Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly to visit Leitrim

Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly will visit Carrick-on-Shannon this Saturday, September 6. She will be in conversation with journalist Carole Coleman at St George’s Heritage & Visitor Centre from 3pm to 4pm. The event is free for the public to attend.

The Galway West TD is, so far, the only candidate who has formally been nominated to contest the upcoming election.

Outlining her vision for the Presidency, Ms Connolly said: “I believe the President should be a unifying presence—a steady hand, yes, but also a spark. A reminder of what is possible. A moral compass in a world increasingly driven by profit and spectacle. A voice for those too often silenced. That is the role I seek to play.

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"I want to be a President who listens. Who travels to every county, not to perform, but to listen, who brings the Presidency back into the heart of our daily lives.

"I want to be a President who speaks for peace, not just abroad, but at home—in how we treat one another, in how we care for the most vulnerable, in how we make space for disagreement without division.”

Independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has hit out at the way questions have been put to her by the media during the course of her campaign.

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Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week on Sunday, Ms Connolly was asked about her nomination of journalist-turned-activist Gemma O’Doherty in the 2018 presidential election, her visit to Syria under the Assad regime, her links with politicians Clare Daly and Mick Wallace, and whether she would support sanctions on Russia as the war in Ukraine continues.

"I believe in neutrality. Not as absence, but as action—an active, living tradition of peace-making, bridge-building, and compassionate diplomacy. It is one of Ireland’s greatest strengths, and I will defend it with conviction.

"I have worked in many roles throughout my life—as a cleaner, a nurse’s aide, a clinical psychologist, a teacher and a barrister.

"In the coming days and weeks, I will be on the road, in towns, parishes and communities across the country. I want to begin a real conversation—not just about what Ireland is, but about what it could be—a country not driven by fear, but by hope. Not shaped by division, but by shared dreams.”