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Not one of 134 Irish politicians who replied to a Sky News survey would support Conor McGregor’s ambition to become the country’s president.

Comments ranged from “not a hope in hell” to “I could not think of anyone more unfit” and “I would genuinely rather we didn’t have a president at all”.

The former MMA champion, who is appealing a civil case in which a jury found that he raped a woman, needs significant backing before he would be allowed to stand.

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McGregor praises Trump and hits out at Irish PM

McGregor used a St Patrick’s Day meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office to further his aim to run in the election, which must be held by November.

Days later he formally announced on social media he would seek election and stand on an anti-immigration platform.

Candidates must garner the support of 20 Oireachtas (parliament) members, or the backing of four of Ireland’s local authorities in order to stand.

There are 234 Oireachtas members: 174 TDs or members of the lower house, the Dail, and 60 senators.

Sky News asked each one if they would give McGregor a nomination. A total of 104 TDs and 30 senators replied.

Every one of the 134 politicians said they would not support McGregor running. None chose the “maybe” option.

Read more: Why McGregor has ‘close to zero chance’ of becoming Ireland’s next president

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‘Ireland and America are siblings’

Sky News asked: Would you nominate McGregor for a presidential candidate? Irish politicians answered:

“I consider him to be a tacky, moronic vulgarian. I would never consider him even remotely a suitable person for a nomination.” – Senator

“He’s a misogynist and a thug. On behalf of the women of Ireland he can f*** off.” – TD

“McGregor has become the cheerleader for misogyny in Ireland… a populist buffoon.” – Senator

“I genuinely would struggle to think of anyone worse to hold that position.” – Garret Ahearn, Fine Gael senator

“I could not think of anyone more unfit for public office.” – Duncan Smith, Labour TD

“There is no evidence Mr McGregor has the necessary skillset for the role.” – Malcolm Byrne, Fianna Fail TD

“There isn’t a snowball’s chance… he made a show of himself in Washington DC last week and with no elected mandate he certainly does not “speak for Irish people” when he travels overseas.” – Cathal Crowe, Fianna Fail TD

“Conor McGregor’s divisive behaviour and rhetoric would be completely unsuitable for such a role.” – Maeve O’Connell, Fine Gael TD

“As a mother of four young boys I have far more ambition for them than to have someone like that in a position of respectability.” – Erin McGreehan, Fianna Fail TD

Sky News has approached McGregor’s representative for comment on our findings. None has yet been received.

If McGregor chooses to pursue the council route to a nomination, he may not find it much easier, according to Gary Murphy, professor of politics at Dublin City University.

“The difficulty there is they are also dominated by the political parties. And so I think he would find this extremely difficult to actually get on the ballot.

“Now there is a big independent vote in Ireland, and maybe McGregor is targeting that, but the problem with that independent vote here in Ireland is that it’s very left wing and he’s not.”

Many don’t believe McGregor actually wants to be president

This is not an exhaustive or a very scientific poll, and several strong-willed independent politicians declined to give a view, despite repeated emails, calls and WhatsApps.

So it is still possible Conor McGregor could pick up a few nominations from the Oireachtas… should he ask.

But the 134-strong No camp – combined with the scathing replies we received – paints a picture of the strength of opposition to McGregor running.

That is of course, assuming he actually wants to be president. There are many who don’t believe he does.

Pretty much anyone can run in Irish general elections, and we had one of those a few short months ago.

McGregor was nowhere to be seen. But every time he posts about his political ambitions, he is lauded as the “Irish Trump” by a mostly American fanbase.

It could be a strategy to further burnish his reputation and brand in America, rather than a sincere desire to embrace a restrictive seven-year stint of often symbolic public service back home.

McGregor is currently appealing the result of a civil case in which a Dublin jury found he had raped a woman, Nikita Hand, in 2018 and ordered him to pay her damages. He also faces a civil case in Florida, where a woman claims he sexually assaulted her at a basketball game in Miami in 2023. His legal team says the allegation is “false”.

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IDF admits mistakenly identifying Gaza aid workers as threat – after video of attack showed ambulances were marked

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IDF admits mistakenly identifying Gaza aid workers as threat - after video of attack showed ambulances were marked

The IDF has admitted to mistakenly identifying a convoy of aid workers as a threat – following the emergence of a video which proved their ambulances were clearly marked when Israeli troops opened fire on them.

The bodies of 15 aid workers – including eight medics working for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) – were found in a “mass grave” after the incident, according to the head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Jonathan Whittall.

The Israeli military originally claimed an investigation found the vehicles did not have any headlights or emergency signals and were therefore targeted as they looked “suspicious”.

But video footage obtained by the PRCS, and verified by Sky News, showed the ambulances and a fire vehicle clearly marked with flashing red lights.

In a briefing from the IDF, they said the ambulances arrived in the Tel Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah shortly after a Hamas police vehicle drove through.

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo
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Palestinians mourning the medics after their bodies were recovered. Pic: Reuters

An IDF surveillance aircraft was watching the movement of the ambulances and notified troops on the ground. The IDF said it will not be releasing that footage.

When the ambulances arrived, the soldiers opened fire, thinking the medics were a threat, according to the IDF.

The soldiers were surprised by the convoy stopping on the road and several people getting out quickly and running, the IDF claimed, adding the soldiers were unaware the suspects were in fact unarmed medics.

An Israeli military official would not say how far away troops were when they fired on the vehicles.

