Conor McGregor outlines plan to become President of Ireland

Conor McGregor has outlined his potential route to becoming the President of Ireland, saying: “I’d fancy my chances.”

McGregor is reportedly being investigated by Irish police over his social-media posts around the Dublin riots in late November, but the former UFC champion has expressed confidence in taking up a position of power in his home country.

The 35-year-old wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday (4 December): “Potential competition if I run. Gerry [Adams], 78. Bertie [Ahern]. 75. Enda [Kenny], 74. Each with unbreakable ties to their individual parties politics. Regardless of what the public outside of their parties feel. These parties govern themselves vs govern the people.”

Adams is in fact 75 years old, while Ahern and Kenny are 72.

“Or me, 35,” McGregor continued. “Young, active, passionate, fresh skin in the game. I listen. I support. I adapt. I have no affiliation/bias/favoritism toward any party. They would genuinely be held to account regarding the current sway of public feeling. I’d even put it all to vote.

“There’d be votes every week to make sure. I can fund. It would not be me in power as President, people of Ireland. It would be me and you.”

On Tuesday, X owner Elon Musk replied to McGregor, “I think you could take them all single-handed. Not even fair,” adding a laughing emoji, to which the fighter responded: “I’d fancy my chances Elon, 100%.

“I’d need to be nominated either by: at least 20 members of the Oireachtas [the bicameral parliament of Ireland]; or at least four local authorities (AKA county councils) to run. Most (26) local authorities are county councils. There are also 3 city councils (Dublin, Galway, and Cork) and 2 councils that oversee a city and a county (Limerick and Waterford). A process.” The latter sentence was taken from Ireland’s Citizens’ Information website.

“Either way, I’d just be happy with absolute transparency and consultation to the public,” McGregor continued. “Currently there is none. Not an iota. False promises come around the time of election and then it is literally straight ignorance into the face thereafter. It’s disgusting. Even opposition politics seems to me more about the attempt of gaining power vs seeking their change.

“If those currently in power agreed to usher in all opposition stance on change it wouldn’t even be enough. It’s

power/greed, the aim. I feel if a power swap happened today, the situation would simply reverse. The same questions and requests and condemnations but only from the opposite side then.

“Me, I’d clean the f***in’ dail if it meant our issues were heard and corrected and the public were consulted in these decisions. A true democracy!

“Among many other things, the allocation of our nations funds has been nothing short of criminal, and without an iota of consideration for the publics thinking. This is why I’d run, if I was to. To be a voice of the people that deserve to be heard.

“President of Ireland is a unique position to other countries but it would demand response to questioning. Dialect would be so good for us in the public. Our people feel ignored. Unheard. Until of course election time. Then the waffle begins.”

McGregor came under criticism for his rhetoric around the Dublin riots last month, when violent protests followed the stabbing of five people in the Irish capital. Three children were injured in the attack, which left a five-year-old girl in critical condition.

McGregor was quick to criticise the government’s reaction to the stabbing, having already been vocal after the sentencing of Jozef Puska, a 33-year-old Slovak who was jailed for life over the murder of 23-year-old Irish woman Ashling Murphy.

“Ireland, we are at war,” McGregor tweeted after Puska’s sentencing, before he reacted to the knife attack by writing: “Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today. There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.”

McGregor later tweeted that he did not “condone” the riots.

The former dual-weight UFC champion last fought in July 2021, breaking his leg in a second straight loss to Dustin Poirier.