Bob Geldof claims he would have 'walked' Irish presidential election

On Friday, voters will choose between two candidates to replace Michael D Higgins

Musician and Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof reckons he would have been 'really good' as Ireland's president. AP

Bob Geldof has claimed he would have “walked” the Irish presidential election if he had stood as a candidate.

The singer, who is best known for his fundraising efforts for Africa as the figurehead of Live Aid, was speaking to mark the 50th anniversary of the first gig played by his band, The Boomtown Rats, in Dublin.

Voters in Ireland are going to the polls on Friday to elect one of two women as their new president for the next seven years, a largely ceremonial role in the EU member country.

Over the summer, Geldof had been linked with a run for the position, but said he was not serious about it.

However, on the eve of polls opening, he claimed he would have won easily with the backing of a main party.

He said he had no regrets about not taking part in the campaign, but would have “loved the fight”.

“I think I’d have walked the thing,” he said. “I think I would have won.”

He said the two candidates − Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys – were “very capable, very nice people”, but the campaign had not been “very inspiring”.

“I’m sure they’ll do a great job, it’s not the hardest job in the world,” he said.

“I think I’d have been really good at it.”

Thank you, Dubai

Earlier this year, The National highlighted the role played by the UAE in making the Live Aid fundraising concerts a success in 1985, the event that catapulted Geldof to international fame. On live TV, Geldof, who had been alarmed at the slow pace of donations, announced that he had just spoken to the Dubai government “who have just given us a million pounds”. “So, thank you to the Dubai government and the Al Maktoum family,” he said.

He then went on to demand of the TV audience: “There are people dying now, so give me the money.”

Performers on stage for the grand finale of the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985, led by Bob Geldof. Alamy

No time

Geldof has previously revealed details of his conversation with the Taoiseach Micheal Martin about the prospect of his standing for the presidency.

Mr Martin acknowledged he had a conversation with Geldof about the potential of him standing for his Fianna Fail party.

Geldof − who is originally from Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin − said the discussion with Mr Martin did not progress very far, as the Irish premier had already chosen someone else as his preferred candidate.

Mr Martin backed former Dublin Gaelic football manager Jim Gavin as Fianna Fail’s nomination but the former army officer was forced to back out after it was revealed he had not repaid a debt to a tenant. His withdrawal came so late his name still appears on ballet papers today.

Geldof, 73, was asked in September about his interest in the position after picking up a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Sky Arts Awards.

Asked if he had ruled himself out of contention, he said: “We played at one of the big festivals in Ireland and coming off stage, somebody said, ‘Are you going to make a run for the President?’ But they ask that of everybody in Ireland, that’s the first thing – because anyone can, which is good. And I said, ‘Well, it’s 50 years of the Rats, 40 years of Band Aid, yeah, I’d like to do something new, interesting and useful.’ And that set the hares running.”

He said he would not have had time to do the job combined with his musical work.

Independent Irish presidential candidate Catherine Connolly. PA

New president

Polls to elect the successor to president Michael D Higgins opened at 7am on Friday, with Ms Connolly holding a sizeable lead in opinion polls. Results are due to be announced on Saturday.

Independent candidate Ms Connolly, a former speaker of parliament who has criticised Israel over Palestine and Germany for ramping up defence spending, is facing off against Ms Humphreys, a former Fine Gael government minister. Polls give Ms Connolly a lead of 19 percentage points.

Ireland’s presidency is mostly a ceremonial role, with little real power. Still, a victory for Ms Connolly would boost the broad left-wing alliance, led by Sinn Fein, which banded together to support the former barrister.

It could also provide a template for a united left to take on the centre ruling coalition, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, in the future. Those parties have dominated government since the foundation of the state more than a century ago.

Ms Connolly’s rise “might reflect a shift in the values of Irish voters towards candidates who are more outspoken on certain issues, perhaps towards candidates of the left”, said Prof David Kenny at Trinity College Dublin, who specialises in constitutional law. “People have said the presidency is like the conscience of a nation.”

The contest was disrupted this week by the emergence of an AI-generated deepfake video showing Ms Connolly purportedly announcing she is pulling out of the race. She condemned the video, calling it “malicious”, and called on social media companies to swiftly remove fake election content.

Fine Gael Irish presidential candidate Heather Humphreys. PA

Ireland has one of the strongest economies in the EU but support for the ruling coalition has slipped in this campaign. From the right, the government is accused of being soft on migration, with protests targeting a hotel housing asylum seekers this week, the latest outbreak of violence around the issue.

The left, meanwhile, says Taoiseach Micheal Martin and established politicians like Ms Humphreys have failed to deal with a housing crisis and proved weak on Israel’s attacks in Gaza.