Dublin (CB) – Political Pundits across Ireland are saying famous British comedian and actor Stephen Fry may just have tipped the scales of the October Irish Presidential elections. Yesterday on Twitter Fry endorsed Senator David Norris causing online bookmaker Paddy Power to put Norris as the 3 to 5 odds on frontrunner.
“You know what the endorsement of a prominent Cambridge educated gay Englishman does for your chances in Ireland,” Irish political blogger Paddy McCann wrote moments after Fry’s Tweet. “Can you say ‘Winner’?”
David Norris is a prominent Irish civil rights campaigner and has been elected to the Irish Senate or Seanad Éireann from the Dublin University constituency since 1987.
A local brickie from the Tallaght neighborhood of South Dublin was asked what he thought of Fry’s endorso-tweet. “I hate the fucking English, I voted Sinn Féin in the last election. But Fry? He’s a national treasure, Norris has got me vote now for sure.”
The Irish Presidential race is shaping up to be a crowded one with a diverse range of candidates from Boutros Boutros Ghali to Barry Glendenning vying for the largely ceremonial role.
The successful endorsement of Irish politicians by gay Englishmen is not without precedent. In 1989 Erasure’s lead singer Andy Bell’s endorsement of Charles Haughey’s is generally credited with Fianna Fáil’s 77 seat victory in the Taoiseach.
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