Talking Out Of Your Aras!

Former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin may as well have had Michael Martin operating him like a ventriloquist’s dummy at the press conference announcing he’d be the Fianna Fáil candidate for the Presidency.

You see everyone knows that the Irish President has no power. If a President ever did decide to refuse to sign a bill all they can do is convene a Council of State made up of establishment figures and refer the bill to the courts to check if it’s consitutional.

If they still won’t sign a Presidential Commision of 3 just steps in a signs it anyway. But despite that everyone knows this powerless position has propaganda value. It provides a stage. So we have to ask ourselves what message do we workers want sent out from the Aras?

Fianna Fáil are playing a sly game, relying on the celebrity pull of a former GAA manager to win over Dublin votes, after all the party was destroyed in Dublin after the bank bailout and subsequent years of austerity, they want to claw their way back in the capital.

They also want to continue their attack on Irish neutrality and deliver the working class up to the EU and NATO as cannon fodder in future wars. And who better to sell their line than former Defence Forces member Jim Gavin?

When he was asked on the RTE news about if he favoured getting rid of the Triple Lock he said “Yes!”

Fine Gael have gone with reliable blueshirt Heather Humphreys. She was introduced to right wing politics early as her father was a member of the Orange Order and her granda even signed the Ulster Covenant opposing Home Rule for Ireland!

No wonder she wants to bulldoze historic buildings in Moore Street Dublin related to the 1916 Rising.

She worked in banking before being elected as a Fine Gael TD in 2011. On the 4th of April 2023, The Ditch website reported that she’d told two of their journalists to “fuck off” when they had questioned her on the use for storage of two derelict residential properties that she owns and are situated above her constituency office.

She tried to bring in tiered disability payments, imitating the British Tories, until disability rights campaigners kicked up a fuss and Fine Gael realised they just couldn’t sell it to the public.

MMA fighter Conor McGregor heard some people calling to “Get Mickey out!” and instead of thinking they meant Michael D. Higgins must have mistakenly thought they meant send naked pics of his penis to Azealia Banks.

He’s got a string of sexual assault allegations against him on top of the Nikita Hand case, where he was found guilty of rape, and lost an appeal. Thankfully most people have cop on and he’s only on 2% in the polls. He’s a no hoper.

He’ll just keep going on about immigration and finding God to cover up the string of foul crimes he’s accused of. It’s most likely he won’t even be on the ballot.

Aontu have gone with middle class nutcase Maria Steen. She’s a key figure in the conservative Church backed Iona Institute, writes for the Irish Catholic and is the daughter of a prominent estate agent. These posh fools miss the dark old days of Church abuse and cover up where they could use the Church as a stick to beat the working class into submission.

Another rich clown hoping to use the Presidency as a platform is former CEO of Nutriband, multi-millionaire Gareth Sheridan. In 2018, he was fined by the Security and Exchange Commission in the USA for making misleading statements about his company.

Alongside co-founder Serguei Melnik, the only two employees at that time, they agreed to pay fines of $25,000 each. He represents corporate capitalism at a time when this country is suffering under the weight of decades of capitalist neoliberal policies that have left the country in ruins.

The Shinners haven’t announced a candidate yet but have said they’d put the main emphasis on a United Ireland - but we need a united workers’ republic, not a 32 county tax haven.

So the only option for working class people is to vote for someone that will actually send a message from the powerless platform of the Presidency, that’s why we say vote for Catherine Connolly.

She’s not exactly going to start a revolution and the President is a mere figure head but she’ll defend Irish neutrality, call out the government on the housing crisis and push for an Ireland where workers get treated with respect.

Let’s be clear - it’s a powerless position and we will have to keep fighting for real democracy, a real republic for workers. But if anyone is going to be talking out of the Aras we Reds would rather it was Connolly than any of the other goblins and ghouls running!