Main Points
- The final RTÉ Prime Time presidential takes place at 9.35pm.
- Heather Humphreys has committed to engaging with Lucia O’Farrell.
- Fine Gael has continued to accuse Catherine Connolly of “hypocrisy” for appearing for banks in home repossession cases while working as a barrister, while being critical of the banks.
- Ms Connolly claimed Fine Gael was deploying these tactics because it was “absolutely terrified” of her campaign.
- Heather Humphreys has said her former Credit Union did pursue people through the courts for debt when she was manager, but she was never involved in repossession cases.
Best Reads
Órla Ryan – 15 minutes ago
Independent Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly hosted a ‘Ceol for Connolly’ evening in Vicar Street, Dublin, on Monday. The event featured acts such Christy Moore and The Mary Wallopers. Photo: Dan Dennison/The Irish Times
Fine Gael intensified its attacks on Catherine Connolly on Monday as both candidates in the presidential election prepare for the final television debate of the campaign on RTÉ on Tuesday night.
Ms Connolly hit back at Fine Gael, and claimed the party was deploying these tactics because it was “absolutely terrified” of her campaign.
“I think they’re absolutely terrified, and that they would resort to such tactics just reflects on their terror and their fear of the change in Ireland. And they are utterly out of touch,” Ms Connolly said.
She called on Ms Humphreys to withdraw comments that the Fine Gael candidate had made over the weekend, when Ms Humphreys implied that Ms Connolly had made money out of people’s misfortune. Ms Connolly said home repossessions after the financial crash were the consequence of government policies.
“I saw packed courts, I saw the consequences of government policies, saving the banks. I saw people being evicted from their houses, directly consequent on government policy. I saw county registrars bent over backwards not to put people out of their houses, and finding every possible way to avoid that,” she said.
In an interview with her local radio station Shannonside Northern Sound, Heather Humphreys said: “I am not attacking Catherine’s work as a barrister, I am highlighting her hypocrisy as a politician.
“She criticised the same banks that she repossessed homes for. I’m pointing out the hypocrisy of working for the banks in the courts to repossess houses and saying something different in the council chamber in Galway or in the Dáil chamber.”
Órla Ryan – 21 minutes ago
During the same interview, Ms Humphreys became emotional when asked about criticism from Lucia O’Farrell of the Fine Gael’s candidate failure to support the family’s campaign.
Last month, The Irish Times revealed that Ms O’Farrell was “terribly disappointed” that, as a TD and minister, Humphreys did not support the family’s campaign for a public inquiry into the 2011 death of her son Shane in a hit-and-run by a man who was out on bail at the time.
“What can I say only that I’m sorry, I really am sorry. And I wish, I wish that I could say something that would bring her son back. And I’m sorry for the entire family and all that they’ve had to go through. And I’m glad they got their state apology, ” Ms Humphreys said.
“I’m sorry that they feel that I haven’t done enough. I genuinely am.”
Presenter Collette Fitzpatrick commented that Ms Humphreys appeared to be emotional. Ms Humphreys said “Well, I feel sorry for her, because, believe you me, we all have children, and that could have been any of us.”
“The person that killed her son shouldn’t have been on the road that day.”
Asked how she would feel if the Connolly campaign released a similar video about her, Ms Humphreys said that she had suffered “sectarian abuse” throughout the campaign.
“The amount of abuse that my family have received during this campaign on social media, and it’s coming from the far left … the amount of abuse that they have received, I’ve never seen the like of it before,” Ms Humphreys said.
“The amount of sectarian abuse that has been out there in terms of my religion and my traditions and where I come from.”
Ms said she has not spoken to Ms O’Farrell during the presidential campaign, but committed to engaging with her in the future.
Órla Ryan – 25 minutes ago
Irish presidential candidate Heather Humphreys canvasses in Gorey in Co Wexford, ahead of polling day on Friday. Photo credit should read: Grainne Ni Aodha/PA Wire
Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys has said that her former Credit Union did pursue people through the courts for debt when she was the manager, but that she was never involved in repossession cases.
Speaking on The Big Interview on Virgin Media on Monday night, Ms Humphreys confirmed that Cootehill Credit Union had been forced to pursue people through the courts for debt, Ellen Coyne reports.
Asked about whether she had pursued people for bad debt, Ms Humphreys said that when you work in a Credit Union you “try to work with people” who can’t pay back their loans.
“When you have exhausted all of those channels, there is a duty to collect the debt that is owed to the credit union. And yes, every credit union did the same thing,” Ms Humphreys said.
“There were people that had to go to court, but I didn’t evict anybody out of their houses.”
Ms Humphreys said that there were no repossession cases, but confirmed that she did have to pursue people through the courts.
“You have to pay your debts. Otherwise, there would be no Credit Unions.”
