Leftwinger Catherine Connolly to be Ireland’s next president after landslide election victory

The leftwing independent candidate, Catherine Connolly, has won a landslide victory in Ireland’s presidential election.Her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded defeat on Saturday afternoon after early vote tallies showed an insurmountable gap between the candidates.“Catherine will be a president for all of us and she will be my president and I really would like to wish her all the very, very best,” Humphreys said.Reports from tallymen – unofficial but usually reliable observers at count centres – gave Connolly 64% of the vote after two-thirds of ballots were counted.Connolly 68, captured the imagination of many younger people and was backed by an alliance of leftwing opposition parties in Friday’s election.The presidency is a largely ceremonial office but Connolly’s triumph is a humbling rebuke to the centre-right government.Humphreys, 62, a former cabinet minister who ran for the Fine Gael party, won 29%, according to tallies. Jim Gavin, a candidate for Fianna Fáil who withdrew late from the campaign but whose name remained on the ballot, won 7%.The number of spoiled votes was on track for 13%, a historic high that was seen to reflect widespread frustration with the limited choices. Turnout was estimated to be about 40% of the 3.6 million eligible voters.Connolly said she was delighted, speaking after the early tallies. “I want to thank everybody, even those that didn’t vote for me. I understand their concerns in relation to who will represent them best.”The tallies showed she beat Humphreys even in Fine Gael strongholds such as south Dublin.Anger over a housing crisis and the cost of living, campaign blunders by Fine Gael and its ruling partner Fianna Fáil, rare unity among leftwing parties and deft use of social media combined to make Connolly a symbol of change.The prospect of Connolly succeeding President Michael D Higgins and serving a seven-year term at Áras an Uachtaráin, the presidential residence, thrills supporters. She speaks Irish, espouses equality and wishes to ringfence Irish neutrality from what she calls western “militarism”. She has likened Germany’s arms spending to the Nazi era and accused the UK and US of enabling genocide in Gaza.The former clinical psychologist and barrister enthused young people through podcasts and posts that went viral on social media, including videos that showed her doing keepy-uppy. Artists and musicians such as Kneecap and the Mary Wallopers endorsed her.Critics depicted Connolly as a radical who dodged awkward questions and could damage Ireland’s relations with Washington and with its European allies.Irish presidents traditionally played quiet, symbolic roles, but since 1990 Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Higgins have turned the office into a more visible platform.Connolly said during the campaign that she would respect the limits of the office, which some interpreted as a tacit promise to rein in controversial views, but analysts predicted friction with the government.She was a marginal political figure when she declared her candidacy in July, and only small parties – the Social Democrats and People Before Profit – backed her. Labour then endorsed her, and Sinn Féin, which had decided to not run its own candidate, threw its formidable resources and electoral organisation behind Connolly.Celebrities such as Bob Geldof, Michael Flatley, Conor McGregor and others had expressed interest in running for president but failed to win the necessary political backing to get on the ballot.Fianna Fáil’s candidate, Gavin, was a political novice who withdrew after a financial scandal imploded his campaign. The late withdrawal meant his name remained on the ballot.Fine Gael’s original candidate, Mairead McGuinness, dropped out, citing health problems, so the party turned to Humphreys. The border county Presbyterian was deemed to have wholesome, mainstream appeal but performed badly in debates.