Overview
- Heather Humphreys said she will not smear her opponent but will ask hard questions of Catherine Connolly, pointing to Dáil access granted to a woman with a Special Criminal Court conviction and Connolly’s use of a parliamentary allowance for a 2018 Syria trip.
- Catherine Connolly called it “scurrilous” to suggest she had insulted allies during their RTÉ Drivetime head‑to‑head, where Humphreys compared Connolly’s international outlook to Neville Chamberlain‑era appeasement.
- Labour leader Ivana Bacik accused Fine Gael of “desperate smear tactics” after Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill challenged left leaders’ support for Connolly over remarks about hiring a convicted rapist; Connolly later said she would not hire anyone on the sex offenders register.
- Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he will personally vote for Humphreys but will not direct Fianna Fáil members, as withdrawn candidate Jim Gavin remains on the ballot and could influence transfers under the single transferable vote system.
- With polling set for October 24, both campaigns are intensifying their canvass and another one‑on‑one RTÉ radio debate is scheduled for Sunday.