Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.
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Notes -
Ireland's presidential election is this Friday. The Irish president (Uachtarán na hÉireann) is a ceremonial role which wields no actual power, but the incumbent is expected to serve as the ambassador for the nation. The office is currently occupied by Michael D. Higgins, who became something of an icon both nationally and abroad owing to his short stature and white hair, lending him an elfin/leprechaun appearance. (My mother thinks he's a closeted homosexual in a lavender marriage.) Higgins is coming to the end of his second term, for which the term limit applies.
This election cycle has been something of a shambles. Lack of coordination at the nomination stage has resulted in a meagre ballot of three candidates, half as many as the last election in 2018:
After several presidential debates, Gavin unexpectedly dropped out of the race, but with too little notice to have his name taken off the ballot. It'll be interesting to see what happens if he secures a majority. It's rather surreal seeing the election posters for a candidate who's already taken his hat out of the ring dotted around the city.
I know very little about any of the candidates beyond their party affiliation. Connolly is apparently intensely proud of the fact that she's fluent in the Irish language and has made it a major plank of her campaign. My opinion of her instantly soured when she argued the reason the Irish electorate rejected the "durable relationships" referendum was because they didn't understand it. There are few things I find more insulting than condescension: people understood it perfectly well, which is why they rejected it.
The poor showing of candidates and controversy over the nomination procedure (particularly concerning Maria Steen, a conservative activist who sought the nomination) has resulted in many voters announcing their plan to deliberately spoil their ballots in protest, with a recent poll suggesting as many as 6% will do so.
As for me, I'm mainly just breathing a sigh of relief that the name "McGregor, Conor" doesn't appear on the ballot.
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