Independent Ireland is to meet this morning to decide whether its four TDs will give her a nomination for the Presidency, potentially raising her tally of Oireachtas nominations from 13 to 17 or 18.
This morning Independent Minister of State Marian Harkin announced that she was backing Steen’s candidacy, though her preferred candidate is Heather Humphreys. It is unclear if Harkin is one of the anonymous Oireachtas members who backed Steen previously, or if this is an additional nomination for her.
Candidates require 20 nominations to appear on the ballot. A decision will be announced on the Leinster House plinth at 12.15pm today.
Party leader Michael Collins told Gript that the party had held a “successful” meeting on Monday night which lasted over two hours, though Richard Donohoe TD was unable to attend due to what was described as a “genuine” and “unforeseeable” reason.
However, he said that Independent Ireland has “concerns” about Steen’s candidacy and is seeking assurances she would represent “ordinary people” affected by issues like the cost-of-living crisis.
Collins said the party’s deliberations had considered a wide range of issues, including Steen’s views on military neutrality and the Triple Lock, climate policy, the assisted dying bill, and abortion. He added that same-sex marriage was also raised in discussions, reflecting “the concerns of our electorate out there and the people that we represent.”
He said the party wanted to ensure its support went to a candidate capable of broadening her appeal: “We want someone who can reach out to everybody, even those not in, let’s say, her agenda, or those she’s reached out to up to now in her life.”
Asked about criticisms directed at the party for not backing Steen to date, he said: “Look, politics is politics. We told her at a very early stage, ‘If you’ve 16 votes, come to us.’ There’s no point coming to us otherwise.
“People are coming to us with 2 or 3 votes – where are they going? I don’t mean to be disrespectful to them, but if they don’t have the numbers or near to the numbers, we can’t spend hours and hours speaking to people.
“So look, she reached out to us. Maybe if she had reached out to us a month ago, but she didn’t. She did individually, but not as a party. She reached out to us as a party on Thursday evening, a week from the deadline. So we’ve stuck to our guns, we haven’t changed our position, we haven’t misled anybody. We said you need 16 votes or very close to it, and Maria’s in that position now. She’s the only candidate that can get across the line, if we support her.”
The deadline for nominations is tomorrow, Wednesday.
At present, three candidates are confirmed on the ballot: Independent Catherine Connolly, who has the backing of left-wing opposition parties; Heather Humphreys of Fine Gael; and Jim Gavin of Fianna Fáil.
Meanwhile, entrepreneur Gareth Sheridan yesterday announced he was withdrawing from the race after failing to secure four local authority nominations.
Sheridan had previously won backing from Kerry and Tipperary county councils but fell short after defeats in Meath and Offaly.
He said he respected “the democratic process and the decisions made by our councils” and wished the remaining candidates well.