Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly has said she is not aware of an Irish Independent report that her team refused to remove a campaign video that features a clip of President Michael D Higgins used without his permission.
"I'm not aware of that because I come straight here, so I will check that out," she said this morning.
The Independent candidate made the comments after a visit to the charity ALONE in Dublin, where she met people from the organisation which provides support to older people.
She was also asked about a recent viral social media video which showed her showing off her football and basketball skills while on the campaign trail.
"[It came from] the streets of Shantalla, where I grew up. But I didn't actually play football. I played badminton, volleyball and other sports… marathons, triathlons. I think it came from skipping. I used to be able to do a lot of skipping one time… 1000 skips… so I have that flexibility," she said.
When asked would she challenge Fine Gael presidential candidate Heather Humphreys to a game of "keepy uppies", Ms Connolly replied "not at all".
Ms Connolly also said she will leave the Jim Gavin issue to Fianna Fáil.
"My whole energy from day one and for the next two weeks is putting myself before the people of Ireland and allowing them to make their minds up" she said.
"I think it's really important that I repeat that this election is extremely important at the juncture we are in our history," she added.
Connolly asked about work as a barrister
When asked did she ever do any work on property or home repossessions, she said that when she was a barrister she took all types of work.
"That's the role. You take work from everywhere you get it, and you do your best," she said.
"I functioned as a barrister for every side, for people who had committed offences for banking institutions, for people on the other side of the pitch, people who are going under in terms of orders for possession, absolutely, that's the work of a barrister," she added.
Ms Connolly was also asked if voters can expect her to continue to speak up after she criticised the Budget.
"The budget is a matter of policy for each government, and I spoke yesterday as a TD in the Dáil in relation to that. Obviously, the absence of a framework for the budget, is a matter of great concern.
"We face the existential threat of climate change, which didn't really feature in the Budget speeches, and neither did the loneliness and the extent of the loneliness in our population… the 16,000 plus homeless people... so I had a role yesterday as TD," she said.
"As president, the role is on a much different level. It's again articulating the concerns, having a dialogue, encouraging questions, and having an open door in the Áras for groups to come in."
Glad not involved in drawing up Budget - Humphreys
Ms Humphreys has said she is "glad" that she was not involved in drawing up yesterday’s Budget, saying it was a matter for the relevant ministers.
Speaking to reporters today, she said as a former minister, she knew all about budgets and about the "difficult decisions" that have to be made.
Asked if the Budget could harm her chances of getting elected, she said the role of the president is above politics and does not have any input into the budgetary process, adding that it would not be correct for her to comment on it.
She said her job would be to articulate to voters her message of unity and opportunity.
Asked what her message was to those who are feeling the cost of living pressures, she said there were many people facing difficulties, and that her job would be to talk and to highlight any injustices.
Ms Humphreys also said it was a mistake that an image of a building in Berlin had appeared in a video of her visiting Belfast.
She said the video had now been taken down, and thanked the person who brought it to attention.
She also said Ms Connolly "needs to look at" a video of hers which shows President Higgins in it.
Ms Humphreys said it looks like "they’re very good friends in it, and maybe that is the case" and said she wondered if Ms Connolly had got permission from the president to use his image and said she understood she had not.
Ms Humphreys has said she has "huge sympathy for Lucia O Farrell whose 23-year-old son was killed in a hit-and-run in 2011.
She also said she was sorry if Ms O Farrell does not think she had done enough for her and said she was glad Ms O Farrell got a State apology.
She said she spoke to Ms O Farrell on a number of occasions and received several correspondence from her, which she passed on to the Minister for Justice.
Ms Humphreys has been out canvassing and earlier this morning paid a visit to Dublin Fire Brigade's HQ.
A stop at Dublin Fire Brigade HQ this morning for Heather Humphreys kicking off the days canvass @rtenews pic.twitter.com/pkc2M2MbOQ
— Conor Hunt (@conorfhunt) October 8, 2025
She said she was there to say "thank you" to the members of the service.
As part of the visit, she sat in the passenger seat of an appliance, and had her photograph taken with officers.
Speaking afterwards to reporters, she said she was not there "to get any endorsement".
She said, "just to be very clear, I’m here to speak to the Fire Brigade to hear about the good work they’re doing".
Her campaign today is focusing around central Dublin.
Her second stop of the day was at Henrietta St and a call in to St Vincent's Community Centre.
She dropped in on an employability class and told the students there that she wanted young people to "believe in themselves".
"There’s nothing you can’t do, if you want to achieve it. Go for it," she said.
Follow our live political coverage here
