Amidst confused and stagnant Presidential campaigns, parties dithering on whether to commit to their “perfect” candidate, and the Irish public suggesting names for the role that show a general misunderstanding of what the Presidency is, Conor McGregor tried, and failed, to get his name on the ballot.
In a tan suit, McGregor stood outside Roinn an Taoisigh and made his case for the Presidency. In lieu of an Irish presidential hopeful’s usual resumé of cabinet positions, educational posts and international diplomatic experience, McGregor first claims validity as a candidate through his accomplishments “as a master of martial combat, [and] a solution-driven man”. Though the presidency has changed significantly since Robinson’s ascension to the position in 1990, it is safe to say that it hasn’t changed that much. At the moment, the ability to put someone in a literal chokehold and buzz-wordy business terms will not fly as qualification for the highest office in the land. Still, it indicates an unsettling pattern with Irish politics and international standing; we seem to follow the US through it all.
One could argue that for all of Robinson’s accomplishments in rocking the presidency and the country into the modern global era, her soft progressivism and liberal slant was in keeping with the global 1990s, with what many expected a Western country to look like by that time. Diplomatically, Robinson was the perfect face of the new, prosperous Ireland that Americans had heard about in fairytales, and the Ireland that they could buy and sell. The 1990s saw an unprecedented social shift across the country, looking to the US for cultural and political guidance. Now, in the wake of decades of following their lead, Ireland have found themselves at some moral crossroads, and there are none of De Valera’s comely maidens to be seen. None of the vestiges of the idealised, isolated Ireland that Free State politicians willed into existence remain, we only see spectres of Irishness reflected through American eyes.
In a recent immigration protest, one attendee held aloft a star-spangled banner, ironically defaced by images of President Trump, President Putin and then-Presidential candidate McGregor. Contemporary American conservative “strongmanism” has succeeded in bulldozing through cognitive dissonance to manage the very difficult task of equating these three men along shallow, cartoonishly masculine lines. McGregor had used his apparent business acumen and proclivity to sporting violence not as a misguided attempt to prove something to himself, but as recognition of the fact that, at least in America, these things can often lead to electoral success. The pentagon is now run by those otherwise seen around the octagon, and rumblings of a UFC event on the White House lawn are soul-crushingly believable. McGregor’s history of violence against women quite obviously parallels that of the US President, and again, to certain select people in the US, and now subsequently in Ireland, is seen as an affirmation of power, rather than a condemnation of character.
I would argue that McGregor not only misunderstands the Presidency, he (again, following Trump’s lead) dis-understands it. There is a brazen disregard for the institution in his attempts, an intentional desire not only to seize this position of power, but to mould it to his will. From the depths of the recent conservative swing in the US, outright and sickeningly proud authoritarians have emerged to spread distrust of American democratic institutions, and to lobby for an end to soft power “West Wing” classical liberalism, to be replaced with dictatorial cult of personality. McGregor’s failure to care about the Presidency can be seen as his first step to using the Presidency as a method serving the type of people he represents through titles, through real, tangible power. There is an understandable frustration directed towards an ineffective, (or to fit the right’s strange macho terminology) impotent government, but unfortunately many on the right have channeled this frustration into a resentment for the democratic system that has facilitated (not created, to be clear) such a government.
Though there is a conversation to be had around the difficulty involved in getting candidates nominated, and the unfortunate and often painful floggings that these candidates receive on the campaign trail, one thing that this process seems to guarantee is the inhibiting of people such as McGregor from even getting their name on the ballot. Irish people may be feeling disillusioned with their democracy following what seemed to be an underwhelming general election result for everybody, it is important to acknowledge where it works, and where it works in preventing disasters like that of a nightmare-scenario McGregor presidency. Thankfully, this time around, McGregor is a wolf in wolf’s clothing, and to the vast majority of Irish people, is repulsive. However, we may not catch the next wolf if we continue to fawn, even subconsciously, over American ways and ignore American wrongs. McGregor would’ve been America’s choice for Ireland, one can guarantee, with his embodiment of our country’s ugliest global stereotypes.
Ireland has, for the last 50 years, important large amounts of cultural rhetoric and political style from the US. Now, the US has revealed what has bubbled under the surface that whole time, both at home and internationally. Ireland’s current national conflict of conscience over the US’ facilitation and encouragement of the genocide in Gaza has left a country like Ireland, in the US’ shadow, to question its allegiance. Hopefully, this questioning leads to a more widespread disavowal of the US’ current administration, and a more considered discernment when it comes to associating with them and their leadership’s values. We have shown that just because McGregor is America’s choice for us, doesn’t mean that he has to be our choice for us.
