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'Baseless and 'unstateable' - High Court rejects bid to review presidential nomination process

Summary

On 23 October 2025, the High Court refused Dr Cora Stack's last‑minute application for a judicial review of the presidential nomination process. The court found her claims to be "entirely baseless" and "unstateable". Dr Stack, a maths lecturer, had alleged that political parties unlawfully blocked independent candidates, including herself, from contesting the election, and had sought a declaration that Tánaiste Simon Harris's instruction to Fine Gael councillors to block independent nominations was unlawful. She also requested an injunction to compel a "fair, lawful and constitutional" nomination process. Mr Justice Mark Heslin rejected all of her submissions, noting that she had failed to provide evidence of any attempt to secure 20 Oireachtas nominations or of any councillor's support. He dismissed her allegations that council meetings were "unprecedentedly clustered" or that she was denied a fair opportunity, calling them baseless.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: 'Baseless and 'unstateable' - High Court rejects bid to review presidential nomination process. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• September 22, 2025 Other
• 2025-10-23 Publication

Why: Mr Justice Heslin said that Dr Stack's claim that councils curtailing potential candidates' presentations to "five minutes" was a denial of fair opportunity could not be laid at the door of the named respondents, because it was entirely up to each council to make provisions regarding the scheduling and running of meetings. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report