Kneecap back Catherine Connolly for Áras: ‘Vote Connolly because we cannot’
Eva Osborne
The members of Kneecap have backed Catherine Connolly in the race for Áras an Uachtaráin, telling their Irish fans to "vote Connolly cause we can't".
The Belfast rap trio took to Instagram to post "vótáil Connolly" with their signature balaclava symbol.
The independent presidential candidate commented under the post saying "GRMMA", an abbreviation for "go raibh míle maith agat", which is the Irish for thank you very much.
She was not the only one to get involved in the comment section.
Irish social media influencer James Kavanagh commented: "Get your voting cards out."
The members of Kneecap cannot vote for Connolly, as voters must be ordinarily resident in Ireland to vote in the presidential election.
On Friday, Stormont’s deputy first minister warned that extending voting rights in Irish presidential elections to citizens living in Northern Ireland would be overstepping the mark.
Emma Little-Pengelly said the difference between political reality and political aspiration had to be recognised, as she stressed that Northern Ireland’s head of state was the King.
Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill offered an opposing view to her DUP counterpart as Stormont’s co-leaders were asked about the issue at a press conference following the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in Dublin.
Ms O’Neill said it was a “huge democratic deficit” that she, as an Irish citizen, could run to be president of Ireland but yet could not vote in the elections, as she lives north of the border.
