Meathwoman's Diary: Presidency shouldn’t be a bad panto

If ever there was a campaign that started in dignity and descended into dirt, it’s this one. What once might have been a moment to elevate the national spirit has become a kind of political mud wrestling match, only without the humour or the athleticism. If you looked up the term unpresidential in the dictionary, this circus of an election would be right there beside the definition.

Even closer to home, local councillors recently clashed publicly over the selection procedures for candidates, exposing tensions and divisions that mirror the wider chaos of the campaign nationally.

The presidential race, if you can still call it that, has turned into a pantomime that wouldn’t get past the first curtain in the Solstice Arts Centre. This week’s episode in what’s starting to resemble a bad RTÉ drama opened with Heather Humphreys throwing a political grenade at Catherine Connolly, asking her to disclose details of repossession cases she worked on during her time as a barrister. Not exactly the high moral ground we were hoping for.

But that particular shovel of muck bounced right back off the wall. No sooner had Humphreys finished making her point than questions were fired back about her own time managing a credit union branch, and whether she had any role in dragging credit defaulters through the courts herself. From shining inquisitor to accused in the blink of a tweet.

It’s hard to keep up. Jim Gavin, the former Dublin manager, had barely dipped a toe into the waters before being frogmarched off the political pitch amid a media frenzy and more leaks than a Uisce Eireann pipeline. Just as he was getting settled, news surfaced of a debt owed to a tenant...one who happened to be a tabloid journalist with a long memory. That little bombshell left Gavin with no real option but to step aside before the fallout got any worse.

Now, every candidate is either being hosed down with dirt or looking nervously over their shoulder. Instead of policies or visions, we’re caught up in a storm of legal wrangling and mudslinging.

While Meath hasn’t yet sent a President to Áras an Uachtaráin, we did have a contender in Gavin Duffy in the last election. Still, with the bloodbath it is this time around, maybe it’s just as well none of our own have made it to the final rounds but after the carry-on we’ve seen this campaign, you wouldn’t blame anyone from here for steering well clear of this particular political melee.

What’s tragic is that the office of President should be about unity, decency, and representing the best of who we are. Right now, it looks more like a junior debate in a school where the teachers have gone home early.

Still, despite the farce, this election matters. Now more than ever, it’s vital that voters show up and make their voices heard but without falling into the trap of spoiling the vote. That growing call to put country before party or personality deserves a hearing. Because if we want to reclaim some dignity for the Áras, it starts at the ballot box.