Conor McGregor has announced his ambition to become the next president of Ireland, declaring his strong opposition to the EU Migration Pact and vowing to give the Irish people “a voice and a choice on their future.” The former mixed martial arts fighter expressed his views on social media, stating that he would hold a referendum on the immigration agreement if elected.
After meeting US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on St. Patrick’s Day, McGregor took to Instagram to voice his concerns about the pact. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the government’s fervent agreement to it, emphasizing, “It is neither mine nor governments [sic] choice to make. It is the people of Ireland’s [sic] choice!”
In his post, McGregor assured that everyone in Ireland would have “a voice and a choice on their future,” encouraging citizens to support his presidential bid to make their opinions heard.
Accompanying his message was a photo of McGregor in front of an aircraft, holding a young child and wearing a green baseball cap emblazoned with the slogan “Make Ireland Great Again.”
During his visit to the White House, McGregor criticized immigration policies, stating that Ireland was “at the cusp of potentially losing its Irishness” due to what he referred to as an “illegal immigration racket.” These comments drew sharp criticism from Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, who remarked that they were “wrong” and did not reflect the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day or the views of the Irish people. Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris added that McGregor “has no mandate to” speak on behalf of the populace.
The EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum aims to establish new rules for managing migration and creating a unified asylum system at the European level.
In recent legal news, a civil case awarded over £200,000 to Nikita Hand, who accused McGregor of rape, after a jury found he had assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018. McGregor is currently appealing this verdict as well as facing a guilty plea for a separate assault on a man in a Dublin pub in 2019.
McGregor, known as “The Notorious,” gained global fame for winning multiple UFC championships.
Credit: Sky News
