THE presidential race has stepped up a gear in Letterkenny with the emergence of posters.

Three candidates will be on the ballot paper in the presidential election taking place on Friday, October 24, with the election determining the 10th president of Ireland.

Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin has emerged as the candidate with the strongest national radio footprint in the run-up to the 2025 Presidential election, according to new research from Irish PR intelligence platform ‘Everhaze’.

Analysis of 2,500 radio clips over the past twelve weeks shows that while Independent Catherine Connolly leads overall mentions (36.3 per cent), Gavin (33.5 per cent) pulls ahead in terms of national airwaves share, with 34.9 per cent of his coverage on national talk formats.

By contrast, Connolly’s campaign is more heavily weighted to local outlets (68.6 per cent of her coverage) and Heather Humphreys’ profile is even more locally concentrated (71.3 per cent).

This national advantage translates into strong presence across high-reach talk shows such as The Pat Kenny Show, Newstalk Breakfast, and The Anton Savage Show, where margins between candidates are typically slim but Gavin remains consistently competitive.

On local radio, however, Connolly retains the edge, leading in 13 counties including Donegal (+22pp) and Galway (+18pp).

Gavin posts selective peaks (notably Louth, where he dominates with 77.5 per cent of mentions) and converts his national presence into 8 county leads overall.

Humphreys, meanwhile, has a more concentrated footprint, with standout strength in Cavan/Monaghan (+12pp lead).

Sentiment analysis underscores a three-way contrast: Humphreys records the most positive net tone (+12pp), Gavin trends neutral-positive (+5pp), while Connolly faces a more polarised balance (−3pp).

Speaking about the findings of the report, James McCann, CEO of Everhaze said: “With nominations closed and facing into the four week sprint, each candidate will be looking to own the share of voice across the national airwaves to capture undecided voters.

“Outside of Dublin the counties of Longford, Leitrim and Roscommon have heard the least from all candidates so far which is unsurprising given the battle for the urban centres of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway.

“As the campaign heats up its every candidate’s race to lose in presenting a clear narrative and message to the public.”