The former Irish Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion, Conor McGregor, is once again saying he is exploring a potential run for the President of Ireland, with a promise to throw out the "charlatans in their positions of power" in Ireland's lower legislative house, the Dáil.
McGregor had previously hinted at a run for the Irish presidency, as the incumbent, President Michael D. Higgins, is currently serving out his final seven-year term and is ineligible to run again for the 2025 elections. He told his fans in a Sept. 5 tweet that he was the "only logical choice" for president and that “Ireland needs an active President employed wholly by the people of Ireland."
The former UFC champion has been increasingly vocal against mass migration to Ireland over the past year and has slammed the European Union’s open-border policies, which have caused tens of thousands of illegal migrants to flood the shores of Ireland in recent years.
"As President, I hold the power to summon the Dáil as well as dissolve it. So as i [sic] said before, I would have all the answers the people of Ireland seek from these thieves of the working man, these disrupters of the family unit, these destructors of small businesses, and on and on and on!" tweeted McGregor. "These charlatans in their positions of power would be summoned to answer to the people of Ireland and I would have it done by day end. Or I would be left with no choice but to dissolve the Dáil entirely. Stop the train until. The people of Ireland deserve the answers they seek. Point blank."
"This would be my power as President. I know very well. Ireland needs an active President employed wholly by the people of Ireland. It is me. I am the only logical choice. 2025 is upcoming…" McGregor continued.
However, the Irish presidency is relatively weak compared to the powers of other presidents around the world, and the president is normally relegated to performing largely ceremonial functions.
The Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, who is the leader of the majority party in the Irish Parliament, is the head of government and the real executive authority. The President of Ireland performs his functions as a constitutional head of state on the “advice” of the Taoiseach and his cabinet.
Another hurdle for McGregor is that Ireland's political establishment currently has a tight grip on who can run for the presidency, even though it is a directly elected office. All presidential candidates must be nominated by at least 20 members of the parliament (Oireachtas), or at least four of the country’s 31 city and county councils in order to run.
Many voters in Ireland say they are fed up with the gangs of migrants roaming the country, along with the government's policies that enable them. Citizens increasingly express frustration at the political establishment's unwillingness to respond to the crisis.
McGregor is currently under investigation by the Irish police over his social media posts regarding the anti-migrant riots in Dublin last November, which he did not “condone" even as he has spoken in support of the populist anger toward a rise in migrant crime in his homeland.
At one point, McGregor even appeared to suggest that locals should demolish empty hotels that the Irish government was filling with migrants. The number of migrants committing acts of murder, robbery, and rape on local Irish citizens is on the rise in some of the towns hosting them.
“Do not let any Irish property be took [sic] over unannounced, McGregor said in a Nov. 2023 tweet. “Evaporate said property. It’s a war.”
He then repeated, “Ireland, we are at war” in a follow-up tweet, which earned him the attention of the Dublin authorities. The Irish establishment has been taking a hardline response to social media posts that criticize open borders policies.
The 36-year-old mixed martial arts fighter recently faced a major setback in his planned return to the UFC after he broke his toe, which forced him to cancel a scheduled match with Michael Chandler in June. The former UFC champion has not fought in an official match since 2021 after he lost to Dustin Poirier when he broke his leg during the fight.
UFC President Dana White announced in August that it was unlikely that McGregor would return to the octagon this year despite the former champion's protests, but this may give him the time to make plans for a real presidential campaign.
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