20 Presidential Hopefuls Set To Appear Before Longford County Council This Monday

Each candidate will be given 10 minutes to speak

This Monday, September 15th, a total of 20 presidential hopefuls will appear before a special meeting of Longford County Council.

The independent candidates will be allotted a time limit of 10 minutes each in which to present their case for the council’s nomination for the 2025 Presidential Election. Once the councillors have heard from all contenders present, they will then retreat to discuss the matter before eventually voting.

In order to secure their place on the ballot sheet for the October election, the candidates must first obtain nominations from 4 local authorities. With just 12 days until the September 24th deadline for nominations however, the countdown timer is ticking fast in terms of fulfilling the required criteria for eligibility.

Those in a hurry to secure nominations from local authorities, last week faced an obstacle in the form of a Fine Gael ban, courtesy of the Tánaiste, Simon Harris.

The Fine Gael leader was intensely criticised for his decision to ban party councillors around the country from supporting independent candidates, thus blocking their chances of securing a nomination. Lanesborough-based Independent councillor, Mark Casey, blasted the party leader for the move, one he described as a “threat to democracy.”

In speaking to the Longford Leader last week, Councillor Casey said Longford’s Fine Gael councillors, “are intelligent enough not to be told what to do by the party puppet masters in Dublin.”

The councillor, who confirmed he will be giving his vote to barrister, Maria Steen, also voiced his hopes that the Fine Gael members would abstain from Monday’s vote “and allow democracy to take its course like it should.”

The special meeting of Longford County Council, which will run this Monday from 11am to 1pm and again from 2pm onwards, will see the following candidates in attendance:

Maria Steen

Nick Delehanty

Dolores Cahill

Peter Casey

Paudie O’Dúinnin

Donncha MacGabhann

Gearóid Duffy

Aidan Harrington

Charlotte Keenan

Seana Kerr

Sarah Louise Mulligan

Tommy Kelly