Campaign team mistakes Belfast City Hall for Berlin Reichstag

Heather Humphreys was in Belfast on Monday as part of her campaign

The campaign team of the Irish presidential candidate Heather Humphreys has mistaken the Reichstag in Germany for Belfast City Hall in Northern Ireland.

The former Irish government minister visited Belfast at the beginning of this week as part of her campaign.

Following the visit, a video was uploaded to her social media accounts showing an image of the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament in Berlin instead of an image of Belfast City Hall.

The video has now been deleted and replaced with a video containing the correct image.

The Reichstag building in Berlin, which is the seat of the German Bundestag

Humphreys, who comes from the Protestant community in the border county of Monaghan, has recently been emphasising her knowledge of Northern Ireland by stating that she does not only travel there "on day trips".

She is representing Fine Gael in the presidential election, and the party has said: "A mistake was made in production and has been rectified. Where issues are brought to our attention, we seek to address them quickly."

Humphreys is one of only two remaining candidates in the election after Jim Gavin, who was representing the lead coalition government party Fianna Fáil, withdrew following a controversy about money he failed to pay back to a former tenant.

Connolly questioned over campaign video

A clip of Michael D Higgins, which was used in a video by Catherine Connolly's campaign, has since been removed

Meanwhile the other presidential candidate, Catherine Connolly, has also been facing questions about a campaign video posted on social media featuring a clip of the current president, Michael D Higgins.

A spokesperson for the president told the Irish Independent that permission had not been sought nor granted for the campaign to use Higgins in the video.

He has since been removed from the video.

There were also reports that Connolly's team had refused to remove the video in question, but a spokesperson for the campaign rejected this claim - adding that at no point was there "any refusal or disagreement".

"The video in question was amended following standard editorial review," the statement said.

"The matter was handled in the normal way and resolved without any issue."

The election will be held on 24 October.

Who is Catherine Connolly?

Catherine Connolly is an independent who is backed by the major left-wing parties – Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit, and the Greens.

She has represented Galway West in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, Dáil Éireann, since 2016.

Connolly has also worked as a barrister and clinical psychologist.

She served as deputy speaker of the Dáil for four years.

Who is Heather Humphreys?

Heather Humphreys is the candidate for Fine Gael, the other centre-right party in the coalition government.

She is an experienced cabinet minister, having held a range of portfolios including justice, rural development and the arts before she stood down from the Dáil in 2024 after 13 years.

Humphreys is from County Monaghan, near the border with Northern Ireland, and is a member of a Protestant church. Her grandfather signed a petition against Irish self-government in 1912, when the whole island was still part of the UK.