Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Single elections naturally attract significant and prominent media attention and we only have to reflect on previous presidential elections in this country. These, however, went beyond the point of proper examination and scrutiny and turned out to be unnecessarily bruising affairs. One would only have to ask the father of this House, Senator Norris, for his personal experience. These elections intruded into people’s private lives. That is not good because it will disincentivise people from getting involved in politics at a time we want to attract people into this space.

There is a by-election later this week. By and large, this has been a clean contest and while I hope it will be a Green Party success, the campaign is a great credit to each candidate and to the media, which has restored some much-needed faith in politics. I do not want people to be scared; I want to encourage people into politics. I am naturally delighted that so many people have got to know the Green Party candidate. She has been a sensation-----