Former RTÉ weather presenter ends short-lived Irish Presidential campaign

Joanna Donnelly, a former Met Éireann forecaster and RTÉ weather presenter, announced on Friday, September 5, that she will no longer be pursuing a run in Ireland's Presidential election this year.

The announcement comes just three days after she confirmed that she was seeking nominations to get on this year's ballot.

"First of all, I’d like to thank everybody for their comments of support and encouragement," Donnelly said on social media on Friday.

"Since Tuesday, I have come to understand through conversations with people with vastly more experience in this type of campaign that I am unprepared for such an undertaking.

"While I still believe that I have the qualities that would make me a good uachtarán na hÉireann, I was naive to think I could meet the challenges of the campaign.

"Therefore, at this stage, I’ve decided it’s best to withdraw my request for nominations."

Donnelly concluded nearly 30 years at Met Éireann and ten years of presenting at RTÉ in April.

"I've always been nonpolitical"

It was just Tuesday that Donnelly announced that she was seeking nominations from county councils.

In order to get on the presidential ballot in Ireland, candidates must be nominated either by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas; at least four local authorities; or former or retiring Presidents can nominate themselves to appear on the ballot.

(With current President Michael D. Higgins serving his second term, he is ineligible to run again.)

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime on Tuesday, Donnelly said she had emailed the heads of all of Ireland's county councils the night prior seeking their support. 

She said she did this after fielding questions in recent weeks and months about potentially running. 

Donnelly clarified she had not been formally approached by anyone or party to run.

"I have no reason to believe that anybody would actually take this seriously," Donnelly admitted on Tuesday, "so I just threw the net wide and I said, 'I'll see what happens.'"

She added: "The reason I'm doing it is because I want to be part of the voice going forward, and there isn't a better voice than the highest office of the country to help."

Donnelly said she did not have any political party affiliation, adding, "I've always been nonpolitical, myself."

When asked if she leans left or right, Donnelly replied: "The most of the population lives under a bell curve - you know what a bell curve looks like? Within 90% of the population, everybody is in the center.

"I think I'm in the center, and I think left- and right-leaning, when you become a far-right or a far-left, you come all the way back to center again, it's just the opposite side of the circle from where most people are.

"So, I think I'm well in the middle."

Later on Tuesday, Donnelly appeared on Virgin Media's The Tonight Show - the discussion was met with mixed reviews.

The 2025 Irish presidential election will be held on Friday, October 24.

Donnelly's announcement that she will no longer be seeking nominations comes the same day that the formal nomination period for the election commenced; it will close at noon on September 24.

A nominated candidate may withdraw his or her nomination at any time before the completion of the ruling on nominations, but not thereafter.

At time of writing, there are only two confirmed candidates for this year's Presidential election - Independent TD Catherine Connolly and Fine Gael TD Heather Humphreys.

Donnelly's Friday update comes just hours after Bertie Ahern, Ireland's former Taoiseach and the former leader of Fianna Fail, ruled himself out of this year's race.

Former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin and MEP Billy Kelleher are both seeking the Fianna Fáil nomination, while other people understood to be seeking Independent nominations are Nick Delehanty, Gareth Sheridan, and Maria Steen.

Elsewhere, on Thursday, Conor McGregor called upon his supporters to contact their local county councils in hopes of getting backing to get on the ballot, despite having claimed a week earlier that he had the nomination "secured."