Connolly set to be Ireland’s next president after rival concedes defeat | Elections News

Catherine Connolly, a pro-Palestine, left-wing candidate, is heading in the right direction for a landslide victory as vote counting continues.

Left-wing impartial candidate Catherine Connolly is about to grow to be Ireland’s next president after her rival conceded defeat.

Vote counting within the presidential election was nonetheless below approach on Saturday, however Heather Humphreys of the centre-right Tremendous Gael celebration instructed reporters she “needed to congratulate Catherine Connolly on changing into the following president of Eire”.

“Catherine might be a president for all of us, and she or he might be my president, and I actually want to want her all of the very, easiest,” Humphreys mentioned.

Voting slips had been being counted by hand with the ultimate results of Friday’s election anticipated to be declared in a while Saturday as soon as all 43 electoral constituencies throughout the nation have accomplished counting.

Polls had advised constant and powerful voter assist for Connolly, 68, over her rival Humphreys, 64.

Deputy Prime Minister and Tremendous Gael chief Simon Harris additionally was fast to want Connolly “each success”, including: “She might be President for all this nation.”

“Her success might be Eire’s success,” he posted on X.

Connolly, a former barrister and impartial lawmaker since 2016, has been outspoken in criticising Israel over its war in Gaza and has garnered the backing of a spread of left-leaning events, together with Sinn Fein, the Labour Occasion and the Social Democrats.

Her marketing campaign was particularly widespread amongst younger individuals, who authorised of her robust pro-Palestine stance and her dedication to social justice, amongst different points.

Connolly and Humphreys had been the one contenders after Jim Gavin, the candidate for Prime Minister Micheal Martin’s Fianna Fail celebration, stop the race three weeks earlier than the election over a long-ago monetary dispute. Martin had backed Gavin within the race.

Whereas Irish presidents signify the nation on the world stage, host visiting heads of state and play an necessary constitutional function, they don’t have the ability to form legal guidelines or insurance policies.

The winner will succeed Michael D Higgins, who has been president since 2011, having served the utmost two seven-year phrases.

If confirmed, Connolly might be Eire’s tenth president and the third girl to carry the publish.