Left-wing independent Catherine Connolly has won a landslide victory in Ireland’s presidential election, becoming the country’s tenth head of state. Her main rival, Heather Humphreys of the governing Fine Gael party, conceded defeat before the official count was complete. This was reported by the Irish national broadcaster RTÉ.
The election was held on October 24, and after most ballots were counted, Connolly received 64.1% of the vote, while Humphreys received only 28.8%. The Fine Gael candidate congratulated her opponent, saying:
“I would like to congratulate Catherine Connolly on being elected President of Ireland. She will be a president for all of us, and I sincerely wish her success”.
Connolly, 68, is a former lawyer and MP for Galway City. She ran as an independent candidate, but had the support of several left-wing forces – Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats. On voting day, the politician arrived at the polling station at the Claddagh National School in Galway on a bicycle.
Preliminary results showed her advantage in most constituencies in the country. In particular, in her home constituency of Galway West, Connolly won about 77% of the vote, RTÉ reports.
As a reminder, the new president will replace Michael Higgins, who completed his second and final seven-year term. Thus, Catherine Connolly will become the third woman to lead Ireland.
Initially, the representative of the Fianna Fáil party, Jim Gavin, was also supposed to participate in the election race, but on October 6 he unexpectedly withdrew his candidacy, admitting that he had “made a mistake that does not meet his own standards”. Gavin is known as a former Gaelic football player and coach.
