The race for the Áras
The field of candidates for the Irish presidency has taken shape ahead of the election on 24 October 2025.
Any Irish citizen over the age of 35 can seek a nomination to become a candidate for the Irish presidency. Candidates must be nominated by 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities. The President’s powers include:
- representing the people of Ireland;
- appointing the Taoiseach, members of government, and judges;
- summoning and dissolving of the Dáil and convening of the Oireachtas;
- signing legislation into law and referring bills to the Supreme Court; and
- acting as Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces.
In what is shaping up to be a three-horse race, there will likely be three candidates seeking to succeed Michael D Higgins: Independent socialist TD Catherine Connolly, Former Fine Gael deputy leader Heather Humphreys, and former Dublin GAA football manager Jim Gavin, who has been nominated by Fianna Fáil.
Independent Galway West TD Catherine Connolly is running as the ‘united left’ candidate with her priorities including homelessness, war, and Israel’s genocide in Gaza. She has been nominated and supported by Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, and left-wing independents TDs, senators, and MEPs.
She is opposed to abolishing the Republic’s ‘triple lock’ system for deploying military troops, an issue being framed as a debate on the State’s neutrality. During a visit to Belfast in August 2025, she voiced support for a united Ireland, saying: “I will use my voice in every way possible for that vision to be a reality.”
The triple lock is formally embedded in Irish law through the Defence (Amendment) Act 1960, and requires the approval of the Irish Government, Dáil Éireann, and a United Nations mandate before the Irish Defence Forces can be deployed overseas on peacekeeping or military operations.
Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys, who would be the first Ulster Protestant Irish president, is a former deputy leader of Fine Gael, serving as a TD for Cavan-Monaghan from 2011 to 2024. She supports the abolition of the triple lock, and says she would vote in favour of a united Ireland in a referendum. Launching her campaign in September 2025, Humphreys asserted that unity “would not solve our problems”, adding that she would aim to bring people together.
Fianna Fáil is contesting its first presidential election since 1997 when Mary McAleese was elected and served two terms. The party selected former Dublin senior football manager Jim Gavin as its candidate in September 2025. Gavin has stated that he supports the abolition of the ‘triple lock’.
On what the United Nations describes as a genocide in Gaza, he says: “It is unconscionable that the bombing is still taking place when I believe that the military objectives have probably been reached for that military campaign.”
For observers in Northern Ireland, the election of Humphreys or Connolly would be of particular interest, with Humphreys being a Protestant from Ulster who has familial ties to Orange institutions, and Connolly having a longstanding track record of support for Irish reunification. Gavin, however, is much more unknown, with mystery surrounding many of his political stances.
