Leftwing Catherine Connolly wins Ireland presidential election

Published on 25/10/2025 - 16:57 GMT+2

Left-wing independent Catherine Connolly secured a landslide triumph successful Ireland’s statesmanlike predetermination aft her centre-right opponent, Heather Humphreys, conceded conclusion connected Saturday afternoon.

Humphreys congratulated Connolly connected her win, "Catherine will beryllium a President for each of us, and she will beryllium my President, and I really would for illustration to wish her each nan very very best".

Counting was underway connected Saturday, arsenic early tallies showed Connolly holding a important lead to win outgoing president Michael D Higgins.

The mostly of left-leaning parties, including Sinn Féin, nan Labour Party and nan Social Democrats, had expressed support for nan left-wing frontrunner, who has been an independent lawmaker since 2016.

Connolly, 68, has been a beardown professional of some nan European Union and nan United States, and denounced nan EU's plans to ramp up subject spending. She has besides been an outspoken professional of Israel complete its violative successful Gaza. The erstwhile barrister gained support among young voters aft she blamed authorities argumentation for nan lodging crisis.

Initially 3 candidates were successful nan moving to go nan country's tenth president. However, Jim Gavin, nan campaigner for Prime Minister Micheál Martin’s Fianna Fáil's party, pulled retired from nan title complete a financial conflict making love backmost to 2009. Despite his withdrawal, Gavin's sanction remained connected nan ballot paper.

Irish presidents correspond nan state connected a world stage, big visiting heads of authorities and clasp circumstantial law powers, nan domiciled is mostly ceremonial arsenic they do not clasp powerfulness to style laws aliases policies.