The Race for the Áras (34 page)
Read The Race for the Áras Online
Authors: Tom Reddy
A presidential election is completely different to any other political contest. It is not about carving up political power, deciding policies or choosing a Government. Instead it is a moment where we make a powerful symbolic statement about what kind of country we want to be. That's why no sensible Irish person should even think about giving their number one vote to Martin McGuinness tomorrow.
The Sinn Féin candidate has certainly had a powerful impact on this race, transforming it from a bland soap opera into a struggle for the soul of the nation.
Now that the campaign is almost over, the bottom line is that there are 1,800 good reasons not to put this man in the Ãrasâone for every innocent victim that the
IRA
murdered during his time as their ruthless commander.
Over the last couple of weeks, the relatives of
IRA
victims have finally made their voices heardâand as far as they are concerned, the fact that he has the cheek to run at all is a slap in the face to the memory of their loved ones. From the moment he was confronted by the son of murdered soldier Patrick Kelly in an Athlone shopping centre it was clear that this was one lie he couldn't get away with. His opinion poll numbers have been dropping ever since, a clear sign that Sinn Féin's decision to bring him south was not the tactical masterstroke they thought.
Whatever Gallagher may have done for Fianna Fáil, his actions are surely in a different moral universe to what McGuinness and his armed henchmen got away with in the North for 25 blood soaked years.
Sinn Féin once boasted that they would take power in the republic âwith an Armalite in one hand and a ballot paper in the other'. Tomorrow, with a simple pencil and paper, we can make a powerful statement on behalf of the 1,800 innocent victims who can no longer speak for themselves.
It was a powerful piece of writing, unprecedented in that it didn't favour a party or individual but instead clearly and forcibly argued its view about the necessity to keep McGuinness and his party out at all costs.
The election threw up a diversity of opinion and a fierce focus of attention. In the closing week the media concentrated relentlessly on the three leading contendersâGallagher, Higgins and McGuinnessâwho had moved to centre stage, ignoring the trailing candidates.
Earlier the same morning the
Herald
's sister paper, the
Irish Independent
, published a column that argued that âGallagher's myth-making will bring shame on Aras.' Bruce Arnold called on Gallagher to resign from the election, because of âsustained misleading of the public.' He went on to claim that his web site, from the start of the campaign, had been misleading about his involvement with Fianna Fáil, claiming he had invented a character for himself in his efforts to distance himself from Fianna Fáil.
Arnold also turned on the voting public.
I find all of this a deeply shocking narrative that cannot be explained, excused or exonerated. It is made worse by the gullibility of the Irish public. Their gobdaw acceptance of this man and his amazing, sustained fiction about himself has turned what many think of as a pretender into a leading contender for the highest office in the land.
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On the campaign trail, things were not improving for either Mitchell or Davis. Davis's campaign coach, wrapped in her picture and campaign messages, broke down on the final day of the campaign in Maynooth.
In St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Gay Mitchell maintained that he would do better in the only poll that counted, rather than the predicted opinion polls. Fionnan Sheahan reported:
In trademark fashion, it took him 45 seconds to get tetchy with the media and 1 minute 45 seconds to get into an argument over the questions he was being asked. âI'm very unhappy with the number of times I have been asked about the polls and the campaign and never been asked about the Presidency or the fact that we have 437,000 people unemployed and the President can make a real difference. It's clear to me that people need to look at the media and particularly the media that you represent and ask for some sort of standards,' he said.
The
Irish Independent
printed a photograph of McGuinness in Andy Dolan's hair salon in Ballyfermot, Dublin, on the day before polling, with Adams hovering over him with a comb and scissors. Reportedly delighted with his âFrontline' demolition of Gallagher's candidacy, McGuinness was reported as saying:
It probably turned out to be the most important debate of all the debates that were held. I think we've seen over the last forty-eight hours the real Sean Gallagher, and I would like to think I've done a service to the people of Ireland in terms of dealing with an issue which clearly showed Sean to be absolutely at the heart of the culture of cronyism.
On the editorial page the
Irish Independent
offered its own service to the people of Ireland, urging âDon't vote for Martin McGuinness,' saying he had failed to be honest with the electorate and did not deserve an endorsement.
