Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor wants to run in the November 2025 Irish presidential election, vowing to oppose his country’s participation in an EU pact to share asylum-seekers around member countries.
Newsweek contacted McGregor’s team for comment on Friday outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
The past few months have seen a string of successes for politicians and parties running on a nationalistic and anti-immigration platform. In November, 2024, Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, and in February, the right-wing Alternative for Germany party came second in the country’s parliamentary elections.
Success for McGregor would be further evidence of a populist and right-wing wave across much of the western world.
What To Know
In a post on his Instagram account on Thursday McGregor wrote: “Ireland must fully implement the EU Migration Pact by June 12, 2026. So between now and 12 June 2026, several pieces of legislation have to be passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas [Irish parliament] & then signed by the President.
“The next presidential election must take place by 11 Nov 2025. Who else will stand up to Government and oppose this bill? Any other Presidential candidate they attempt to put forward will be of no resistance to them. I will!”
The Irish president serves as the country’s head of state in a largely ceremonial position with day-to-day running of the country left to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister). However the president does still have significant powers and is responsible for safeguarding the Irish constitution.
The present Irish government has agreed to opt-in to the EU’s migration and asylum act, which aims to make the processing of asylum-seekers faster and to help spread them around the union.
However, increased immigration has resulted in an anti-migrant backlash in Ireland, which until recently only had a small proportion of people from overseas. In November 2023 riots broke out in Dublin when an Algerian national was arrested after allegedly stabbing and injuring three young children and a care assistant. The case is yet to go to trial.
According to the Irish constitution, to stand in the country’s presidential election a potential candidate must have the support of at least 20 members of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) or at least four of the 31 city and county councils. The only exemptions are for incumbent or former presidents running again.
Nearly all legislatures in the Oireachtas are already members of political parties hostile to McGregor’s platform, meaning they are very unlikely to nominate him. These include Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin, Labour and the Social Democrats.
McGregor will face a tall order getting nominations from either 20 Oireachtas members or four councils. While no other candidates have been declared there is speculation that former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the singer turned Senator Frances Black could stand. Bookmaker Boyle Sports only gives McGregor a 25/1 (3.8 percent) chance of victory.
On St Patrick’s Day McGregor met President Trump at the White House where he told reporters he is concerned about what he termed an “illegal immigration racket.”
In November, 2024, a jury at Dublin’s High Court found McGregor liable for rape in a civil case and ordered him to pay €250,000 in damages. McGregor is currently appealing against the judgment.
What People Are Saying
On X Northern Irish journalist Allison Morris said: “Dear America Conor McGregor has as much chance of being the next president of Ireland as I do of being the next Archbishop of Canterbury, apart from a load of Turkey teeth red flags he’s universally disliked, and also will never in a million years get nominated.”
Irish writer Eoin Kelleher wrote: “In retrospect, it looks like Conor McGregor’s appearance at the White House was an attempt by the U.S. government to destabilize Irish politics. Expect outside interference determined to undermine our economy and our place in the EU.”
What Happens Next
Multiple Irish politics experts have pointed out that the changes of McGregor meeting the threshold to run in November’s election are low, though his bid is likely to garner widespread media interest and intensify an already heated debate around immigration.
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