Dublin’s mayoral election plans were cancelled by the Irish Government because mixed martial arts (MMA) star Conor McGregor might have won, according to local reports.
Irish officials had been preparing a public vote on introducing a directly elected mayor of the Irish Republic capital — a long-awaited reform.
Growing speculation that populist right-winger McGregor, who has become increasingly vociferous in recent years, could run and win, reportedly led the government to abandon the plan.
On April 14, the Irish section of newspaper The Sunday Times said the ruling coalition feared that he would use the election as a political launch pad.
McGregor has been critical about mass migration towards Ireland.
In March, he visited US President Donald Trump at the White House and said Ireland was “at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness”. He claimed the Irish Government had “abandoned the voices of the people of Ireland”.
On several occasions, McGregor has said he was open to the idea of running to be president of Ireland.
When, in 2023, major riots broke out in Dublin after a stabbing, McGregor stated on social media: “Ireland, we are at war” and laid the blame on immigration for the riots, which led to an investigation for alleged incitement to hatred.
In reaction he said: “Attempt to scapegoat me all you wish. If it makes you feel better, I will take it. The truth of the many failed policies of this government, however, will never stop being the reason we have innocent children in hospital on life support after being stabbed by a deranged criminal.”
A directly elected Dublin mayor would have significant powers and a substantial budget at his or her disposal
An unnamed minister was quoted by The Sunday Times as saying: “[The Mayor] would essentially have the powers of a minister. It would be a very significant role and the Dublin voter base would be the most amenable … compared to any other part of the country.”
The Irish Government was reportedly concerned after Limerick, in southern Ireland, organised its first direct elections in 2024 and where and an independent candidate won.
“There has been discussion about someone like McGregor potentially doing well out of a Dublin mayoral election. There’s more of a risk there than with any other election because it would be such a powerful position, roughly 60 per cent of the Irish economy comes from Dublin,” another unnamed minister told The Sunday Times.
“It’s not just about McGregor, though. I think central government, whether it be elected people or unelected people, they’re always fearful of transferring power over to some other figurehead which the central government doesn’t control. That’s been an underlying problem with this project since the very beginning,” the newspaper reported the minister as saying.
The minister added that everyone was “concerned” because an independent won in Limerick, not a candidate from one of the traditional political parties.
A source close to the Irish Electoral Commission told the paper there was little political will within the current government to initiate the groundwork for a vote. “There’s no chance that work will happen this year,” the source reportedly said.
“A three-year review will take place for the Limerick directly elected mayor. I can imagine them suggesting the commission wait for that before any moves would be made in relation to Dublin.”
In 2022, the then-Irish government, a coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the Green Party, created the Dublin Citizens’ Assembly. It was designed to examine and make recommendations on the best model for a directly elected mayor and local government structures for Dublin City and County after earlier attempts in 2016 and 2019.
It proposed that several powers be devolved to the function of mayor and give the post-holder the ability to introduce local taxes.
A Dublin mayor would have a five-year term of office and a maximum of two terms, under the recommendations.
Former lord mayor of Dublin city, James Geoghegen, told The Sunday Times the concerns about who might win were not sufficient reason for cancelling direct elections.
Eoin O’Malley, associate professor of politics at Dublin City University, told radio station Newstalk: “It ends up proving the other side’s point, you know, they’ll kinda say ‘they won’t let me run.’
“And so it gives ammunition to what are essentially extremist politicians, so I think it would be better if, in this case, if the government and if governments generally, just trusted the public.
“The public usually get it right,” O’Malley said.
Wendy Via, chief executive of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, told The Sunday Times she considered McGregor a fairly controversial public figure and said his running would have led to “far-right policies become normalised”.
Besides his outspoken political views, McGregor also faced controversy over his private life.
In 2024, he was found liable for sexual assault in a civil trial and was ordered by a court to pay the complainant €250,000. He had denied the accusations and claimed that the sex was consensual.
Brussels Signal reached out to the Irish Government for comment but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/04/conor-mcgregor-scare-halts-dublin-mayoral-election