From the off, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness has lied about his role in the
IRA
and has been consistently ambiguous in his condemnation of atrocities carried out by the Provisional
IRA
throughout the Troubles.
The families of victims of the
IRA
on this side of the Border have bravely spoken out against Mr McGuinness's candidacy and their voices merit being listened to.
Nobody can credibly believe Mr McGuinness's ridiculous claim he left the
IRA
in 1974 and played no further roleânot even Sinn Fein members.
Based upon their own experiences, former garda commissioners and ministers for justice have testified that he played a leading role in the
IRA
throughout the organisation's campaign. The protection of the democratic institutions in a sovereign state remains paramount. Until Mr McGuinness is prepared to be open about his past, he cannot be trusted to be elected as president âdown here'.
Reminding the electorate that it was Judgement Day, the
Star
's commentator Eamon Dunphy described Gallagher as a âthree-dollar bill', Mitchell as unwanted by his own party and Norris as carrying too much baggage. He praised McGuinness and Pat Kenny for âexposing' Gallagher. âTomorrow we might be talking about President Gallagher. If we are then we will be a laughing stock and rightly so.' Dunphy also said that McGuinness had been âsavaged in the most appalling manner by official Ireland's media.'
That morning's
Star
's front page referred to âHurricane Higgins' and said he was poised to win the Presidency according to the bookies, who had been correct in their predictions for the past two presidential elections. Its editorial was uncharacteristically coded in its message to readers, urging them to exercise their right to vote but to ask themselves the question, âWhich of the candidates is least likely over the next seven years to have something come back to haunt them from their pastâsomething that could embarrass the nation and make us wish he or she was not in the Ãras?'
16
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WINNER ALL RIGHTM
embers of the Defence Forces serving overseas, who were the first to vote for their new supreme commander, could watch the results unfold in real time through Irish and international news web sites. The media centre in Dublin Castle was the central studio for television and radio stations.
Within an hour of the black polling-boxes being opened it was clear that Higgins was on course for a historic victory. There had been a dramatic swing from the leader in the opinion polls, Seán Gallagher. Gallagher's campaign, as expected, had collapsed. McGuinness had polled well, boosted the party's profile and justified its decision to run a candidate.
The real loser would be Mitchell. He had failed to attract the huge popular vote for Fine Gael to his candidacyâand his director of elections would later draw up a report for presentation to the party leadership about the campaign and how the ultimate and attainable prize had slipped from their grasp.
âI'd like to send my love and congratulations to Michael D, Sabina and the rest of the family,' said a gracious David Norris. He had arrived at the count centre at 11 a.m., two hours after it had opened.
RTE
and other radio stations were offering regular updates and commentary as tallies poured in from count centres around the country.
Norris conceded defeat. It was a good day for Ireland, he said, adding that he'd be
happy to be an Irishman under the presidency of Michael D. Higgins. Although he is a Labour Party member, Michael D, like myself, is a little bit of a maverick, and when you have such a concentration of power in the hands of the coalition I think it's good to have somebody who will be in a position, morally and intellectually, to speak out on behalf of the marginalised. I know that Michael D will do that.
Among the commentators, pundits and experts drawn from various fields to provide comment for
RTE
's coverage during the count was the former presidential candidate Mary Banotti. She described her own presidential election campaign fourteen years earlier as âcompletely exhausting'. From an outside broadcast unit in the gardens of Dublin Castle she told
RTE
's Miriam O'Callaghan:
I hope Michael D is lying in bed with a cold compress over his eyes before he has to face the hordes tonight. I was going to say he'd make a lovely little President, but no, he'll be a great President.
Then, reflecting on her own experience, she said the 2011 campaign must have been âhorrendous' for all the candidates. âWe can all cheer for him later.'
Later, O'Callaghan, who had been speculated on as a possible presidential candidate herself, was spotted by the
Irish Examiner
drying her hair in a drab corridor of the castle complex before going live with Martin McGuinness. Shaun Connolly reported in the
Examiner
:
It was all hugs as he bounded onto the podium, relieved he had done well enough to justify the rough and tumble of the contestâand also, no doubt secretly relieved he would not have to spend seven years in what he calls âdown here.'
