Niall O'Dowd: Day one on the presidential campaign in Ireland

Calling an O'Dowd a "foreigner" in Ireland is ludicrous. The O'Dowds descend from the older brother of the first High King of Ireland. Leadership is in his DNA. Politicians are in disrepute. It is time for some one above politics to be President. If not The O'Brien, maybe an O'Dowd will make people proud to be Irish again.

Hi Niall, What saddens me about the race for the park is that while all of the candidates could have stood in the recent general election, and possibly gained some real power, none did. I'm delighted you are standing.We need to realise the world is both changing and shrinking. Your perspective,contacts and obvious concern for the Nations well being make it a no brainer to vote for you, regardless of how you get the nomination.

Mr. O'Dowd, I listened with particular interest to the Kenny interview, which to say the least was bland, totally uninspiring, self-delusional and peppered with gross inaccuracies yet again. You even had the audacity to lie to the readers here that you "Have been invited to run for the Presidency" - yet when Kenny posed the difficulty you face in getting a selection and asked how you propose to overcome this you replied " Well I could stand for Fianna Fail or Sinn Fein - they dont have a candidate yet". IF you have already been invited to run, WHY would you now say that you could stand for either party? You TRY to continue to claim your right to stand because you were born here and lived here for 26 years YET the Oath of Allegiance which YOU MADE to a foreign country, clearly prohibits you from seeking election to the Ofice of President - Let me remind you of your OATH! - "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;...." THAT Mr.O'Dowd precludes you - you sir are a Foreigner! You then criticise those who have the right, duty and obligation to assess and critique your proposed candidacy, well this is NOT the US, thank God, and you certainly are not of the calibre, which we, the Irish people, need representing ALL 100million and not the mere 40million which you wish to represent. Indeed Kenny referred to the fact during your interview that there were more Irish abroad than those just in the US, which you kept harping on about, and then as an addendum you decided to pathetically include them. You do realise that you will have to PUBLICLY declare your financial sources and the amount raised - where is that money coming from, the Mafia? Forget it Mr. O'Dowd, save your money and save us the embarrassment of rejecting your candidacy IF you ever become one.

Niall, a chara: The Marshes of Montrose are always dangerous - wait till they dig out the clip where you told Miriam O'Callaghan you would never come to live in Ireland. Pray it's wiped! For any of the Montrose Marionettes in the Ballsbridge Fog Fun Factory to ask about 'inhaling' is a bit rich! They will always drag up things like that. Look at Norris, for example. ~ The Turner cartoon may not be helpful to your 'image' but at least you as Uncle Sam is not shown with bombs and rockets under yer oxters threatening Holy Little Ayerland with a 'peace' war if we don't do things your way! - but it could be what they're thinking now! Lastly, probably very unwise of you to describe the European Parliament as "discredited" when Ireland has had so many benefits in the past from its Membership, and is now existing solely on the EU/IMF Loan. America may feel threatened by Europe, but the Irish don't,and are a real part of it.

Niall, when I read Ellis's article in the IT, I noticed there is an NB quoting the oath of allegiance. You can go to Danny's blog to find a hyperlink.

Pat Kenny 'go to guy' 'leg/end'...Hmmm?

I listened to your interview this morning on Newstalk radio.There was no mention of georgyboy or his daily disparaging,obnoxious and vile comments.So far so good.