Conservative campaigner Maria Steen was on Tuesday night “very hopeful” she could make it on to the ballot paper for next month’s presidential election, despite key Independent politicians declining to offer her their support.
Ms Steen will now need an 11th-hour intervention from three TDs or Senators if she is to be nominated to enter the race to succeed Michael D Higgins before Wednesday’s noon deadline.
The Iona Institute campaigner and stay-at-home mother said “time is running out” to reach the threshold of 20 nominations from Oireachtas members.
Ms Steen received a boost to her campaign on Tuesday when four Independent Ireland TDs and Independents Marian Harkin and Danny Healy-Rae publicly said they would support her bid to get on the ballot.
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This brought her to 17 nominations, with supporters in Leinster House claiming an 18th politician was also willing to come on board.
Independent Ireland appealed to other Independents to consider doing likewise “and facilitate democracy” by signing the nomination papers.
However, more endorsements failed to materialise later in the day, with a number of senators declining to agree to sign Ms Steen’s nomination papers.
[ Maria Steen: The Iona Institute barrister hoping to become president of Ireland ]
Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell, who has met Ms Steen, said she was a “very fine lady who under normal circumstances one would like to support”.
“However, I have advised her I cannot,” he said.
Independent Senator Michael McDowell, who successfully campaigned against last year’s family and care referendums with Ms Steen, is understood to not be engaging with those lobbying on her behalf.
She told RTÉ’s Six One news she had not talked to Mr McDowell yet, but was “hopeful that he will come on board”.
“We don’t agree on everything, but we actually have many things that we do agree on, so I think I’d be very grateful for his support,” she said.
Ms Steen said she remained “very hopeful” she would secure the required support after making “good progress” during the day.
“I’m happy to take a nomination from anybody who’s willing to give it to me, and I am available to talk to everybody and meet if they would like to,” she said.
Ms Steen said there were “still a few Independent Senators that I haven’t yet met, and if there are other party members who are willing to break ranks, I’m more than willing to meet them too”.
Independent Senators Aubrey McCarthy and Victor Boyhan have declined to back Ms Steen publicly, despite an intensive lobbying effort organised on social media by her supporters.
Independent Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae agreed to sign Ms Steen’s nomination papers last Friday, but his Government-supporting colleagues Seán Canney, Noel Grealish and Kevin “Boxer” Moran have not followed suit.
Ms Steen was asked on Tuesday to clarify her relationship with a man identified as posting online rumours about Fianna Fáil candidate Jim Gavin.
Kieran Kelly, a right-wing environmentalist and “Trump loyalist”, claimed he had a phone call with Ms Steen about her candidacy.
Ms Steen said she had been “getting calls from lots of different people who I have never met before and have never spoken to before”.
“I had a call with Kieran Kelly. He mentioned nothing about Jim Gavin or any other candidate to me,” she said.