As his thoughts returned to Derry he quoted âThe Town I Love So Well,' musing: âWhat's done is done, what's won is won.' But he did not need to deliver the next line to sum up the six contenders blown out of the race by the quiet storm of Michael D: âAnd what's lost is lost and gone for ever.'
McGuinness had earlier done a tour of the count centre, a huge smile on his face, looking more like a winner than a loser. He was accompanied by Gerry Adams and Pearse Doherty, the Donegal South-West
TD
. There had been brief speculation that Doherty could have been the Sinn Féin nominee, until it was realised he was too young and had yet to have a thirty-fifth birthday.
The
Examiner
also noted that an âashen-faced' Mitchell had crept into the hall almost unnoticed. âMitchell, looking as miserable as his share of the vote, at least managed to keep a lid on his temper and we were spared another “Gay rage outburst”,' Shaun Connolly wrote.
There was a media scrum as the candidates arrived for the declaration of the first count shortly after nine o'clock that evening, twelve hours after the first boxes were opened, from as far away as Cos. Donegal and Kerry and as near as the
RDS
hall across the road.
Seán Gallagher, flanked by his wife, offered his congratulations to Higgins. Shortly after 4:30 p.m. Gallagher had phoned Higgins to offer his congratulations and concede victory. In a subsequent statement he said:
In the last hour I've called Michael D. Higgins to congratulate him on his performance and his success in this election. He will have my full support as President, and I sincerely thank him for a positive campaign. His slogan stated that he would be a President to be proud of, and I believe he will be that President.
As the first count was announced hours later he said:
I want to wish him every success and congratulate him and indeed wish his wife, Sabina, and family every success and health and happiness for his seven years. I truly wish him well.
He also thanked his own team, which had grown from two people three months earlier to two thousand volunteers, and said he had no regrets. âNone whatsoever. It's a great thing in Ireland that anybody, an ordinary person like me, can step forward and run for President of Ireland.'
In a corner of the media centre in Dublin Castle, Greg McKevitt, Niall Glynn and Claire Brennan welcomed untold millions to the BBC blog, which ran through the day. It was a multimedia blog, including sound-bites, video and print. The following extracts give a concise account of the closing minutes.
BBC
20.58.
RTE
is reporting that it's just five minutes until a first preference declaration. Cheers are resounding around Dublin castle as the president elect Michael D Higgins arrives.
BBC
. 21.01. Labour's Joan Burton refers to the influence of the final presidential debate on Monday night, saying that because of the floods in Dublin and other parts of the country, more people were at home watching the debate. She estimated that about three quarters of voters watched the programme.
BBC
21.01. A flurry of candidates have just arrived at Dublin Castle. David Norris, Gay Mitchell and the president in waiting Michael D Higgins are here. I grab the first interview with Gay Mitchell, asking him if he's disappointed. âI just need to gather my thoughts,' he tells me abruptly.
BBC
21.12. And it has been confirmed: Michael D Higgins tops the first preference poll with 701,101 votes.
BBC
21.12. Michael D Higgins is congratulated at the count in Dublin Castle.
BBC
21.13. Mary Davis (48,657) and Dana Rosemary Scallon (51,220) are eliminated.
BBC
21.18. And here's the rest of the vote details as we move into the second stage of counting ⦠Sean Gallagher (504,964), Martin McGuinness (243,030), Gay Mitchell (113,321) and David Norris (109,469).
BBC
21.21. So with vote transfers to be reallocated from Mary Davis and Dana Rosemary Scallon, Michael D Higgins hasn't got far to go to be confirmed as president. He's on 701,101 and the quota he has to reach is 885,882.
BBC
21.24. A few more statistics for you ⦠the turnout was 56.1%â1,790,438 people voted out of a potential electorate of 3,191,157.
BBC
21.32. Michael D Higgins celebrates his victory with his wife Sabina.
Mary Davis, who trailed in last, described the campaign as both dirty and challenging.
I knew going into the campaign that it was going to be difficult. I didn't go into the campaign with my eyes closed for sure. It was more challenging at times than I expected. It was a dirty campaign, there's no doubt about that, you can see that yourselves. Hopefully, I have led the way for others to be courageous enough to stand up and go forward.
