The period for acceptance of nominations for the Presidency is closed and it is now evident that there are seven contenders for the office of President leading to the following Sky News report:
“Contenders for the Irish presidency include a former Eurovision song contest winner, an ex-IRA commander and a gay rights activist.”
The list of contenders is as follows: Dana Rosemary Scallon, Senator David Norris, Martin Mc Guinness Sinn Fein, Michael D Higgins, Labour, Gay Mitchell MEP Fine Gael, Mary Davis former CEO of the special olympics ; and entrepreneur Sean Gallagher . We will report on the various personalities and their campaigns as they develop.The reference to former Eurovision song contest winner refers to Dana Rosemary Scallon, who won the Europe-wide singing competition in 1970 and had a successful career as a television presenter and musician. Dana stood unsuccessfully for the post of President in 1997 however she made history in that election by opening up a new avenue for nominations to the Presidency by receiving the nominations of five county councils. While this was a constitutionally legitimate means of gaining nomination to compete for the presidency, the approach was unprecedented before her campaign. In the election she campaigned for family values, protecting the Irish Constitution and on Pro-Life issues.
In the 1999 European Elections Dana was elected to the European Parliament and served as an MEP for Connacht–Ulster until 2004, where as her record showed she continued the fight for Ireland, the Irish people and particularly the impoverished West coast of Ireland in Europe.
Dana narrowly lost her European Parliament seat in 2004.
In both Lisbon Treaty debates Dana supported the No side of the debates. She knew exactly what Lisbon would mean for Ireland in terms of loss of sovereignty on many fronts which is becoming more evident on a daily basis.
Dana narrowly lost her European Parliament seat in 2004.
In both Lisbon Treaty debates Dana supported the No side of the debates. She knew exactly what Lisbon would mean for Ireland in terms of loss of sovereignty on many fronts which is becoming more evident on a daily basis.
Dana's record speaks for itself. She's not afraid to stand up for what is right and she is certainly not afraid to stand up for her country her beliefs or the disenfranchised.
