Conor McGregor “represents the very worst of us” and has “a negligible chance” of getting a presidential election nomination, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
The Fine Gael leader on Friday criticised the former mixed martial arts champion who has said he will attempt to get a nomination to contest next month’s election from county councillors.
Mr McGregor, who last year lost a civil rape case, on Thursday urged his online supporters to lobby councillors as the backing of four local authorities could get him on to the ballot.
People who wish to enter the presidential election must get nominations from 20 Oireachtas members or four local authorities.
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Speaking to reporters during a visit to Britain on Friday, Mr Harris said Mr McGregor “represents the very worst of us” and is “a very bad person”.
“Conor McGregor is a person who has been found responsible for rape in a civil court in Ireland. That’s a statement of fact,” he said.
“He certainly doesn’t represent what a majority of people, in my view, would like to see embodied in a president of Ireland”.
Mr Harris added: “We live in a democracy. We have a nomination process that’s clear, that’s transparent, that’s set out in our Constitution and anybody’s entitled to seek a nomination. I believe the chances of him getting one are negligible.”
In response, Mr McGregor said Mr Harris “knows full well my campaign is addressing the issues that resonate with most Irish people”.
He accused the Tánaiste of attempting “to smear” him by referencing the civil trial and said it would not distract from his own record of broken promises and failures.
“He’s completely out of touch and will be remembered as a failed leader. He must resign, and when I take the presidency, I’ll ensure accountability.”
Last year, Mr McGregor was ordered to pay Nikita Hand €250,000 damages after a High Court jury found he had assaulted her in a Dublin hotel.
In July, he lost his appeal against the jury finding in favour of Ms Hand, who sued him for alleged rape at the Beacon hotel on December 9th, 2018.
Separately, Indepedent candidate Catherine Connolly has said a desire to question “the consensus” is one of the things that drives her in politics.
Speaking at the Sugar club in Dublin at the launch of a left-wing periodical, An Clogán, Ms Connolly was strongly critical of the US, describing it as “an empire”, and Israel, which she said wanted to become one.
She said during a panel discussion that she had no hesitation in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine but more should have been done to end the war in the years since.
She suggested the treatment of Ukrainian refugees in the State comparison to others seeking internatinal protection has been racist and divisive.
“To me, to create a two-tier and three-tier level of a system in relation to asylum seekers, it’s just appalling,” she said. “It sows division. It allows a vacuum for hatred and terrible comments so people of a certain skin colour coming from certain countries [go to] direct provision, removed from us, to allow a narrative of ‘them and us’.”
Ms Connolly said she was ”all for supporting the Ukrainian people" but questioned why the system treated people fleeing that war “in a different way than we treat others fleeing war”.
“That’s what a democracy should be about, being able to raise those questions, debate those questions, without fear or favour...”
Meanwhile, former TD Marc MacSharry has been contacting councillors regarding a potential presidential election bid by musician and activist Bob Geldof.
Mr MacSharry, who set up a consultancy company, Pontis Advisory Ltd, after he left politics at the last general election, has been surveying councillors about a possible run by the Boomtown Rats singer and Live Aid organiser.
Some councillors in Kerry – where the local authority will hold the first special meeting where presidential hopefuls can pitch for support to secure a place on the ballot paper – were among those contacted by Mr MacSharry.
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The Irish Times understands that the nature of the contact between Mr MacSharry and the councillors was research to gauge interest in a possible presidential run by Mr Geldof and whether local representatives’ were open to supporting him rather than actively canvassing or advocating on his behalf.
Businessman Gareth Sheridan and former solicitor Nick Delehanty are among several independent hopefuls who are expected to address Kerry County Council on Monday.
Geldof has not appeared on a list of people seeking to address councillors in Kerry. However, he has been linked with a bid for the presidency after it emerged he spoke to Taoiseach Micheál Martin about the possibility last week.
Mr Martin, who wants former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin to be Fianna Fáil’s candidate, told Geldof he was not in a position to nominate him as a candidate.
Attempts by The Irish Times to contact Geldof have been unsuccessful.
One Independent councillor in Kerry, Charlie Farrelly, confirmed he had been contacted by Mr MacSharry.
“I also got a call from Marc MacSharry asking if Bob Geldof was looking for council support, would I support him. I said no.”
Others councillors Mr MacSharry was in touch with said the nature of the contact was to gauge support for Mr Geldof with one saying: “I was never asked to nominate or support him [Mr Geldof.]”
The Irish Times asked Mr MacSharry about his contacts with councillors and who commissioned the research.
“You will respect that Pontis Advisory Limited do not comment on our clients’ details or specific services being provided to them,” Mr MacSharry said.
Former Sligo-Leitrim TD Mr MacSharry announced in 2023 that he would step down from politics when the next election was held. The outspoken TD, who left Fianna Fáil in 2022 after an internal row, was a vocal critic of party leader Micheál Martin and had resigned from the parliamentary party a year earlier.
