A claim by Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher that he 'would have won the presidency' if he had run has reignited discussion around an election many believe never fully settled.

 Opening the conversation on The Anton Savage Show, host Seán Defoe referenced the Irish Examiner story.

“Billy Kelleher thinks he would have won the presidency, is he right?”

Fergus Finlay, Irish Examiner columnist and former CEO of Barnardos, made it clear he believed the time for such debate had passed.

“This is over. Billy, the presidential election is over. We have a winner, one fair and square. It’s over, forget it, move on,” he said.

Finlay described the ongoing commentary as exhausting, calling it “a presidential election that just keeps on giving and giving,” and suggested it had been prolonged “largely thanks to Micheál Martin and Jim Gavin.”

“All we can do is hope and wish that President Conor brings the same distinction to the office as her predecessor.”

Turning to party management of the fallout, Barry Kenny, Head of Corporate Communications at Iarnród Éireann, said:

“It does seem to be that Fianna Fáil can’t get out of its own way when it comes to just commenting on this and dragging it into a new year.”

Kenny described the campaign as lacking satisfaction.

“It felt like an unsatisfactory election, and that’s because of errors by bigger parties,” he said, while stressing that “we have a fair and square winner and you want the new president, President Connolly, to do well.”

Catherine Connolly with members of her family arriiving in Dublin Castle. Photo: Leah Farrell/© RollingNews.ie

Despite this, Kenny argued that Kelleher’s participation could have added depth.

“I do think that Billy would have enhanced the debate,” he said, pointing to Kelleher’s record:

“From the very outset of the Ukraine war, the Russian full-scale invasion, he’s been out there, he’s been engaged.”

Valerie Cox, author and journalist, agreed that the campaign lacked substance, particularly towards the end. “It did feel towards the end that there was a total lack of new views,” she said.

Cox also questioned the visibility of candidates.

“Part of the problem was we didn’t have well-known names. We didn’t have people with track records,” she said, admitting:

“I had never heard of Jim Gavin until he was announced, except Micheál Martin maybe, and GAA fans, in fairness.”