Conor McGregor makes his case to be PRESIDENT of Ireland - and is backed by Elon Musk - as UFC star slams pursuit of 'power and greed', a week after 'being investigated by police for allegedly inciting hate' over Dublin riots

Conor McGregor believes he would have a strong chance of becoming Ireland's next president and was backed on social media by Elon Musk. 

The UFC star has been engaged in controversial political discourse over the last few weeks, particularly surrounding the Dublin riots that followed the stabbing of three children and a carer in the city.

He is reportedly under investigation by Irish police as part of a wider probe into the alleged spread of online hate speech around those riots. McGregor later wrote that he did not condone the riots. 

On Tuesday, the former two-weight champion posted his potential opposition to power, should he decide to run, writing: 'Potential competition if I run. Gerry [Adams], 78. Bertie [Ahern]. 75. Enda [Kenny], 74. Each with unbreakable ties to their individual parties politics. 

'Regardless of what the public outside of their parties feel. These parties govern themselves vs govern the people.

'Or me, 35,' McGregor continued. 'Young, active, passionate, fresh skin in the game. I listen. I support. I adapt. I have no affiliation/bias/favoritism toward any party. They would genuinely be held to account regarding the current sway of public feeling. I'd even put it all to vote.

'There'd be votes every week to make sure. I can fund. It would not be me in power as President, people of Ireland. It would be me and you.'

Musk, the richest man in the world, replied to McGregor's post, writing: 'I think you could take them all single-handed. Not even fair.'

Evidently buoyed by the SpaceX CEO positive remarks - the 35-year-old then went on to offer a more detailed outline of what his aims would be. 

'I'd fancy my chances Elon, 100%. I'd need to be nominated either by: at least 20 members of the Oireachtas [the bicameral parliament of Ireland]; or at least four local authorities (AKA county councils) to run. Most (26) local authorities are county councils. 

'There are also 3 city councils (Dublin, Galway, and Cork) and 2 councils that oversee a city and a county (Limerick and Waterford). A process. 

'Either way, I'd just be happy with absolute transparency and consultation to the public. Currently there is none. Not an iota. False promises come around the time of election and then it is literally straight ignorance into the face thereafter. 

'It's disgusting. Even opposition politics seems to me more about the attempt of gaining power vs seeking their change. If those currently in power agreed to usher in all opposition stance on change it wouldn't even be enough. It's power/greed, the aim. I feel if a power swap happened today, the situation would simply reverse. 

'The same questions and requests and condemnations but only from the opposite side then.

'Me, I'd clean the f***in' dail if it meant our issues were heard and corrected and the public were consulted in these decisions. A true democracy! Among many other things, the allocation of our nations funds has been nothing short of criminal, and without an iota of consideration for the publics thinking. 

'This is why I'd run, if I was to. To be a voice of the people that deserve to be heard. President of Ireland is a unique position to other countries but it would demand response to questioning. Dialect would be so good for us in the public. Our people feel ignored. Unheard. Until of course election time. Then the waffle begins.

'Hope all is well bro, congrats on the App and rebrand to X, it is flying like those rockets!'

McGregor savaged the Irish government's response after five people were stabbed last month, with three children injured in the attack and one five-year-old in critical condition. 

Police detained a suspect, later identified as a 49-year-old Irish citizen, of Algerian origin who had lived in Ireland for 20 years. 

He wrote: 'Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today. There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.'

His rhetoric was similar following the sentencing of Jozef Puska, a 33-year-old Slovakian man jailed for life for the murder of Ashling Murphy. 

McGregor posted: 'Ireland, we are at war.'

The Dubliner has been politically engaged since his early years within the UFC, regularly commenting on social issues and even making significant donations for medical supplies during the Covid pandemic. 

It remains to be seen how serious McGregor is about entering the political fray himself, particularly given his busy family life and career. 

He welcomed his fourth child with fiancee Dee Devlin last week, named Mack, and is also training for his long-awaited return to the octagon next year, with the date and confirmation of opponent - expected to be Michael Chandler - still to be announced.