Former UFC world champion Conor McGregor has urged fans to back him to be the next Irish President.
McGregor, who lost a civil rape case after being found liable for sexual assault last year, has not met the requirements to appear on the ballot.
The controversial fighter must secure the backing of at least four out of 31 local authorities or 20 members of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament.)
Highlights
- Conor McGregor urges fans to lobby local councillors to nominate him for Irish President before the September 24 deadline.
- McGregor lost a civil rape case in 2024 and faces a separate civil lawsuit over sexual assault allegations in Florida.
- His presidential bid is controversial, with little political backing from current Irish politicians.
- McGregor criticizes immigration policies, claiming Irish children are abandoned and communities overwhelmed by migration.
Conor McGregor is asking fans to back him in his run for Irish President
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So far, McGregor, 37, has failed to meet the requirements ahead of the September 24 deadline to run in the October 24 election.
In a Thursday post on social media, McGregor urged his followers to lobby their local county councillors and ask them to nominate him.
“If you want to see my name on the ballot for the Presidency, I urge you to contact your local county councillors today and ask them to nominate me,” McGregor wrote.
“Our councillors are the backbone of our communities. They work harder and deliver more for the people than those in the Oireachtas, who continue to fail this country time and again.”
The post was accompanied by a video filmed at the Department of the Taoiseach, in which McGregor criticized immigration and said the children of Ireland had been abandoned.
“We have seen the homelessness of Irish children risen to levels unprecedented, proving this Government’s refusal to abide by and respect our proclamation where all children of Ireland are to be cherished. Instead, our children abandoned,” McGregor said.
“This incompetent failure of future generations has been accompanied with an intense influx of mass migration into an already severed system.”
McGregor hasn’t fought in the UFC since 2021 and he has been marred with sexual abuse allegations in recent years.
In 2024, a jury found him liable for the sexual assault of Nikita Hand in a civil rape case and ordered him to pay her nearly 250,000 euros in damages.
Hand accused McGregor and James Lawrence of raping her at a Dublin hotel in 2018. McGregor appealed the verdict but lost in January of this year.
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McGregor is also facing a civil lawsuit in Florida over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in a bathroom at Miami’s Kaseya Center in June, 2023, during the NBA finals.
The lawsuit, filed in January 2025, alleges McGregor engaged “in unlawful sexual contact” for his “own sexual gratification.”
A criminal sexual assault allegation regarding the incident was filed against McGregor in 2023, but Florida State Attorney's Office declined to go forward with charges.
In 2019, McGregor was convicted of punching a man at a pub in Dublin and ordered to pay him 1,000 euros.
He was also handed a two-year driving ban and five-month suspended prison sentence in Ireland in July of last year, following a dangerous driving incident.
In recent years, McGregor has allied himself with U.S. President Donald Trump, the MAGA movement, and figures such as Elon Musk.
McGregor has allied himself with Donald Trump
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He met Trump at the White House on St. Patrick's Day this year and criticized Ireland’s immigration policies.
Appearing at a press briefing with Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, ahead of the meeting, McGregor said he would discuss immigration with Trump.
Leavitt said she "couldn't think of a better guest to have with us on St Patrick's Day".
“The illegal immigration racket is running ravage on the country,” McGregor told reporters, The Independent reported.
“There are rural towns in Ireland that have been overrun in one swoop, that have become a minority in one swoop.”
Politicians back home criticized his comments on the issue and said his views do not reflect that of the Irish people.
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Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said that St. Patrick's Day was rooted in community, humanity, friendship and fellowship.
"Conor McGregor's remarks are wrong and do not reflect the spirit of St Patrick's Day, or the views of the people of Ireland," Martin said.
McGregor’s announcement that he planned to run for the Irish presidency earlier this year was also met with criticism.
Sky News reported that not one of the 134 politicians who replied to their survey said they would support McGregor’s run.
Many described him as misogynistic and one even commented, “not a hope in hell.”
The current Irish President Michael Higgins has been serving since 2011 and there are only two other confirmed candidates in the race.
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Anyone over the age of 35 can seek to be nominated for Irish President, with it being a largely ceremonial role as head of state.
McGregor’s campaign has largely been focused on anti-immigration and he opposes a new European Union migration pact that would distribute asylum claims evenly across the bloc.
“Who else will stand up to Government and oppose this bill?” he wrote on social media in March “Any other Presidential candidate they attempt to put forward will be of no resistance to them. I will!”
The most recent statistics from 2024 show that immigration in Ireland is at a 17-year high, with 149,200 immigrants moving there between April 2023 and April 2024.
An independent Migrant Rights Centre Ireland poll last year found that 64% of people agreed that Ireland should welcome migrants moving to the country to pursue a better life.