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It’s been more than three years since Conor McGregor stepped into the Octagon, and the doubts surrounding a potential comeback only deepened when he hinted he could be eyeing a run for the President of Ireland—although it seems like that bid may be dead on arrival.
There weren’t many fighters in the UFC who were able to match the level of hype Conor McGregor managed to amass during his impressive run in the 2010s, but there have been plenty of questions about his future since he dropped his second consecutive bout to Dustin Poirier via TKO in July of 2021.
Since then, we’ve been treated to a steady stream of rumors concerning fights that ultimately failed to come to fruition, and while he was slated to face off against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 in June, he withdrew due to a toe injury before Dana White said fans will have to wait until 2025 to see him back in action (although McGregor seems to be pushing for a match at UFC 310 in Las Vegas in December).
Things took yet another turn on Thursday when McGregor hinted he may be turning his attention to the realm of politics after hopping on Twitter to assert he is “the only logical choice” in the upcoming election that will determine who steps into the role of the President of Ireland following the conclusion of the second term of Michael D. Higgins in 2025.
As President I hold the power to summon the Dáil as well as dissolve it. So as i said before, I would have all the answers the people of Ireland seek from these thieves of the working man, these disrupters of the family unit, these destructors of small businesses, and on and on…
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 5, 2024
At this point, it’s worth taking most things the 36-year-old MMA veteran says with a grain of salt, and that’s certainly the case with this development when you consider the hurdles he’d need to leap over to even be eligible in the first place.
First and foremost, it’s worth noting the President of Ireland has a largely ceremonial role (the bulk of the power lies in the hands of parliament, the “Dáil” referenced in the tweet).
As a result, McGregor—who has frequently engaged in controversial rhetoric concerning immigration issues in the country—is severely overstating the influence he’d wield in the unlikely event he was elected (89% of Irish people polled last December said they would not vote for him if he ran for any political office).
Of course, it’s pretty hard to get elected if you’re not even nominated. Ireland doesn’t have an open primary, so in order to get on the ballot, McGregor would need to earn the official endorsement of 20 members of parliament or four of the 31 country or city councils (a.k.a. “local authorities”) in the country—two routes that have close to no chance of coming to fruition.
Anyone who’s kept tabs on American politics over the past decade knows it’s foolish to completely count out a celebrity outsider facing a steep uphill battle in their question for a nomination, but with that said, McGregor probably isn’t going to be Ireland’s next president.