The Appointment

By AM Thursday, October 2, 2025

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Anthony McIntyre  😼 Left presidential candidate Catherine Connolly is being pilloried in conservative circles because she offered a job as an administrative support worker to a former republican prisoner in 2018.

It is hard to see much in the way of sincerity in this criticism. It is, as Eamon O'Cuiv suggested, a puff of smoke, indeed a smoke signal conveying  a touch of alarm in the wake of the first televised presidential debate. Of the three candidates in the race Catherine Connolly was the most presidential. Jim Gavin was a wooden one, fielding questions like a boring Brussels bureaucrat with a key in his back. Heather Humphreys' standout moment of the night was solely down to her attire. I facetiously commented to my son while we watched the debate that her sash was a different colour from what some of her detractors anticipated.

Gardai, who might be responsible for leaking the information, are reported to have blocked the person sought by Connolly for the position. A specialist in the field of the Irish language - an area neither of Connolly's rivals for the presidency seem to know much about - Ursula Ní Shionnáin is clearly capable: notched up in her CV are a Trinity primary degree, a Galway Masters and a PhD. She would have brought a lot of erudition to the post. That she has a conviction for republican activity should not have excluded her from either applying or being considered for the job. She hardly posed a threat to anyone in Leinster House. There have been enough former IRA members who have sat in the Dail chamber in the presence of Micheal Martin and Simon Harris. Gerry Adams, Martin Ferris, Dessie Ellis all had long careers in the Provisional IRA, the first two at senior leadership levels. 

While, standard fare for the electioneering season, there is an element of chutzpah to Micheal Martin in his criticisms of Connolly. He claimed she displayed a “serious lack of judgement”. I guess we are supposed to take from such an observation that he and Simon Harris displayed better judgement by allowing Michael Lowry a kingmaker role in the makeup of the current government. It is understandable that the Fianna Fail leader might prefer people in the Dail if they support the peace process. But it seems he is just as embracive of those who support the fleece process. 

Moreover, it was a deputy leader of Fianna Fail and former government minister who strongly recommended Ms Ní Shionnáin to Catherine Connolly. Eamon O'Cuiv also vented his surprise that Micheal Martin did not speak to him first before making his statement given that he had frequently visited imprisoned republicans.

Catherine Connolly has stated her own abhorrence of violence and there is no reason to doubt her. Her credentials showing that she speaks for the marginalised in society would have been called into question had she decided to marginalise former prisoners even further than they already are. It is not as if Ursula Ní Shionnáin is a convicted paedophile applying for a job in a school. She wanted to work in an environment which already houses former republican prisoners serving as legislators.

There just might be fewer voters upset by Catherine Connolly's pick than there are by that of Micheal Martin and Simon Harris, feeling that Lowry much less than Ní Shionnáin should be gracing the corridors of Leinster House.

⏩Follow on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre.