Last June’s local elections in Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart saw a turnout of just 32.5% – a slight increase from the 30.2% turnout from 2019, but still the lowest turnout of any of Fingal County Council’s constituencies.
The nearby constituency of Ongar fared only slightly better, with a turnout of 37.9%.
Last November’s general election saw the lowest turnout in the constituency since 2002; 57.1% of registered voters turned out to vote for five TDs.
In Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, there was also a striking election result; the far-right National Party won its first-ever seat in the form of Patrick Quinlan, the low turnout undoubtedly benefiting him.
The same constituency also saw Solidarity councillor John Burtchaell win re-election, meaning that voters from both the far-left and far-right won a seat in the same constituency, which has been plagued with low turnout.
Those results, from an outsiders perspective, tells a fairly obvious story; people in Blanchardstown feel left behind, the system has failed them, and are willing to vote for politicians outside Ireland’s traditional centrist norms (that is, if they bother to turn up to vote).
It is in this backdrop that Presidential hopeful Catherine Connolly made her pitch; she wants to be a President for people who aren’t traditionally engaged in politics.
The Crowe Plaza was the venue for the Galwegian to make her pitch to move into the famous house elsewhere in Dublin 15.
On Tuesday, Quinlan posted on Twitter “there is no housing crisis, only an immigration crisis, caused by, well, every single anti-Irish traitor in political office.”
“Very easy to spot them. Simply hold a tricolour up to them, and if they recoil like a vampire, you know their allegiance isn’t to you.”
Connolly took a decidedly different tact; she recalled her experience on Galway City Council, where the council passed an anti-racism motion against asylum seekers.
Connolly began her political career on Galway City Council in 1999 as a member of Labour, and during her time on the council (and since becoming a TD in 2016), she said she worked with people from different backgrounds.
The Galwegian independent told the room “when we build a society when asking a question is a dangerous thing, that is a very bad situation.”
“It’s a small group who are saying and doing these things, and we need to say ‘not in our name” which received applause from the room.
With the Indian community in Dublin 15 shaken by the racist attacks on fellow Indians in Dublin over the summer, Connolly said taking action against racism starts at a local level, and said that as President, she would use her platform to empower local community groups.
She noted there is a disconnect between the average person and the political sphere, and local community groups are stepping in where traditional politics has failed.
Connolly was joined by a wide range of politicians from different parties; local TDs Paul Donnelly (Sinn Féin) Ruth Coppinger (Solidarity) and Roderic O’Gorman (Green Party) were all present at the event, with independent Senators Frances Black and Eileen Flynn, Labour councillor John Walsh and Social Democrats councillor Cat O’Driscoll all speaking in support of Connolly.
The left rowing in behind one candidate is historic; in the 2011 election, Labour’s Michael D Higgins saw off Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, and in 2018, it was Sinn Féin that ran a doomed campaign against Higgins.
Now, the two parties, who don’t usually agree on much, are putting their differences aside and backing someone they believe is the best chance of sending the government parties a message on October 24.
There is precedent for the left-of-centre to work together; it was Labour that backed Mary Robinson in 1990, with the Workers’ Party and the Greens going on to back her candidacy, delivering a victory against Dublin West TDs Brian Lenihan Senior and Austin Currie.
The rare sign of unity was remarked upon as “inspiring” by people in attendance, with former Sinn Féin election candidate Louise Kavanagh saying, “it’s great to see we are all part of a bigger movement”
Kavanagh, who ran for the party last year in Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, said “we are seeing the love on the doorstep already,” and praised Coppinger for hosting a canvass event with Connolly prior to the meeting at Crowe Plaza.
Local woman Maureen Penrose posed a question to Connolly that has become a common refrain during the campaign; would Connolly, an avowed leftist who is not afraid to speak her mind on the likes of Gaza, NATO and America, still be as effective if she has the constraints of the Presidency around her?
Penrose rhetorically asked if Connolly would be better suited remaining as a member of the opposition in the Dáil, where she can still be herself without the limitations placed upon a sitting President.
Connolly said that fellow Galwegian, the incumbent Michael D Higgins, has shown that a President can still speak their mind on major social issues such as homelessness and the war in Gaza and still play within the constraints set upon the President.
The independent kept stressing that her campaign was part of a larger movement, and that as President, she would attempt to make the Irish language a more prominent part of day-to-day life.
Connolly is the one Gaeilgeoir in the race (pundits note this is an issue where she has the edge over Heather Humphreys), and she said that should she win the Presidency, she would use her position not to lecture people about the Irish language, but rather encourage them to use a cúpla focal.
West Dublin is home to a mini-boom in Gaeilge; the 2022 census showed that Ashtown A has the highest numbers of Irish speakers of any electoral district in Dublin; if the Ashtown Gaeligors can be persuaded to turn out to vote, it could deliver a victory for the Connolly campaign in Dublin West.
Presidential election results, much like referendums, are broken down by Dáil constituencies, meaning that we will have a clear indication of which constituencies the candidates performed best in.
In Dublin West last November, the combined vote total of Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats, Greens and Solidarity, the five parties backing Connolly, came to 47.1%, compared to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s combined total of 37.7%.
Connolly would need to be pulling those kinds of numbers on the first count to be in with a chance of winning the presidency.
Based on the meeting in Blanchardstown having people wait outside the room just to hear her speak, she may well be onto something.