logo
United Ireland ‘very soon' says Catherine Connolly as she launches Presidency campaign with bid to woo Sinn Féin

United Ireland ‘very soon' says Catherine Connolly as she launches Presidency campaign with bid to woo Sinn Féin

Ms Connolly defended a trip to Syria with Mick Wallace, Clare Daly and Maureen O'Sullivan when dictator Bashir al-Assad was in power, and said she was "right at the time" when she previously backed journalist Gemma O'Doherty for a Presidential run.
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."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Gerry Adams says its ‘one of my regrets' that end of IRA armed campaign took so long
Gerry Adams says its ‘one of my regrets' that end of IRA armed campaign took so long

Irish Independent

time4 hours ago

  • Irish Independent

Gerry Adams says its ‘one of my regrets' that end of IRA armed campaign took so long

The former Sinn Féin president also voiced regret that it took so long to come, suggesting the UK government was focused on "defeating republicanism". He also said he regretted the number of lives lost during the Troubles as he reflected on the upcoming 20th anniversary of the IRA statement. The IRA formally ended its 35-year paramilitary campaign on July 28, 2005 when former republican prisoner Seanna Walsh read a statement. While a number of ceasefires had been announced and collapsed since 1994, the 2005 statement saw the start of the decommissioning of weapons. The statement said that members had been instructed to use exclusively peaceful means, and not to engage in any other activities whatsoever. Mr Adams described the move as seismic, and an "indication of confidence" by "all the IRA" and not just its leadership. "The statement came after there had been some sort of internal process, a huge vote of confidence in people," he said. "It took decades for it to be put together. "You have to go back to Father Alec Reid, Father Des Wilson, myself, John Hume and the endeavour to put together an alternative to armed struggle. "It took all that time to do that, but that's what the IRA said in its statement, that they believed there was now a peaceful way to pursue republican and democratic objectives, and ordered its volunteers to not be engaged in any other activity whatsoever, and authorised contact with the International Commission on Decommissioning. "It took decades and one of my regrets is that it took so long. In my humble opinion it took so long because the two governments, particularly the British government, only sought peace on its terms, which meant defeat the IRA, it meant defeat republicanism and that doesn't work, our people are resolute." ADVERTISEMENT Learn more He added: "The proof of it is that 20 years later the IRA isn't a feature. Some may want to make it a feature, invent, fabricate and so on, but that's the proof of it." Asked whether he felt the IRA should issue an apology for all the lives lost by their actions, Mr Adam pointed to a statement in 2002 on the anniversary of Bloody Friday, a series of bombs across Belfast which claimed nine lives. It included an offer of "sincere apologies and condolences" to the families of all "non combatants" killed or injured by IRA actions. "I think in fairness that the record will show that the IRA leadership have apologised on a number of occasions about specific incidents or operations which it was involved in, particularly around the issue of civilian casualties or fatalities," he said. "One of the big regrets that I have is that so many people were killed, and particularly people who weren't involved and particularly children, that's a real concern. "I say that from a community and a family which lost loved ones in the course of all of this." However, Mr Adams added that while he thinks it is important to look back over the last 20 years, it is also important to look forward to the next 20 years and a referendum on a united Ireland. "One thing we can say with certainty is there is going to be a referendum on the future, the Irish Government doesn't want it, the British Government doesn't want it, unionists don't want it but there is going to be the day when people will vote for the future," he said. "Our responsibility, and for everyone who is concerned about the future, need to be part of the conversation well in advance of that vote. Whether it is about public services, health services, the economy, flags, emblems, taking all of those issues and trying to find solutions to them that allows everyone to be comfortable in the new Ireland. "You rarely get the opportunity to write the future, and we now have that opportunity and its contained in the Good Friday Agreement." "I do know that there will be a united Ireland so whether it happens the day after I die or a couple of years before then. "It is not inevitable, the forces against it are quite strong but if we work at it. "If we continue to do the sensible, intelligent things that we have been trying to do, then - although I would love to live in a united Ireland - it matters little to me whether it happens after I die or before it. To be able to say in my own heart to say, 'I played a part in bringing that about', that'll do me." Mr Adams was speaking ahead of an Feile An Phobail arts event this weekend to mark the anniversary. He will take part in a discussion alongside Mr Walsh, chaired by Sinn Féin Galway TD Mairead Farrell, at the Balmoral Hotel in Belfast on Saturday.

EU sanctions envoy says Ireland must 'beef up' Naval Service
EU sanctions envoy says Ireland must 'beef up' Naval Service

