'The campaign was unmistakably Irish'

A 26 year old Bective woman was the brains and creativity behind tenth president of Ireland Catherine Connolly’s patriotic presidential campaign.

Anna Cassidy, who went to school in Loreto Secondary School in Navan, created and designed the winning campaign by basing her inspiration for it off of Ireland’s cultural heritage with a modern twist.

Anna grew up in between Trim and Navan with her mother Sandra, her father Chris, and her sisters, Lucy and Grace. She studied History of Art and Architecture at Trinity College in Dublin and discovered her love for design while she was studying there by teaching herself how to use design applications using YouTube.

Design began as a hobby for Anna, creating for friends and smaller businesses at first. Currently, she works at an architecture firm.

“I do a bit of everything at the firm. I work in the studio and I have a background in cultural production for festivals.”

“I got involved with Catherine Connolly’s campaign back in July as my partner works for a political party that endorsed her, and he was showing me the designs that the team were thinking of going with for the campaign.”

“I asked if there was any chance that I could spend a week doing a bit of research and if I could design something that I could pitch to the team. I just felt that design is not something that political campaigns tend to spend a lot of money or time on.”

Once Anna pitched her ideas to Connolly’s team, they instantly wanted to go with her design. Anna pitched an idea that represented Ireland’s cultural heritage reinterpreted through a contemporary lens and explained that her main inspiration came from hand-painted Irish shop front signage that can be found in smaller towns and villages across the country.

“There was a strong connection to the Celtic Revival in my designs and the team gave me a lot of creative freedom to work with that. I feel like the theme really echoed Connolly’s values and was deeply relevant to her.”

Anna’s goal for the campaign was to create something that felt authentically Irish that not only represented Connolly but also the people of Ireland. She used a vintage Irish postage stamp motif that could be shared on social media that stated “I am voting for Catherine Connolly” for those who wished to express this online ahead of polling day.

Anna also included a version of a Celtic knot in the campaign, which represented interconnection and continuity. The campaign also included scarves and other merchandise created by Irish designer Aoife Cawley, who Anna worked closely with.

“Based on the reaction the campaign received, I think that good design has civic value. I believe it’s not just for aesthetics but it helps people to feel included and proud of where they’re from. Catherine’s campaign stood out and it was unmistakably Irish.”