The IDF acknowledged that its statement claiming that the ambulances had their lights off was incorrect, and was based on the testimony from the soldiers in the incident.

The newly emerged video footage showed that the ambulances were clearly identifiable and had their lights on, the IDF said.

The IDF added that there will be a re-investigation to look into this discrepancy.

The clip is filmed through a vehicle windscreen - with three red light vehicles visible in front
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The clip is filmed through a vehicle windscreen – with three red light vehicles visible in front

Addressing the fact the aid workers’ bodies were buried in a mass grave, the IDF said in its briefing this is an approved and regular practice to prevent wild dogs and other animals from eating the corpses.

The IDF could not explain why the ambulances were also buried.

The IDF said six of the 15 people killed were linked to Hamas, but revealed no detail to support the claim.

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Bodies of aid workers found in Gaza

The newly emerged footage of the incident was discovered on a phone belonging to one of the workers who was killed, PRCS president Dr Younis Al Khatib said.

“His phone was found with his body and he recorded the whole event,” he said. “His last words before being shot, ‘Forgive me, mom. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to save lives’.”

Sky News used an aftermath video and satellite imagery to verify the location and timing of the newly emerged footage of the incident.

More from Sky News:
Israeli troops expand Gaza ‘security zone’
What happened to the ceasefire?

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Aid worker attacks increasing

It was filmed on 23 March north of Rafah and shows a convoy of marked ambulances and a fire-fighting vehicle travelling south along a road towards the city centre. All the vehicles visible in the convoy have their flashing lights on.

The footage was filmed early in the morning, with a satellite image seen by Sky News taken at 9.48am local time on the same day showing a group of vehicles bunched together off the road.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes swipe at US over ‘weak’ comment on Russian attack – as Ukrainian drones strike factory

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy takes swipe at US over 'weak' comment on Russian attack - as Ukrainian drones strike factory

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has hit out at the US over its “weak” response to lethal Russian attacks on his hometown on Friday.

President Zelenskyy posted a lengthy and emotional statement on X about Russia’s strikes on Kryvyi Rih, which killed 19 people.

Meanwhile Ukrainian drones hit an explosives factory in Russia’s Samara region in an overnight strike, a member of Ukraine’s SBU security service told Reuters.

In his post, President Zelenskyy accused the United States of being “afraid” to name-check Russia in its comment on the attack.

“Unfortunately, the reaction of the American Embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people – and such a weak reaction,” he wrote on X.

“They are even afraid to say the word “Russian” when talking about the missile that killed children.”

America’s ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink had written on X: “Horrified that tonight a ballistic missile struck near a playground and restaurant in Kryvyi Rih.

“More than 50 people injured and 16 killed, including 6 children. This is why the war must end.”

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Strike on Zelenskyy’s home city

President Zelenskyy went on in his post to say: “Yes, the war must end. But in order to end it, we must not be afraid to call a spade a spade.

“We must not be afraid to put pressure on the only one who continues this war and ignores all the world’s proposals to end it. We must put pressure on Russia, which chooses to kill children instead of a ceasefire.”

Grandmother ‘burned to death in her home’

Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s defense council, said the missile attack, followed by a drone attack, had killed 19 people, including nine children.

“The Iskander-M missile strike with cluster munitions at the children’s playground in the residential area, to make the shrapnel fly further apart, killed 18 people.

“One grandmother was burnt to death in her house after Shahed’s direct hit.”

Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck a military gathering in a restaurant – an assertion rebutted by the Ukrainian military as misinformation.

“The missile hit right on the street – around ordinary houses, a playground, shops, a restaurant,” President Zelenskyy wrote.

Mr Zelenskyy also detailed the child victims of the attack including “Konstantin, who will be 16 forever” and “Arina, who will also be 7 forever”.

The UK’s chief of the defence staff Sir Tony Radakin said he had met the Ukrainian leader on Friday, along with French armed forces leader General Thierry Burkhard.

“Britain and France are coming together & Europe is stepping up in a way that is real & substantial, with 200 planners from 30 nations working to strengthen Ukraine’s long term security,” Sir Tony wrote.

The UK and France have spearheaded a so-called “coalition of the willing” – a group of countries that have pledged to help Ukraine secure if a ceasefire deal is reached with Russia.

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Global markets have given Trump a clear no-confidence vote – and his fickleness is making the problem worse

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Global markets have given Trump a clear no-confidence vote - and his fickleness is making the problem worse

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump holds a "Foreign Trade Barriers" document as he delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 2, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
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On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced global tariffs, ratcheting up protectionism. Pic: Reuters

04 April 2025, Hesse, Frankfurt/Main: Stock exchange traders watch their monitors on the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange while the display board with the Dax curve shows falling prices. US President Trump had issued a huge tariff package against trading partners around the world. The European Union and China have already announced countermeasures. Photo by: Arne Dedert/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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Traders at the Frankfurt stock exchange watched the DAX plummet on Friday. Pic: Picture-alliance/dpa/AP

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

Read more:
No winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Trade war sparks ‘$2.2trn’ global sell-off

These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

Aerial view of a ro-ro terminal for vehicle shipment in Yantai in eastern China's Shandong province, Thursday, April 3, 2025. (Chinatopix Via AP) CHINA OUT
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Vehicles destined for export, like these in Yantai in eastern China, face massive US tariffs. Pic: Chinatopix/AP

Cargo containers line a shipping terminal at the Port of Oakland on Thursday, April 3, 2025, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
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Container ports like Oakland in California might expect activity to fall. Pic: AP

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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