The left-wing independent arrived at Custom House in Dublin on Tuesday afternoon with her two sons ahead of the deadline to submit nominations from 20 Irish parliamentarians at noon on Wednesday.

Ms Connolly has garnered the backing of Sinn Fein, the Social Democrats, Labour, People Before Profit and the Green Party as a joint left-wing candidate.

She answered some questions about her views on the IRA’s campaign of violence as well as comments she made on BBC Radio Ulster about whether Hamas has a role in a future Palestinian government.

She said: “Every single conflict is different. What I’ve said about Hamas, I’ve condemned them without hesitation, but I’ve repeatedly said history did not start on the seventh of October.

“I was asked in the context of that, was Hamas a terrorist orga

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