Tomás Ó Flatharta

Far-right activist Maria Steen, who failed to secure a nomination for the 2025 Irish presidential election, agrees she spoke with Kieran Kelly.

The 2025 Irish presidential election is toxic and dirty, and that is going to continue, TrumpSteen or no TrumpSteen.

“When contacted by The Irish Times on Monday, (Kieran Kelly) declined to share any evidence for the claims, saying it would be made available at a later date.

Mr Kelly said online that he had a call this month with Maria Steen, the conservative campaigner trying to enter the presidential election.

Ms Steen confirmed the call during a press conference on Tuesday.

She said: “As you can imagine, I’ve been getting calls from lots of different people who I have never met before and have never spoken to before.

“I had a call with Kieran Kelly. He mentioned nothing about Jim Gavin or any other candidate to me. He talked about, I think, that there’s an organisation called the Wild Geese, of Irish people abroad, who are taking an interest in Irish politics.

“That was the sum total of the phone call. I listened to what he had to say, and that was it.”

• Cormac McQuinn and Pat Leahy Irish Times, September 23 2025

The left-wing candidate Catherine Connolly needs to promote a positive anti-racist message.

The absence of Steen from the presidential ballot paper is tempting government coalition partners Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to play the racist card in support of their candidates Jim Gavin and Heather Humphreys.