Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 18 November 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, Truth and Democracy: Discussion

2:00 am

Mr. Art O'Leary:

It certainly posed a communications challenge. I went out and did a number of explainer videos explaining the legislative position and why a candidate remained on the ballot paper when he indicated he had withdrawn. In essence, because of the way the law is, if someone does not withdraw before the close of nominations then they cannot withdraw from the presidential election. They can stop campaigning, of course. The explainer videos went some way to increasing people's understanding of what happened. The viewership for those videos was enormous. I think it helped. There was still confusion on polling day, there is no doubt about that.