How come in recent republic of Ireland election speeches, they use the animal 'bull' to represen Ireland?

Question

How come in recent republic of Ireland election speeches, they use the animal 'bull' to represen Ireland?

Answer 1

An alternate answer might be that England has had the nickname "John Bull" for centuries. In that the north is still under the control of the UK, it may be to that they are referring.

Answer 2

This might be harkening back to a couple of Irish myths. Here's a very short condensation of the story found in the listed source. They are great stories to read and I recommend you look into them. Connacht would represent the Irsh Republic and Ulster is Northern Ireland.

"To the Celtic people, bulls stood for strength and power. Irish mythology tells of two famous beasts, the White-Horned Bull of Connacht and the Brown Bull of Ulster. The rulers of Connacht and Ulster each boasted of the size of their bulls. However, some said that the gods had sent the bulls to Ireland to cause trouble. Eventually, the two bulls met in a fierce battle that raged across all of Ireland. The Brown Bull won but then died. The death of the two magical bulls brought peace between Connacht and Ulster."

Answer 3

No they don't.

"Bull" is short for "excrement of male bovine" and refers to the quality of the election manifestos and speeches.

That's why some of us suggested to make the bull the national emblem which it is NOT (yet).;-)