choreographer and dancer, whose other shows include Celtic Tiger Live and Feet of Flames, has a potential rival in McGregor, who is also expected to launch a bid.
McGregor has reinvented himself as an anti-immigrant populist who even suggested recently that Ireland should leave the EU rather than fight a trade war with his beloved Mr Trump.
Sadly, this clash of Irish dance with Irish boxing may not happen.
McGregor is expected to struggle to clear the threshold necessary to qualify for the race and it is unclear if Flatley will have sufficient support.
Candidates need to be nominated by at least 20 members of the Irish parliament or at least four local authorities. A candidate must also be an Irish citizen who is 35 or older.
They are not the only famous faces who could throw their hat in the ring.
There has been speculation that Gerry Adams, the former Sinn Féin leader, could join the race after he successfully sued the BBC in a Dublin court. Mr Adams won £84,000 after he was accused of sanctioning the murder of a British agent.
The role of president is largely ceremonial but carries symbolic weight. Some have mooted former boxer Barry McGuigan, the Catholic Ulsterman with a Protestant wife who did much to unite communities in Northern Ireland, as a possible candidate.
The election must take place in the 60 days before outgoing President Michael D Higgins's term ends on Nov 11.
The 84-year-old Mr Higgins, a Left-wing politician and a poet, has served since 2011.
Two candidates have so far secured sufficient backing to enter the race.
Catherine Connolly, a Left-wing independent and former Galway mayor, has received the backing of opposition parties and independents and former farming journalist and EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness, who is the Fine Gael nominee.
Ms McGuinness was also deputy speaker of the European Parliament and an outspoken critic of Brexit.
She caused headlines after she cut off Nigel Farage in his final speech as an MEP before Brexit.
She told Mr Farage and his party to stop waving their Union Jack flags, which breaks European Parliament rules.
'Put your flags away, you're leaving... and take them with you... goodbye,' she said in a widely viewed video clip from the session.
At the High Court on Friday, defence barristers in Flatley's case argued against the affidavit being accepted by the court, and stated that it was an attempt to 'move the goalposts'.
Andrew Fitzpatrick SC said Flatley had said before in 2024 that he intended to move to Paris and then Valencia. 'That didn't happen,' he told the court.
He also said that if the court was prepared to admit the affidavit, it would undermine previous assertions that the reason he is living in Monaco and cannot return to Ireland is because of the condition of the Castlehyde.
Ms Justice Eileen Roberts said that as Flatley's residence 'is so central to the issue of security of costs' in the case, she would allow the affidavit to be taken into account, but said she 'entirely' heard submissions about the characteristics of the affidavit and what weight it should be afforded.
She said she expected the judgment in relation to the costs application to be delivered in a 'reasonably short period', and that it would be given 'shortly after' the end of the court's term.