Aontú leader says there is a 'groundswell of support' for Maria Steen
Vivenne Clarke
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín says there is currently a “groundswell of support” for Maria Steen.
“I know that there are thousands of people phoning up TDs and Senators' offices and sending emails at the moment.
"People just want the chance to pick the President. And that's my message to TDs and Senators in this eleventh hour, let the people pick the president,” he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show.
“There’s a long history of democrats standing up, giving their name and their signature for a nomination just to allow a democratic election. And the problem is I think that in this election there's definitely a democratic deficit.
"It's the narrowest field for a generation. And I really worry that we're going to have hundreds of thousands of people who are not going to engage in this campaign, who are not going to vote in this election, because they feel that their voice is not represented in this campaign.”
Mr Toibin denied that the situation for Ms Steen was hopeless. “I wouldn't be involved in politics unless I believe in what's possible, there's lots of projects that I've been involved in that people told me it's not possible, and then we worked at it, we got people around it, and we achieved it, and this is possible, and it would completely change the dynamic of this particular election.
“I think that, actually, if Maria got onto the ballot, there would be a significant chance that hundreds of thousands of more people would actually vote on that given day.
"That would mean that there would actually be, it could mean that there would be a bigger pool of transfers open to individual candidates in that scenario. It could actually be beneficial for some of the incumbents in relation to that.”
Maria Steen received a last-minute boost in her bid to contest the presidential election as she received nomination number 18.
On Wednesday, Senator Aubrey McCarthy confirmed he will sign her nomination papers, leaving her now just two signatures short of the 20 she needs from Oireachtas members to make it onto the ballot.
The deadline to submit the paperwork is midday on Wednesday, and Jim Gavin, Heather Humphreys, and Catherine Connolly are already registered.
