Fine Gael chose not to put Heather Humphreys's Border and religious background forward as a strongly-articulated theme of her campaign. Photograph: Noel Sweeney/ PA Wire
Heather Humphreys did not lose the presidential election because she is a Presbyterian, but the sectarian abuse directed towards her by a minority did feature, and it has left a bitter aftertaste.
From the off, there were voices, if a limited number, in Fine Gael who believed they should promote Humphreys’s background as a unique selling point: one who, if elected, could “reach parts in Northern Ireland that nobody else can reach”.
Instead, Fine Gael’s campaign team rejected the advice, believing, in the words of one of those involved, “there wasn’t anyone in the Republic, bar a few people along the Border, who are interested in all that”.
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