Veteran Left-winger Catherine Connolly is set to become Ireland’s new President by a landslide margin after her only rival conceded. Photo / Getty Images
The veteran Left-winger Catherine Connolly has been elected as Ireland’s new President, winning by a landslide margin after her only rival conceded.
Connolly, 68, an independent candidate who won the backing of an alliance of Left-wing opposition parties, including Sinn Féin, had long been the clear favourite in a presidential race mired with controversy.
She won more than double the votes of her nearest rival in an election that saw low turnout and a record number of spoilt ballots.
A staunch advocate for a united Ireland and a fierce critic of Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza, the “anti-Western” socialist blames Nato “warmongering” for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Voters had the choice between Connolly, Heather Humphreys, the Fine Gael candidate, and Jim Gavin, who abruptly pulled out of the race after facing uncomfortable questions over an old debt of €3300 ($7644) owed to a tenant who had overpaid rent.
It was Gavin’s dramatic implosion that made Connolly the favourite to be the first new head of state in 14 years and the successor to Michael Higgins.
Gavin’s decision not to run came so late that his name still appeared on the ballot papers. But not enough of his voters flocked to Humphreys, the candidate for Fianna Fail’s coalition partner.
Humphreys conceded defeat on Saturday, congratulating Connolly on “becoming the next president of Ireland” after early counting showed the independent candidate was on course for victory.
“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. “I have absolutely not one regret.”
Connolly arrived at Dublin Castle on Saturday night surrounded by her family and campaign team.
Speaking for the first time since her victory, she pledged to be “an inclusive president for all”.
She said: “I will be a president who listens and reflects and who speaks when it’s necessary. I will be a voice for peace, a voice that builds on our policy of neutrality, a voice that articulates the existential threat posed by climate change, and a voice that recognises the tremendous work being done the length and breadth of the country.”
Earlier, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who had backed Gavin and was criticised for doing so, said he was looking forward “to working with the new president” and described her campaign as “impressive”.
However, the election for the largely ceremonial role has been overshadowed by criticism that it lacked real choice.
A slew of celebrities had considered running – including Conor McGregor, the disgraced MMA champion, Michael Flatley, the star of Riverdance, and Sir Bob Geldof – but their campaigns failed to materialise.
Connolly, a lawyer and a critic of both the United States and the European Union, boosted her profile with younger voters during the campaign by appearing on popular podcasts and going viral with a video showing off her football skills.
Campaign-trail footage of the grey-haired Galway TD kicking a football up and playing basketball with schoolchildren spread like wildfire on social media.
The position of President, or Uachtarán na hÉireann, is largely ceremonial, but it has become the platform for a more visible role in representing the Irish state at home and abroad in recent decades.
Because of this, Connolly’s divisive rhetoric on Nato and Europe, as well as her vocal belief in safeguarding Irish neutrality from the Western “military industrial complex”, has sparked fears she will alienate European allies.
The former Deputy Speaker in the Irish Parliament previously faced controversy for accusing Nato of “warmongering” before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and comparing German arms spending to Nazi militarisation in the 1930s.
During the divisive presidential race, Connolly also came under fire for using expenses to fund a 2018 visit to EU-sanctioned Syria, where she was pictured with Fares Al-Shehabi, a pro-Assad commentator, and subsequently condemned Western intervention in the country.
Like Higgins, whose second term will end on November 11, Connolly is a vocal Israel critic, accusing the country of carrying out a genocide in the Gaza Strip facilitated by the UK and US.
It has been a major factor in her popularity in a country where almost 80% of people believe Israel is committing genocide.
However, her hardline stance sparked criticism after she described Hamas as “part of the fabric of the Palestinian people”, saying that it should be allowed to maintain leadership in Gaza if elected.
Connolly, who was endorsed by Irish rappers Kneecap, is also a staunch advocate for Irish unity, saying that Northern Ireland is like a cut-off “limb of our body” and pledging to push for a border poll on Irish unity by the end of her first term.
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