During the presidential campaign Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys wrongly described Paul Murphy, the People Before Profit-Solidarity TD for Dublin South-West, as Catherine Connolly’s director of elections.
The real director of elections was, in fact, a low-profile adviser to Connolly who has marshalled all her election campaigns since her election to the Dáil as an Independent TD for Galway West in 2016.
To say Béibhinn O’Connor is low profile is an understatement. She is a classic behind-the-scenes person, completely unknown outside of political circles.
You will seldom see her on social media, or see her name attached to a quote in a newspaper. For example, she preferred not to be photographed for this piece.
RM Block
Her influence is significant, however.
Connolly trusted her to run the presidential election campaign from its official launch in July and she never ceded control of the campaign to any party that joined, including the big beast of Sinn Féin. Ultimately, she had to co-ordinate the support of five political parties during the campaign.
“She is independent, delighted for the support of the parties, but she doesn’t speak for them,” O’Connor told The Irish Times.
O’Connor is understated in appearance too: a shoulder-length bob cut and muted colours. A branded ‘Connolly’ scarf is the only indication of her role managing the Galway politician’s campaign that secured a landslide 34-point win over Humphreys in Friday’s presidential election.
From outside Galway city, O’Connor was educated through Irish at Scoil Fhursa and at Coláiste Iognáid. She went to Trinity College Dublin in the mid-1990s to study politics and philosophy. After her degree, she studied for a masters in political communications in Dublin City University but did not finish.
She then went working for a senator whom she prefers not to name.
“I didn’t enjoy it and I thought politics was not for me. There was a lot of spinning and I just did not like it,” she said.
That experience prompted her to leave politics. She did a three-month intensive course at Ballymaloe Cookery School in east Cork, and then moved to London where she worked as a chef for four years in top-end restaurants.
“I loved it. It was busy – friends, pressure, people, tough.”
She then moved to Thailand where she opened a restaurant and guest house, which she ran for a number of years.
O’Connor had no intention of returning home, but when she came back for her brother’s wedding she “fell back in love with Galway”.
It was a genuine ground-up campaign. I learned quite a lot from it, the importance of engaging people, finding people where they are, talking to them, listening to them
— Béibhinn O’Connor on the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum
And so she stayed, setting up a small food business and playing the cello professionally. It had been more than a decade since her involvement with politics.
When the writ for the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum was moved, she noticed there was no campaign in Galway. She and an old schoolfriend, Sarah Clancy, decided to do something about it.
“We said: ‘Let’s get our act together and let’s get the campaign going in Galway.’”
From scratch they built up a group of volunteers in the city that eventually numbered in the hundreds.
“It was a genuine ground-up campaign. I learned quite a lot from it, the importance of engaging people, finding people where they are, talking to them, listening to them,” she said.
“Then a big part of it is minding each other, when people are shouting and hurling abuse. We had a counsellor engaged for the duration of the campaign.”
[ Sinn Féin to run own candidate in by-election prompted by Connolly presidency winOpens in new window ]
O’Connor says gay people who came forward in that campaign showed real bravery.
“It was tough. To see people having to put themselves out there, tell their own story in order for people to see they merited support. I found that really impactful,” she said.
With so many young volunteers and digital natives, O’Connor saw the power of the online campaign.
Connolly was a city councillor in Galway at the time and was involved in the campaign in Galway. Following the success of the 2015 campaign, she asked O’Connor to run her 2016 general election campaign, culminating in her election as a TD.
The two have remained close and O’Connor has been Connolly’s parliamentary assistant since then.
Unlike her experience of working with the unnamed senator, she has loved the past decade.
“It is because we share our worldview and our politics are broadly aligned,” she said.
The mark of previous campaigns could be seen in Connolly’s presidential campaign: building a network from the ground up, personal engagement, branding and a smart digital strategy.
She has also adapted to change. Podcasts played a big role this time.
“They were important for Catherine because she’s not given to short, sharp responses. The longer form suited her,” she said.
“Organic reach” is how O’Connor summarises her approach to political campaigns.
And it worked in spectacular fashion for Connolly.
