Candidate qualification has closed and the sprint to Ireland’s October 24 presidential election has begun. The field of three contenders includes:

• Heather Humphreys, a former Fine Gael minister;
• Jim Gavin, senior executive of Irish Aviation Authority and a former Dublin GAA football manager, was put forward by Fianna Fáil; and
• Independent TD Catherine Connolly, backed by the Labour party she once belong to.

The winner will succeed poet and historian Michael D. Higgins, 84. He is prohibited from reelection after serving two seven-year terms. Higgins earlier this month suggested that Israel and countries that supply it with weapons (USA) should be prohibited from the United Nations.

Edward S. Walsh, left, assumed the office of U.S. Ambassador to Ireland in July after presenting his credentials to President of Ireland Michael D Higgins .

This is Ireland’s only election for national office, though voters do decide national referendum questions. The taoiseach, or prime minister, is nominated by members of Dáil Éireann, who are elected from constituencies across the 26 counties. The Irish president officially appointments the taoiseach, currently Micheál Martin of Fianna Fáil.

The president’s duties also include the appointment of judges and other officials; summoning and dissolving the Dáil, and signing legislation into law and/or referring Bills to the Supreme Court for review.

Perhaps most importantly, the president serves as the people’s representative and spokesperson, a super ambassador to the world. “If the Republic still has a soul, it hovers somewhere around the president,” Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole wrote. That’s why Higgins’s comments about the Israel/Palestine conflict have been so important, along with his leadership through Ireland’s the “Decade of Centenaries.”

It’s a shame O’Toole had to qualify “if” Ireland still has a soul, but that’s another matter. I’ll follow the campaign in future posts over the coming month.