INTERVIEW: Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly visits Dundalk

With the presidential election campaign gathering momentum, Independent candidate Catherine Connolly came to Dundalk last night ahead of her public meeting at An Táin Arts Centre. No stranger to the town, Connolly recalls her time volunteering with the Simon Community here as an experience that shaped both her outlook. In a wide-ranging conversation, she spoke to the Dundalk Democrat about neutrality and the Triple Lock, the role of the presidency, her vision for using the office for the common good and her hopes for a united Ireland.

DD: What do you know about Dundalk? Have you been here before?

CC: I volunteered here in the Simon Community many years ago, and I worked for a good few months, and I got to like Dundalk, and we used to have a lovely time in the Imperial Hotel where we’d relax after our stint. But I have to say I got more from the Simon Community than they got from me; it certainly helped shape me and gave me experience.

DD: As I’m sure you know, Dundalk is an army town, and I know a big thing for you is neutrality, and the debate was picked up again on Sunday [last] about the Triple Lock. What are your thoughts on that?

CC: Well, I wish there was a debate on the Triple Lock, an informed debate on the Triple Lock. I don’t think that’s happening. I think we’re getting a particular narrative on the Triple Lock and the necessity for change because the world has changed. I think that message is simply repeated over and over, and I don’t think that’s a debate.
I think there’s an onus on the government to tell us why that is necessary other than the phrase ‘The world has changed’; the world has changed constantly; we’ve been in dangerous places before, and we’re certainly in a very dangerous position now. That’s not a reason for changing a triple lock that our Taoiseach told us in 2013 was the core of our neutrality.

DD: If it was to be gotten rid of and the Dail did vote to get rid of it, would you be comfortable as president if a situation did arise…?

CC: I’ve been asked that a few times and as president [and] every role I’ve taken on I’ve done to the best of my ability within the limits of that role and I’ve got no problem carrying out the role of the presidency as set out in the constitution, and one of the roles is to look at legislation and if I’ve concerns about legislation having got advice from the Council of State; then to make decisions around that. That’s a process any president has to do in relation to legislation. I don’t think my own personal views would be the proper way to look at that legislation; it would be to see if that legislation was repugnant to the constitution.

DD: On your own personal views, Michael D. Higgins has been comfortable enough expressing his views, would that be something as president you’d be comfortable doing or would you see it as past presidents have that you should stay out of that sort of thing?

CC: That has come around that the president should stay quiet. The role of the presidency is very important, isn’t it? It’s set out in the constitution. We have the Dail, the Seanad and then we have the president. It’s a very important role. Certainly it’s limited in its power, but it’s a very important role and I feel that the way parties have treated it to date is a little disrespectful really, it’s a bit like Lanigan’s Ball with them, someone steps in and someone steps out, I’m obviously not making any comment about Mairead Mc Guinness when I say that. But the constant thing of who will we pick and where will we pick them from, this is a very important campaign, and it’s disrespectful on two levels, one to the role of the presidency and two to the people of Ireland because this is the one time they can directly elect a leader.

They can’t elect the Taoiseach and they can’t elect the Tanaiste, but they can directly elect the President, and I think that if candidates are going to stand they should stand proudly and answer questions and allow scrutiny to take place and allow people to get to know the candidate over a period of time. I welcome that, and I think it should be welcomed generally.

DD: You mentioned when you announced your candidacy about using some of the presidential salary “for the common good” what does that look like?

CC: That’s something I’m going to carefully consider, I certainly don’t need that much money as president and I certainly don’t want to make quick comments, but I’ve given an undertaking to look at the use of a substantial amount of money in relation to projects on the ground. I can think of many, and I’m not going to name just one or two. The more I go around Ireland, the more I realise the fantastic work on the ground.

Today I was in Drogheda, and I met a room full of people working in a number of different areas on the ground promoting interaction and skills and education. Somebody is working on the Boyne Valley restoration; others are working on racism and how to address that.

Equally in my own city in County Galway, I was in Clifden recently with a group of people from the Letterfrack forum talking about a number of different projects. One was about dealing with the invasive species rhododendron and I mention that because that problem of an invasive species and how to deal with it led to a good result in that they produced a byproduct which was a fertilser to be used on the ground and then I had four hours of a presentation on the many possibilities for that…
The amount of creativity and intelligence and drive in that room, however, they have no certainty in relation to funding year after year. So the more that I see that I realise, well I’ve always realised, but it’s patent evidence, that we have problems but we have solutions to the problems if we just support communities on the ground and different entities that are working, some of them completely voluntary and other semi voluntary and others paid but with no security [of funding].

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DD: The possibility of a border poll is a big topic, particularly around here. What are your thoughts on that?

CC: I’ve said that I hope to see it in my lifetime, and I will do everything possible to promote a united Ireland. The constitution sets out in article three, following on from the Good Friday Agreement, that it has to be done by consent and has to be done with respect for all sides and all backgrounds. We’ve enshrined that in our constitution in Article three and I believe in a united Ireland.

I believe that this country is too small to be divided, but it must be done with consent and in a way that brings everybody on board. I’d like to think that myself, as a candidate in this election, that I would be a unifying candidate to bring more people together because we’ve a lot more in common than we have differences and I’d like to focus on that. And for the differences, to respect them, to respect the differences, it is a democracy and we’ve a long history of being colonised and so on, we’ve huge experience here in how we’ve changed and I think we can use that for the benefit of the common good.