Catherine Connolly became the tenth President of Ireland. Her election resulted from low voter turnout, and preliminary results indicated a smooth victory over her opponent.
The candidate of the centrist ruling Fine Gael party for the presidency of Ireland, Heather Humphreys, on Saturday accepted her defeat in Friday’s election. She congratulated her only opponent, the left-wing politician and critic of the European Union and the United States, Catherine Connolly, on becoming “the next president of Ireland”, reports TASR with reference to the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.
Humphreys did so despite the votes not yet being counted, but preliminary results suggested Connolly, 68, was heading for a comfortable victory.
Victory for Connolly
“I want to thank all the people who voted for me, especially those in (counties) Cavan and Monaghan who came out in huge numbers to support me,” Humphreys said.
“I want to congratulate Catherine on becoming the next president of Ireland. I can only say that Catherine will be the president of all of us and she will be my president,” she added.
The elections were accompanied by a low turnout
The function of the president is largely representative in Ireland – the head of state represents the country abroad, appoints the prime minister or signs laws passed by the parliament.
This year’s presidential election is characterized by an unprecedented number of invalid votes and low voter turnout. According to experts, the Irish wanted to express their dissatisfaction with the fact that they could only choose from two candidates. The third candidate was originally former Irish rugby coach Jim Gavin, who was nominated by the other ruling party, Fianna Fáil. However, he withdrew his candidacy at the beginning of October due to a financial scandal, but his name remained on the list of candidates.
Historic election
Connolly will become the tenth head of Ireland and the third woman to hold the position. He will replace 84-year-old Michael Higgins, who has been president since 2011 and could no longer run for a third time. In the past, she worked as a clinical psychologist and lawyer. She was elected to the parliament for the first time in 2016 and in the years 2020 – 2024 she was the vice president of its lower chamber.
