United Ireland ‘very soon' says Catherine Connolly as she launches Presidency campaign with bid to woo Sinn Féin
The Galway West Independent rejected the idea that she was the "continuity candidate" after 14 years of Michael D Higgins, for whom she wanted to be a running mate.
She left the Labour Party when that bid was rejected, saying it had lost its soul - but refused to answer questions about taking its money for her campaign, which she believes will cost between €500,000 and €1 million.
Ms Connolly, a former leas cheann comhairle, became emotional when she recalled seeing Catholic refugees from Northern Ireland arrive in Galway in the late summer of 1969.
'I think Northern Ireland is extremely important. I think we're going to have united Ireland very soon," Ms Connolly said in response to a suggestion from the Irish Independent that she had been described as a republican socialist.
"I think the Good Friday Agreement has set the framework for that," she said, adding that she would welcome the backing of Sinn Féin.
"I think tremendous work has been done on the ground with cross-border bodies, and I look forward to the day when we have a united Ireland," Ms Connolly said.
But she added: "I absolutely value the diversity, and we must value the different backgrounds in Northern Ireland."
Asked if there was any difference between her position and that of Sinn Féin, she said: "I can tell you my position. You're left to kind to compare and contrast that, which will fail.
"But I grew up in Galway and witnessed the refugees coming to Galway. I was young at the time, and they came down, and they were put up in various colleges - and I witnessed their terror, their upset, and their utter desire for peace,' she said.
So far the only other confirmed candidate is former MEP Mairéad McGuinness, who will run for Fine Gael. Neither Fianna Fáil nor Sinn Féin have decided whether they will run a candidate, while Labour is currently deciding whether to back Ms Connolly after she met them earlier this week.
Ms Connolly said she was "fully ready now for the campaign", adding: "We don't have a huge, big machine, and I think we have conviction".
So far backed by Independents and the Social Democrats, she added: "We believe in what we're doing, and I think we are happy to put forward that vision."
Social Democratic support had "come from the ground up, and I understand it's similar with People Before Profit", Ms Connolly said.
She said she was going to discuss the Presidential salary with her team. "There are lots of decisions to make here about the campaign and how I use the salary is one of those,' she said.
"A I can say at this point is I have stood as a woman who speaks bluntly and who speaks as honestly as I can."
She was asked about the war in Ukraine, and said the Russian invasion was "wrong, illegal and unacceptable", adding "we need to find a voice for diplomacy. We need to get peace."
She added, however: "I think could have been prevented beforehand. What they've done is utterly wrong. It's just inexcusable. But I think we could have worked before that in terms of diplomacy."
She said her clapping for a live video address by Volodomyr Zelensky to the Dáil had been scrutinised, and how long it had lasted.
"I stood and I clapped, and the level of interest from certain quarters in the media was that I didn't clap long enough and I didn't clap hard enough," she said.
"I was nauseous at the war. I would have stood in silence."
She refused to comment on rival contender Ms McGuinness, except to say: "My views on the Fine Gael party are well-known.'
Standing outside Leinster House, Ms Connolly added: "I'm going to be presenting myself as a credible candidate for the Presidency with my views, with my track record, and my work ethic.
"That's what I will be presenting before the people, and I would hope the people would respond to that."
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