Catherine Connolly defends ‘fact-finding mission’ to Syria

Catherine Connolly said she had “no control” over who she met while on a 2018 visit to Syria in which she encountered pro-Assad figures.

In a broadcast presidential debate with Ms Connolly on Friday, Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys also said she “did her best” for a constituent despite voting against an inquiry into the circumstances of her son’s death.

The two candidates were questioned on a series of controversies during a Morning Ireland debate on RTE Radio One, a week out from the vote on October 24.

The latest opinion poll put Ms Connolly on 38% and Ms Humphreys trailing on 20%, with a large amount of undecideds still to play for.

Fianna Fail candidate Jim Gavin remains on the ballot paper and his votes will be counted as usual, despite the former GAA manager declaring he was no longer contesting the race.

The Irish Times reported on Friday that one of the men Ms Connolly met in Syria was a leader of a group charged with killing Palestinians in a refugee camp.

Asked if she was aware of this, Ms Connolly said: “No, I wasn’t.

“I went to Syria on a fact-finding mission. The first port of call was the Palestinian refugee camp outside Damascus.

“We were to go to Beirut, but we joined the group later, and the group had gone to a Palestinian refugee camp outside of Beirut.

“We went from Beirut to Damascus on a trip, a fact-finding trip – we met different groups.”

She added: “You have no control when you go to a country like that as to who will come into Your presence or not.

“That’s no endorsement of the regime. I’m on record for condemning the regime, I did not meet with (then-president Bashar) Assad.”

Ms Connolly said she went to deepen her understanding of the experiences of the Palestinian refugees and discovered that the camp was “utterly destroyed”.

She insisted that she had met Palestinians who “spoke to us as openly as they could within a dictatorship”.

During the same radio programme, Ms Humphreys reiterated that she did her “best” for her constituent Lucia O’Farrell.

Ms O’Farrell has been been critical of the former minister’s level of support for her campaign for justice for her late son Shane, who was hit by a car driven by a man who should have been in jail.

Ms Humphreys said she made representations to justice ministers at the time and added: “I made representations on her behalf. I’m sorry that she says I didn’t do enough. I’m sorry if that’s the case. I really am, but I did my best.”

Pressed on why she did not support a vote for a public inquiry, Ms Humphreys said she voted with the Government.

“There was reason behind that. I don’t know exactly the detail of it.”

Her party leader Simon Harris said Ms Humphrey’s campaign is growing “day by day” as he rejected a suggestion she was doomed.

Speaking to reporters at the North South Ministerial Council in Dublin, the Tanaiste added: “I think a lot of people are thinking this through very carefully, and I think they might be saying: ‘Well, if I don’t agree with every single one of their views, who is most closely aligned with my views?’

“And that’s very much why we’re in the space of asking middle Ireland to lend us their vote.”

He also recalled the 2011 election when Sean Gallagher was ultimately unsuccessful after leading in the opinion polls.

Mr Gallagher received damages and an apology from RTE over an issue late in that campaign where a false tweet was raised during a live TV debate.

Asked if he was waiting for a Gallagher-level surprise to come, Mr Harris did not answer directly and instead said every presidential election is different, adding: “Almost 50% of the electorate are not yet sure in terms of either candidate.”

Fianna Fail leader and Taoiseach Micheal Martin maintained “it’s all to play for” with one week to go ahead of polling day, as he reiterated his support for the Fine Gael candidate.

Asked about Ms Humphrey trailing in opinion polls, he said: “Polls don’t determine elections – the real poll is on next week.”

Mr Martin faced internal disquiet about the process to select Mr Gavin as the Fianna Fail candidate, which resurfaced after he dropped out of the race when it emerged he owed a former tenant thousands of euro.

Asked about former party leader Bertie Ahern saying he had been let down by Fianna Fail leadership for not supporting his ambitions, Mr Martin said: “I received no call from Bertie at any stage in advance of that, but these are matters that I can elaborate in greater detail in terms of the review that the Fianna file party will undertake.”

Pressed on the fact that Mr Ahern had contacted the party’s national executive several times, Mr Martin said the matter would be examined under the review.