Independent candidate for president claims support of 10 Oireachtas members

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Marie Steen, an independent hopeful for a presidential nomination, has claimed the support of 10 Oireachtas members.

To be eligible to run for the election on October 24th, a candidate must be nominated either by 20 members of the Oireachtas (TDs or Senators) or four local authorities.

Ms Steen announced her level of support, which would put her halfway to securing the necessary 20 Oireachtas nominations, at a brief media interaction outside Leinster House on Thursday.

It came after several independent Oireachtas members held meetings with three potential candidates.

Reflecting on her new support, Ms Steen said: “I’m sincerely grateful to them all. Many of them may not share my views, but they are true democrats, and they believe that the Irish people should have a choice other than an establishment candidate.

“I am an independent candidate, and I look forward to representing the voice of people who feel politically disenfranchised.

“I also look forward to persuading the Irish people, like I persuaded the TDs and senators today, to put their trust in me, so that I can be a president for everybody.”

Ms Steen was a prominent voice among those campaigning for “no” votes in referendums for abortion and same-sex marriage.

She also campaigned on the “no” side for last year’s referendums on family and care, which were defeated.

Ms Steen said: “I’m going to continue working hard to try to attain the other 10 votes necessary to get to the magic number of 20. I will be doing my best talking to TDs and senators over the next few days – and I hope to be a voice for change.”

She also said she did not want to count her “chickens before they hatch” and would continue to pursue a nomination through the local authority route until such a time that she secures 20 Oireachtas nominations.

Aontu leader Peadar Toibin was among the 10 Oireachtas members who are backing Ms Steen, but he was not in a position to provide the full list to reporters at the media opportunity.

He said the others in the grouping were independent TD Mattie McGrath, independent senator Joe Conway, Aontu TD Paul Lawless, independent senator Ronan Mullen, independent TD Carol Nolan, independent Senator Sharon Keoghan, and Aontu Senator Sarah O’Reilly.

He said: “There are two others who have given up a commitment at the meeting that they will sign – they just have to talk to their respective teams and they’ll come out the next couple of days.

“There was one other member who was meant to be there but couldn’t make it today, but he is going to be talking to us in the next couple of days.”