Fontaines D.C.’s Conor ‘Deego’ Deegan III has shared his thoughts on each Irish presidential candidate today (Monday October 20).
The Irish presidential election is due to take place this week on Friday October 24, ending the 14-year tenure of Michael D Higgins.
Independent candidate Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin of the Fianna Fáil party, and Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys will contest to become the new leader.
On his Instagram Stories, Deego pledged his support for Connolly and outlined his thoughts on some of the other candidates.
“Irish Presidential election is on Friday! Some thoughts I’d like to share here before the big day,” he began. Deego then expanded his thoughts on Instagram Stories, writing: “Catherine Connolly is the candidate of the uncolonised Irish mind; Heather Humphreys is the candidate of the mind colonised by Britain. Catherine Connolly is an exceptional candidate for President of Ireland. She represents not only will of the Irish people on the geopolitical stage, but – perhaps more importantly – she embodies the moral ambition of our Constitution as it was first imagined: a socialist republic.
“Heather Humphreys, on the other hand, is not a candidate I would not think much about were it not for her recent smear campaign against Connolly and her attempts to ‘humanize,’ herself,” he went on to claim.
“This concept of ‘humanization’ in politics is troubling in itself – a topic for another day – but these strategies fall far below the standards of dignity and courtesy I’ve come to cherish in Irish political life, especially when compared to the moral freewill we’ve seen in the United States and Britain.”
He added: “Humphreys embodies the old FF/FG Anglo-Irish mentality: an Ireland reshaped in the image of Britishness, governed through the same modes of control and hierarchy.
“Catherine Connolly, meanwhile, is a Gaeilgeoir and a true representative of the Irish spirit. I have no doubt she would serve as a thoughtful, principled, and inspiring President of Ireland.”
Last week (October 16), Deego spoke to NME about the “witch hunt” being faced by Kneecap and the British police’s handling of protests against the genocide in Palestine.
The band’s bassist spoke to NME at the 2025 Mercury Prize, which was held at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena on October 16. The Irish group were nominated at the event for their 2024 album, ‘Romance’, and were shortlisted alongside the likes of CMAT, Pa Salieu, Wolf Alice, and winner Sam Fender.
Kneecap rapper Mo Chara – real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – was charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig in London last November. The case was thrown out last month on a technicality relating to the way in which it was brought about. After the judgment was passed, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed it would appeal the decision to dismiss the case.
“I stand in solidarity with the boys, d’you know what I mean?” Deego said when asked about the situation that Kneecap and Mo Chara had faced this summer. “I think it’s amazing what they stand up for. I think it’s a very, very difficult situation for anyone to be put on the line in that way, but to not waver as well, to really stick to those beliefs. I think that it is a witch hunt. They’re trying to make an example of them, clearly.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Deego reflected on the last two years of promoting and touring ‘Romance’. “It’s been an amazing experience, honestly,” he told NME.
“I think we made an album that we really wanted to push things out there with and for our fanbase to not turn on us. That was great to still be able to go to those places, and not just for them to not turn on us, but to be patient with the new work and to actually really get it, that was amazing.”
The bassist added that the band have already started working on “little bits of ideas individually” and had some time scheduled “soon enough” to regroup and “share what we’ve been working on”. When asked what had been influencing him recently, he said: “Recently, I’ve been really getting into UK hardcore.”