Maria Steen – ‘I’m seeking a nomination to run for election as President’- here’s why

Why am I seeking a nomination to run for election as President? This is a question that I have asked myself many times. Those whose support I am asking for have a right to ask it too. After all, I am not a politician. I have never run for public office before. Why should I presume to aspire to what, under our Constitution, is the highest office in the land?

The office of the President is unusual. Although it has generally been filled by politicians, it has very little political power, either executive or legislative. The President cannot mend the housing market, or lower the cost of living, or determine the foreign policy of the State. These are matters for law-makers and ministers of the government. Under the Constitution, the President has certain powers and duties, but just listing these fails to describe the office. So what is it for?

In my view, the President acts as a guardian of the Constitution, and of the indefinable spirit of Irishness that imbues both that document, and our society.

The Constitution rests on certain fundamental and timeless principles. These are not – or should not be – subject to the pendulum swings of electoral politics. They explicitly include the promotion of the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice, and Charity. The aim is to ensure the dignity and freedom of the individual, true social order, the unity of our country, and concord with other nations. However, the principles that resonate most strongly for me, and on which I hope to found my campaign and, if elected, a presidency, are those relating to Family. They are central to and have enriched my own life. They are good. They should be shared, promoted, and cherished. While a President cannot write or enforce laws, she or he can do this.

In 2024, a coalition comprising the government, an army of publicly-funded non-governmental organisations, and every major political party but one, tried to convince us to write women, motherhood and home out of the Constitution. The text of Article 41, on the Family, was derided as regressive, backward, patriarchal. The powers that be asked us to reject the traditional vision of the family as founded on the institution of marriage. They wanted us to delete the only constitutional provision paying tribute to the priceless work performed by women in the service of their families. Progress – or perhaps more accurately, progressivism – demanded it.

A few people, I among them, publicly attempted to resist, but against these apparently overwhelming forces the result seemed a foregone conclusion. We as a Nation had been through a decade of very bruising referenda in which the atmosphere was hostile and toxic. Our society became polarised, families were divided, friendships ended. I too felt the hostility online and in the debates in which I took part. And then last year, something wonderful happened: the family and care referenda were defeated. The result was an astonishing rebuke of the ruling class and a reminder that the Irish people still value and cherish home, motherhood, and family. That defeat, I think, represented a watershed moment; what had seemed like another inevitable victory for so-called “progress” became an opportunity for healing. I met many wonderful women who had been on the opposite side of the abortion debate to me, but we joined together to defeat the government’s attempt to erase the words “woman”, “mother”, and “home” from our Constitution.

Thanks to the People, our Constitution continues to recognise the Family as the “natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society”, as “the necessary basis of social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State”. I wholeheartedly agree.

There are those who would seek to deride me for being a Catholic, or for defending marriage and the rights of children, both before and after birth, but I do not apologise for my beliefs and I stand over everything I have ever said and written publicly. For that reason, I have deliberately chosen to set out my case in this newspaper. Faith and family, in my view, are not dirty words,  but beautiful ideas.

I am a wife and mother of five children. My eldest son is 18 years of age and my youngest daughter is only three. While I studied architecture in university and worked in a large architectural practice for a time, before qualifying and practising as a barrister, for me, marriage and family have been my life’s work. I have educated my children at home, qualifying as a Montessori teacher to allow me to do so to the best of my ability. The decision to put myself forward for election was a difficult one to make, as I know it will affect my children. If elected, our family life would be dramatically altered.

But I feel compelled to make the attempt because I want to give a voice to those who feel politically homeless, to those who feel that the values they cherish are not represented in society – in fact whose values are openly attacked by our political leaders, NGOs and of course the media. By contrast, I want to make good on the Constitutional recognition accorded to motherhood by giving thanks to the mothers of Ireland, who serve their families both in the home and in providing for them through their work outside the home. I want to give honour and dignity to the fathers of the Nation, who watch over and protect their families, and so often shoulder immense burdens of responsibility without complaint or thanks. I want to support mothers and fathers in their righteous desire to protect the innocence of their children – to ensure that they enjoy a real childhood. In a time of demographic crisis, I want to encourage our young people to choose marriage and family, so that they too may know the joy and fulfilment I have experienced as a wife and mother.

This, then, is why I am seeking a nomination. Unlike some other candidates, who seem to wish to push the boundaries of the Presidential office, I have no expansionist ambitions. The law and our traditions have placed limits on the Presidency, which we would do well to respect. Within those boundaries, I wish to be a voice supportive of the values and principles enshrined in our Constitution: Family first.