Disgraced mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has hit out at ‘mass migration’ as he took a step forward in his bid to become the next Irish president.
McGregor, who was last year found guilty of rape in a civil trial, has formally applied to address a special meeting of Dublin City Council.
Under the Irish Constitution, presidential candidates must be at least 35 years old and secure the backing of either 20 Members of Parliament or four of the country’s 31 local councils.
In a video posted outside Government Buildings on Thursday, McGregor urged people to lobby their local councillors to support his candidacy.
‘We have seen the homelessness of Irish children rise to levels unprecedented, proving this Government’s refusal to abide by and respect our proclamation where all children of Irish are to be cherished. Instead, our children abandoned,’ he said.
McGregor said that ‘this incompetent failure of future generations has been accompanied with an intense influx of mass migration into an already severed system’.
‘Our tourism has sharply declined, while danger on our streets has risen,’ he said.
McGregor described himself as a ‘master of martial combat’ and a ‘solution driven man’ in his plea for the public to urge their local councillors to back his bid to get on the ballot.
In a video posted outside Government Buildings on Thursday, Conor McGregor urged people to lobby their local councillors to support his candidacy for president
Nikita Hand, Mr McGregor’s accuser, is seen leaving the Court of Appeal in Dublin in July
McGregor posted a picture of his family alongside a lengthy post on social media to officially announce his intention to run for president of Ireland
‘If you want to see my name on the ballot for the presidency, I urge you to contact your local county councillors today and ask them to nominate me,’ he said.
Nominations opened yesterday, with McGregor applying to appear before Dublin City Council’s special sitting on September 15, alongside other hopefuls.
A protocol adopted by the council in July allows all candidates who make contact to address councillors for up to five minutes.
They will then face a five-minute Q&A session, during which they must comply with the council’s code of conduct.
Despite this, McGregor’s chances of winning support are slim. To secure a nomination, he would need the backing of a majority of the council’s 63 members.
Lord Mayor of Dublin and Fine Gael Councillor Ray McAdam told the Mail that he will ensure that the meeting is ‘conducted in a fair and orderly manner’ and that ‘all candidates who come forward comply fully with the procedures and criteria approved by the elected members of the Council’.
‘This is an important aspect of our democratic process, and it will be treated with the seriousness it deserves,’ he said.
McGregor described himself as a ‘master of martial combat’ and a ‘solution driven man’. He is pictured following a victory in 2016
President Donald Trump meets with Conor McGregor and family in the Oval Office in March
Speaking to the Mail, Sinn Féin group leader Daithí Doolan said his party would either run its own candidate or support Independent TD Catherine Connolly, who already has the backing of several left-wing parties.
‘It’s highly unlikely [we’d support McGregor]. I’ll be saying we should throw our weight behind our own candidate,’ he said.
Sinn Féin holds nine council seats. The governing parties, Fine Gael (11 seats) and Fianna Fáil (eight seats), will instruct their members not to back McGregor, leaving him reliant on a small number of independents.
McGregor’s political ambitions come less than a year after a Dublin jury in a civil trial found that he raped Nikita Hand in a hotel room in December 2018.
The court awarded her almost €250,000 in damages. McGregor lost his appeal against that ruling in July.
Three judges concluded that his appeal failed on all five grounds and upheld the previous decision ordering McGregor to pay damages to Nikita Hand.
Hand has since launched further legal action following the failed appeal.
In her latest filing, she is suing him and two other people for damages, claiming they were involved in malicious abuse of court processes.