RTÉ News​

time7 hours ago

  • RTÉ News​

EU sanctions envoy says Ireland must 'beef up' Naval Service

The European Union's Sanctions Envoy has said Ireland needs to make significant improvements to its Naval Service in order to better monitor its maritime zone and address the ongoing movement of sanctioned Russian vessels off the west coast. David O'Sullivan told RTÉ that Ireland "really needs to beef up our capacity and patrol and police our territorial waters," and described the Naval Service as in "poor shape." Mr O'Sullivan, a former EU Ambassador to the United States, is now responsible for trying to stop Russia's attempts to evade European sanctions which are designed to cut off funding for its war in Ukraine. Earlier RTÉ reported that vessels belonging to Russia's so called 'shadow fleet' regularly transited through the Irish maritime Exclusive Economic Zone – a large area extending into the Atlantic off the west coast which is the site of major undersea cables and shipping lanes. The shadow fleet vessels are used to help Russia export oil and circumvent oil price caps imposed as part of western sanctions. Asked about what Ireland could do to help tackle the activities of shadow fleet vessels off Ireland, Mr O'Sullivan said "unfortunately I think the Irish Naval Serice is not equipped to be able to deal with this at the present time". There are "many reasons" why the Irish naval service needs to be revamped, he said, adding the shadow fleet is a "new imperative to which Ireland will have to respond." Non-military vessels – including sanctioned vessels – can legally transit through an EEZ but are required to have the correct insurance in place when moving through certain areas, including busy shipping lanes like those off the west coast. However, analysts say the vessels in the Russian shadow fleet are typically poorly maintained and lack proper insurance. 'Shadow fleet' vessels have also conducted activities considered risky at sea, including turning off location transponders and conducting ship-to-ship oil transfers. The data reported earlier by RTÉ showed that some 245 shadow fleet vessels passed through Ireland's maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) more than 450 times so far this year. The figures were provided by maritime intelligence company Windward which uses satellite imagery and AI technology to spot, analyse and monitor ships, including those which turn their transponders off. Windward's data included information on routes taken through the Irish EEZ by 72 vessels which have been directly named on sanctions lists. Experts have warned that the movement through Irish waters of shadow fleet vessels poses a serious environmental risk and undermines international efforts to isolate Russia's energy sector which is used to fund the country's war in Ukraine. David O'Sullivan accepted there "would, in any event, be limits to what the naval service could do," to a non-military vessel within an EEZ, before adding "but obviously this pleads, yet again, our vulnerability to this kind of activity, to the risks to undersea cables, and the fact that we really need to beef up our capacity and patrol and police our territorial waters." He said the European Union wants to stop the transit of these shadow fleet vessels but said it is a difficult task to completely stop their transit. "Member states are tightening their controls. The UK has done that through the English Channel" he said. "I think what is now happening in the Irish case, is that the Russian ships are going around the coast of Ireland into Ireland's economic zone, but not our territorial waters, and escaping the kind of checks say in the Baltic Sea.... or that the British are doing, of asking to see proof of the insurance." Asked about its monitoring of 'shadow fleet' activity within the Irish EEZ, the Defence Forces said: "While it is our policy not to comment on specific operational matters, all relevant information gathered in support of Maritime Domain Awareness is shared in a timely manner with the appropriate national and international authorities. "The Defence Forces, through the deployment of Naval Service and Air Corps assets, maintains a continuous presence and vigilance within Ireland's maritime domain. We monitor all activity within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as part of our routine operations to ensure the security and integrity of our waters."

Russian-owned alumina refinery in Limerick suspended from energy market
Russian-owned alumina refinery in Limerick suspended from energy market

The Journal

time8 hours ago

  • The Journal

Russian-owned alumina refinery in Limerick suspended from energy market

MINISTER FOR ENTERPRISE Peter Burke has said that the government is working 'very closely' with a Russian-owned alumina refinery in Co Limerick following its suspension from the energy market. Aughinish Alumina is Europe's largest alumina refinery and employs 450 people on its 222-hectare site, located close to the Shannon-estuary towns of Foynes and Askeaton. It is owned by Russian metals company Rusal. Eirgrid has confirmed that the company has been suspended from the ex-ante energy market - which provides day-ahead and intraday markets for the buying and selling of wholesale electricity by generators, supply companies and traders. 'Aughinish Alumina have not been taken offline and remain connected to the transmission system,' a spokesperson for Eirgrid said. 'EirGrid can confirm that Aughinish Alumina have been suspended from the ex-ante market in line with a decision by ECC (European Commodity Clearing). EirGrid are currently reviewing the implications of this development.' Speaking to reporters today, the Enterprise Minister said the decision was taken in a sovereign court in Italy. Peter Burke said his department, the Department of Energy, Eirgrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) are engaging with the company to 'try and find a pathway for the company'. 'They're a very significant employer, and one that we are committed to working very closely with,' he said. 'Obviously, there are sanctions that we have to adhere to in relation to the ownership structure, as well as its participation now subject to that case in the energy market.' Asked if jobs were under threat at the plant, Burke said: 'We're working with the company, and that's the key thing. Advertisement Aerial view of Aughinish Alumina refinery on the Shannon, Co Limerick. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo 'We need to ensure that there is a pathway. It's a very significant company. It's a heavily export-oriented company from the Irish market, and obviously supplies a significant amount of power brought into the grid and in terms of its utilisation.' Burke said he understands that the company is still fully operational, but that 'they are in discussion with Eirgrid and the CRU to find a pathway'. While the Aughinish Alumina plant has no direct link to Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, it is owned by Russian metals company Rusal, which was co-founded by Oleg Deripaska. Deripaska, who is still a shareholder in Rusal, is an industrialist who is reported to have had close ties to Russia president Vladimir Putin. In 2018, he was placed on a US sanctions list and the UK government also announced sanctions against the oligarch in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The businessman is well-connected in Russian politics and business, and was pictured earlier this month at the Kremlin in Moscow for a ceremony ahead of World War II commemorations. According to reports, pre-tax losses at Aughinish Alumina in 2023 totalled €108 million, down from losses of €141 million the previous year. Earlier this month, a bomb was discovered attached to a fuel tank that services the refinery . The bomb is believed to have included a battery-timed mechanism so that it could be detonated long after the perpetrators had left the area. It's understood that up to 100 staff at the refinery were unable to leave the plant while a 350-metre security cordon was in place at the scene for several hours. The area where the bomb was found is located close to a publicly accessible nature walking trail. Gardaí investigating the incident are examining many lines of enquiry, including the possibility that the bomb may have been a direct response to Russian missile attacks in Kyiv carried out at the time. In February 2022 Gardaí launched an investigation into criminal damage at the entrance to Aughinish Alumina which was daubed with slogans in red paint, similar in nature to protests at Russian embassies around the world at Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store