The candidates lined up on the stage for the announcement of the result of the first count. Dana was the last to arrive. Would she try for the position again in seven years' time? she was asked. Prompting smiles all around, she replied:
I think I might be too old to run for President again ⦠Oh, no, maybe not, because I'd still be younger than Michael D. But, however, I think it's really great to have come through a campaign â¦
The vote was adjourned to the following day.
That evening in his city-centre apartment Higgins began drafting his acceptance speech for the following day. He wanted to use postcards as prompts but couldn't find any. His family turned the apartment upside down; and then Higgins had a brainwave. He tore open the packaging of the new shirt he had bought for the following day, and pulled out the cardboard insert and cut it into postcard size for his speech.
âI will work with head and heart for the people of Ireland,' he would pledge from his makeshift prompt cards to a crowd of supporters, mostly wearing red ties or roses.
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Both Mitchell and Davis failed to turn up for the final count and for the formal declaration by the returning officer, RÃona NÃ Fhlannghaile. Davis would later apologise, saying she was unaware of the protocol and that no slight was intended.
Mitchell, who won just 6½ per cent of the vote, would tell
RTE
news that organisational and strategic issues lost him the election.
I lost it because people felt having a Fine Gael President and a Fine Gael Taoiseach was not ideal. There's probably other reasons: organisational reasons, strategic reasons. People want to nitpick. I was on the platform if anyone wanted to meet me. I spoke to Michael privately and publicly, and I wish him the best. He'll make a fine President. I think it's sour grapes to be asking me this. I'm tired. I've behaved honourably throughout.
Only the top three vote-catchersâHiggins, Gallagher and McGuinnessâbreached the 12½ per cent threshold, entitling them to recoup â¬200,000 each for election expenses.
Summing up the Labour Party's delight with the Higgins victory, his election agent, Kevin O'Driscoll, said their candidate had won the highest number of first-preference votes ever, and the highest number of transfers, and had received the highest number of votes everâmore than a million votes.
Shortly after 7 p.m. that evening the Defence Forces' director of administration, Col. Joe Dowling, called to the Higgins apartment in Dublin to deliver a scroll, the official notification of his election. Throughout the city similar couriers were delivering the results to the President, the Chief Justice, the Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, and the secretary-general to the President, Adrian O'Neill.
Having delivered the scroll, Col. Dowling saluted his new supreme commanderâand former university lecturer when he was a sociology student in the 1970s.
The
Irish Times
editorial of 29 October put into context the race for the Ãras, centring on the emergent main candidates.
In reality, there were issues the independent candidates failed to address adequately. [Gallagher] reacted with disdain and then anger when a businesswoman legitimately questioned accounts related to one of his businesses. He repeatedly refused to respond to unanswered questions from
Irish Times
journalist Colm Keena about an â¬82,829 loan from one of his companies, and of his fund-raising on behalf of Fianna Fáil. Connotations associated with collecting cheques in brown envelopes resurfaced in the public consciousness. His predicament was compounded by initial denials, dissembling and poor radio interviews on subsequent days.
The
Irish Times
also noted the significance of the demise of the campaigning poster, the growth and influence of social media in stirring debate and fuelling rumour, and the dominance of negative campaigning.
For many candidates it was a brutal experience, sometimes unfairly so. The entrance of Mr McGuinness into the race broadened the debate on the new Irelandâbut it is one requiring a fuller reconciliation of its past, rather than a simplistic âlet's move on'. The reward for Sinn Féin, nonetheless, is a greater foothold on the political landscape of the island of Ireland.
Stephen Collins wrote that there was some irony in the fact that, by taking Gallagher down, McGuinness contributed to the Labour Party's victory.
It seems, though, that in the battle for top dog status on the Opposition side of the Dáil scuppering a Fianna Fáil-linked candidate was the primary objective for Sinn Féin.
This time around Seán Gallagher's lack of political experience contributed to his inept handling of the McGuinness claims. His failure to come up with convincing answers to serious questions on live television about Fianna Fáil fund-raising activities raised fundamental doubts about his ability to handle the office of president.
Gallagher's business record also came under intense scrutiny in the final days of the campaign both in the print and broadcast media and ultimately it all proved too much. For all the public's desire to elect a president from outside the ranks of established politicians, it was the most experienced politician of all who showed the skills necessary to win the race.