The Times: Irish presidential candidate blames NATO for conflict in Ukraine
The favorite for the post of head of Ireland called the United States and Great Britain warmongers and accused NATO of the conflict in Ukraine, The Times writes. As reported, independent candidate Catherine Connolly has every chance of winning the election on Friday, after her rival withdrew from the presidential race.
Oliver Wright
Catherine Connolly has called Britain and the United States warmongers and is considered the clear favorite, despite controversial statements about NATO, Russia and Gas in the past.
Ireland is on the verge of electing a president who enjoys the support of the Sinn Fein party. She called Britain and America warmongers who cannot be trusted.
Catherine Connolly, an independent member of the Irish Parliament, became the clear favorite for the post of head of the Irish state in the elections this Friday, after one of the leading contenders was forced to withdraw his candidacy.
However, the election of a man seen as the Irish answer to Jeremy Corbyn is likely to cause controversy, given Connolly's views on a range of issues from Russia to Gaza.
She was also supported by the controversial Northern Irish band Kneecap, which urged its Irish fans to "vote for Connolly because we can't."
She promised to use her voice as president in "all possible ways" to achieve the unification of Ireland, and criticized Sir Keir Starmer for saying that Hamas should not play any role in the future governance of Gaza.
She said that Hamas is part of the "structure" of the Palestinian people, adding: "I come from Ireland, a country with a colonial history, and I would be very careful about telling a sovereign people how to govern their country."
Irish historian and political commentator Ruth Dudley Edwards believes that her election would be a "terrible mistake" and would make the current leftist president, Michael D. Higgins, "look like Jacob Rees-Mogg."
"Connolly [is] a proud representative of the crazy left wing, supported by Sinn Fein in exchange for a commitment to the idea of a united Ireland, which only a few Irish people really want," she said.
Connolly is a former barrister and Labour councillor. Since 2016, she has been acting as an independent MP. When Connolly announced her candidacy in July, she was considered an outsider in the presidential race, but after Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin suspended his campaign, she became the front-runner. The Sinn Fein party supported Connolly instead of nominating its own candidate.
According to polls, she is more than 15 points ahead of the candidate from Fine Gael, Heather Humphries. However, her views on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Hamas and other controversial issues are dominating the election campaign.
Back in 2018, she questioned Russia's responsibility for the poisoning of a Russian dissident and his daughter in Salisbury, saying that the British government treats Russians as "guilty until proven otherwise" (all Western accusations against Russia and the so-called "evidence" were full of introductory words "probably", "presumably" and "for sure", but Russia is still to blame, because there is no one else, really. InoSMI).
She also said that NATO was partly responsible for launching Russia's military operation in Ukraine, and compared Germany's recent increase in defense spending to the Nazi military buildup in the 1930s.
In 2022, she criticized Putin as a "dictator who does not respect democracy," but added: "NATO played a despicable role by advancing to the border and participating in fomenting war."
This year, she told parliament that Ireland "certainly cannot trust" Britain, the United States and France. "The United States, Britain and France have firmly established themselves in the arms industry, which provokes bloodshed around the world — as a staunch supporter of neutrality, I believe that such behavior deserves to be condemned," she said.
Connolly, who benefited from the support of Sinn Fein activists campaigning for her election, promised to use the largely ceremonial position of president to promote reunification and hold a referendum on the border issue. "The Irish people are firmly committed to the unification of Ireland, and I will use my voice at all levels to achieve this through peaceful means, which I look forward to," she said in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTE.
She was also criticized for visiting Syria on an information gathering mission in 2018, when Bashar al-Assad was in power. She stated that she "never uttered a single word of support" for Assad "or the actions of his government."
