Uachtarán na hÉireann

An American learns about the Irish Presidency

Recently, Ireland elected Catherine Connelly to be its eleventh president.

You may heard the office is a mere ceremonial figurehead. Maybe that was true for early male presidents, but with the election of Mary Robinson in 1990, followed by Mary McAcleese in 1997, the role of the president expanded through their leadership, within the bounds of the Irish Constitution.

Because of Ireland’s proportional voting system, you’re not “throwing your vote away” if you vote for the candidate you want and like, but has no chance of winning. This creates very long ballot papers. The outgoing president Michael Higgins was elected in a landslide in 2018 against more than a dozen candidates.

Higgins did such a good job in his two terms that few people wanted to replace him. Unlike what usually happens, only three people qualified for the ballot, and one of them quit because of a scandal: he didn’t pay €3000 to a tenant fifteen years ago. With only two candidates, the opposition parties united behind the independent candidate, Connelly.

Connelly says she will be the figurehead for a new political movement, and this is the most exciting thing about her presidency. This new political movement might be able to get its act together and make headway against rising authoritarianism everywhere. That is my hope, and I’m lucky to be here to watch how the Irish attempt it.

After Biden was inaugurated, I wrote a blog post with my comparison of the two political systems and their head of State.

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Posted January 2021.

Since we arrived in Ireland in 2017, I’ve been talking to Irish people about US politics. They want to know How On Earth...? They already have a good understanding of the US political system, even though it is different from their own. What they didn’t understand is that millions of Americans are racists and they vote.

Recently, I’ve been explaining something else. As they incredulously watch the news, I remind them while the US is the oldest democracy, it is not the best. Other countries have learned from our mistakes and improved on the model.

One of those countries is Ireland. The current constitution of Ireland dates to 1937, making it the EU member with the oldest constitution. Like many other countries, the Irish “Head of State” is a different person from “Head of Government.” I never really understood how that worked, and because I’m an American, I assumed it wasn’t as good.

I’ve assumed a single person serving as Executive and Head of State is superior to constitutional monarchies with their costumes and crowns. As for countries with both a Prime Minister and a President—well that’s just weird.

I’d always heard that a separate Head of State is merely a figurehead occupied with ribbon cuttings and diplomatic soirees. Not a robust manly man like our Presidents.

After I looked into what Irish Presidents have accomplished, I suspect I got my notions from US Senators and Governors who look in the mirror and see the next POTUS.

Most Americans don’t know who the Uachtarán na hÉireann (President of Ireland) is, but they have heard of another Head of State who lives nearby. Americans got a refresher in British civics as we watched the indoctrination of poor Lilibet as she prepares to wear The Crown. The program’s title refers to the majesty that magically transfers to the eldest of a single family—don’t ask why. Once lodged on someone’s head, she becomes Head of State.

As the program dramatically demonstrates, with its hereditary system Britain will never get the Head of State they want—an Edward VIII, a Princess Margaret. They are assured of getting the Monarch they deserve—George VI, Elizabeth II.

Here in Ireland, the Head of State is elected by a direct vote of the people. Although the nomination process is not a free-for-all, the Irish get the Head of State they want.

The most recent election for Ireland’s President was in 2018, and we witnessed the process. The Irish constitution defines a bicameral legislature consisting of the Dáil (lower house) and Seanad (upper house). The Dáil elects the Taoiseach, the Head of Government. He* and his party (or coalition of parties) appoint a cabinet of ministers known as The Government. While members of the cabinet are wielding their Executive powers, they are simultaneously members of the Dáil or Seanad.

*So far, all Taoisigh have been male. The current leader of Sinn Fein, Mary Lou MacDonald, would become Taoiseach if her party wins a majority in the next general election. She nearly won in April of 2020 and her party continues to gain popularity. [2025 note: Sinn Fein did not win.]

This duel role is strange to Americans. The significance of separating the US Executive from Congress became violently apparent in January 2021.

In Ireland, the Head of State has no part in the shenanigans that go into electing the Dáil and Seanad or the formation of a Government, beyond a ceremonial one.

So what do they do all day? Until 30 years ago, not much. They filled an office as a reward for service to the nation and party.

But Mary Robinson, elected in 1990, changed the office forever. I have only read a little but she made changes that previous presidents had never done. She took positions that at the time seemed outrageous, but are now in line with most Irish voters.

• She developed ties with the Irish Diaspora, most symbolically repurposing the Christmas custom of putting a candle in the window to remember emmigrants.

• She linked the history of the Great Famine with efforts to eliminate worldwide poverty and hunger in the present.

• She invited representatives of the gay and lesbian community to the President’s House (Áras an Uachtaráin) when sex between men was still illegal.

• She supported the Northern Ireland peace process, meeting with Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams when it was illegal for his voice to be on British media. Her actions gave a political solution credibility after thirty-years of terrorist conflict.

• She met with the Dalai Lama when the Taoiseach didn’t want to damage relations with China.

• She was the first President of Ireland to meet with the British Head of State, Elizabeth II.

In her acceptance speech, she predicted that her Presidency would be different.

“Because I was elected by men and women of all parties and none, by many with great moral courage, who stepped out from the faded flags of the Civil War and voted for a new Ireland, and above all by the women of Ireland, mná na hÉireann, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.”

Here’s a documentary about Mary Robinson’s life and career.

Here’s a 2018 video of Mary Robinson interviewing Hillary Clinton. Advance to 11:38 to listen to them speak about Clinton’s visit to Ireland during Robinson’s presidency.

Robinson chose not to run for a second term, but resigned and became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She was succeeded by Mary McAleese, who served two-seven year terms.

McAleese continued to expand the role of the Irish Presidency. She did amazing things, but her official page at President.ie highlights only one, the first state visit of the British Head of State since Independence.

I love this Late Late Show interview in 2007, on the eve of the 2008 financial crash, when Ireland was enjoying peace and prosperity for the first time in history.

This past September, McAleese published a memoir and the critical review in the Irish Times only made me like her more. The review reminded me that a key theme of her Presidency was “bridge building.” Until now, I knew her only as the namesake of the bridge across the Boyne as we travel north from Dublin.

In 2020 she created a television show called All Walks of Life where she and an interesting person walk one of Ireland’s ancient pilgrim paths and talk, as you do, when you walk a pilgrim path.

These two presidents used the office to represent the best of the Irish people to themselves and the world, and both continued in their careers to make the world a better place. The days of the Irish Presidency as a sleepy sinecure are long gone.

The current President, Michael D. Higgins is easily charactured, as depicted in the tea cozy at the top of this post.

He is old, short, round and very popular. Beyond his political life, he’s a poet who loves his dogs. Similar to Robinson and McAleese, he sees the office as “an independent space where new ideas and possibilities emerge.”

We watched his investiture at Dublin Castle 2018. Here are excerpts that still resonate in January of 2021. (full speech)

The Presidency of Ireland draws its strength and independent mandate from the direct vote of the people of Ireland. It represents Ireland—in all our strengths and vulnerabilities. ...

Words matter. Words can hurt. Words can heal. Words can empower. Words can divide. ...

We are in a time of transformation and the Presidency, through its direct representation of, and direct conversation with, the people of Ireland, is an independent space where new ideas and possibilities can emerge. ...

The version of Ireland which can best represent our people at home and abroad is one which draws on traditional genius and contemporary creativity, deep connections and new solidarities, respect and transformation. ...

The Presidency belongs not to any one person but to the people of Ireland. I will be a President for all the people, for those who voted for me and those who did not.

Here he is with Tommy Tiernan, on the importance of words, home education, and human touch.

Poignantly, at the end of 2020, the year when we couldn’t touch each other, President Higgins wrote a poem and posted it to his social media.

A POTUS might propose his vision for the United States, as Biden does at his inauguration, but any execution of that vision will be politically limited.

In the sense of occupying an independent space where innovative ideas can emerge, a President of Ireland has more power than a POTUS.

I doubt my country will ever separate the White House from the West Wing, but if we did, Americans would love it. When Americans vote for president, they aren’t voting for the best CEO with a lifetime of compromise and management. They vote for the candidate they want to have a beer with. They vote for the candidate most similar to who they see in the mirror.

The first few times we tried it, we might get the President we want, disasters like Bush W and Trump. But eventually we could get the President we want and deserve, like the Irish do.